- By Ash
- in Indie Games
Now that the gameplay quirks have been sorted out thanks to last year's Afterlife update, the Death's Gambit team has finally decided it is time to unleash the very first expansion - Ashes of Vados. The PC version of Ashes of Vados is already live, while the PlayStation and Switch will be getting their turn at some point in Spring.
As for the actual content, Ashes of Vados brings with it a continuation of the main storyline which will culminate in a challenging boss fight against Ash. Should you succeed, you'll be able to unlock a drastically different and significantly harder version of the encounter called "The Eldritch Hand!" to really help spice things up.
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update #2]: Sifu's August update will be adding even more ways to customize your experience!
[Update]: Sifu is adding a much harder and much easier difficulty mode on May 3rd, 2022.
Sifu is a freshly released martial arts roguelike from Sloclap, the team behind the very punchy Absolver. As you might imagine from that brief description alone, Sifu is all about fighting against the odds, utilizing an assortment of moves and combos to methodically take down all of your opponents, and in true roguelike fashion, slowly getting yourself to the point where you can practically dance through the levels unharmed.
Even if you do get taken down, however, it's not that big of a deal since death is a mere inconvenience in Sifu. Every time you die you will rise again, though older and slightly more fragile than before. So while you do have plenty of chances to exact revenge before you're too old to actually continue, it's still a good idea to preserve your health and face the various bosses as young and healthy as possible.
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
OlliOlli World, much like the rest of the series, is a challenging skateboarding platformer that will have you grind across, fly over and slam directly into all sorts of colorful locations. Where OlliOlli World differs greatly from its predecessors, however, is in the visuals and the atmosphere!
The world of Radlandia is an incredibly vibrant and bizarre place filled with banana-men, oversized frog-monsters, sentient piles of trash, and even walking trees that happen to have a penchant for skateboarding. Since words alone can't really do OlliOlli World's setting justice, allow me to share with you one of the gameplay overview trailers. Have a peek:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
While it might not have you fight against an alien invasion, the upcoming Mars Tactics is a turn-based strategy with quite a few similarities to the original XCOM. In other words, you'll have a vast array of tactical options and weapons to utilize during combat, the ability to fire anywhere and even destroy terrain in order to get an edge over your opponents, while your scores of rookies will develop their own personalities and traits depending on what they've gone through.
Much like the original XCOM, you also won't be able to use your all-star squad for each mission as there will be problems popping up all across Mars. As such, you'll need to use a variety of unique characters, many of which might not be the cream of the crop, as well as potentially mismatched equipment in order to survive the onslaught.
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: OlliOlli World has now arrived, and so far it's looking quite good!
If you're in the mood for a bit of an usual platformer, look no further than the upcoming skateboarding adventure OlliOlli World. Once it arrives this February 8th, OlliOlli World will bring with it the vibrant and rather bizarre world of Radlandia to explore, an assortment of challenging levels with multiple paths to take, as well as plenty of customization options to make your character look as ridiculous as possible.
What all of this looks like in action, that you can find out through the recent gameplay overview trailer. Have a gander, it's a remarkably charming one:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: Sifu has now arrived, and as expected, it's quite a challenging experience!
Inspired by Kung Fu movies of old, Sifu is an upcoming martial arts action-roguelike about revenge, perseverance, and naturally, beating up scores upon scores of nameless henchmen. Much like Sloclap's previous game Absolver, Sifu offers you a massive array of moves and combos to experiment with, along with the ability to counteract everything your opponents throw at you... provided you're skilled enough to actually pull it off.
Failure is not the end, however, as even death itself is only a mere inconvenience to Sifu. Should you fall in battle you will rise again, older and more haggard than before, but more than capable to bring righteous vengeance to those that felled you. This obviously can't go on forever, so while you do get plenty of chances, you'll still need to do your best to stay alive and young in order to clean out all of the big bad bosses.
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: The seemingly final update has now arrived, and with it the much-anticipated co-op mode!
All good things must eventually come to an end, and so the story focused action-roguelike Children of Morta is now preparing for its final update. In order to give it the sendoff it truly deserves, the February 14th update will bring with it one of the most frequently requested features - an online co-op mode!
So instead of having to rely on local split-screen, or various services that emulate that, after this final update you'll be able to just join a friend and venture into the wilds together without any sort of hassle. A remarkably simple concept, but also one that took a fair bit of time and effort to actually implement.
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: Achilles: Legends Untold has now arrived, and while it does show promise it's still a bit rough around the edges.
In a bit of an usual combination of genres, the upcoming Achilles: Legends Untold is a Diablo-inspired action-RPG with healthy smattering of Souls-like mechanics. In other words, you'll not only need to slice and dice through large groups of enemies, but also take great care of your positioning and timing as they'll often be the only things keeping you from becoming a colorful stain on the floor.
Since the combat system is the very core of Achilles, and also something that happens to be tricky to describe through words alone, allow me to stop yammering and instead share with you the original reveal trailer. It should clue you in quite quickly on just what Achilles: Legends Untold is trying to do. Have a peek:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: Shovel Knight's dungeon-digging roguelite spin-off Shovel Knight Dig is set to arrive on September 23rd, 2022.
After finally finishing up all of the extra content planned for Shovel Knight, the Yacht Club Games team has now set their sights on their next big action-adventure - Mina the Hollower. According to the already-funded Kickstarter, Mina the Hollower will be an 8-bit trip down memory lane inspired by classics like Castlevania, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, and apparently even Bloodborne!
What all of this might look like in actual gameplay, that you can find out through the freshly posted announcement trailer. Have a gander, it's just as charming as Shovel Knight:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
Much like Jagged Alliance from which it draws a great deal of inspiration, the upcoming Project Haven is a turn-based tactics game where you control a squad of highly customizable mercs sent on a variety of nearly suicidal missions. In order to succeed you'll need to utilize an assortment of different tools and weapons, carefully plan your approach, and then solve each problem with a combination of stealth, strategy and vast quantities of explosives.
Where Project Haven differs greatly from Jagged Alliance is in the aiming. All of it is done from a 3rd person view, giving you the option to aim exactly where you want to. Headshots grant bonus damage, shots to an enemy's weapon can potentially disarm them or at least mess up their aim, while hits to the legs will obviously slow them down. You'll still have to rely on good ol' fashioned percentages in order to actually score a hit, but being able to personally choose what you're shooting at is certainly a nifty idea.