- By Ash
- in Indie Games
The most common complaints people tend to have with the exploration/adventure genre are centered around the movement, or usually the lack of there of, hence the whole "walking simulator" thing. Well, what if I told you that Valley avoids all of these complaints by putting you into a high-powered exosuit that's capable of jumping insanely high, gripping onto walls, and for reasons unknown, also controlling the very essence of life and death.
Since trying to even comprehend what I just said is a nearly impossible task, allow me to instead show you the recently posted launch trailer. It starts off fairly slow, so if you just want to get into the "real" gameplay, skip to around the half way point. Here's the video:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
Lost Ember is a recently announced adventure/exploration game where the protagonist is a spectral wolf with the ability to posses other animals. While that might sound completely and utterly insane, the developers have managed to pack Lost Ember with so much wondrous scenery that the whole "ghost wolf" thing seems to fit in perfectly.
Since trying to explain this concept in words alone is a foolhardy venture, allow me to instead show you the lovely announcement trailer and what exactly Lost Ember is all about:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
There are many survival horror games out there that can proudly claim their nightmarish worlds are downright hellish, but to my knowledge there aren't that many that have actually decided to go the distance. Well... Agony has!
As you've probably realized from the title alone, Agony is an upcoming survival horror game set in the most terrifying location imaginable - an extremely twisted version of hell that wouldn't be amiss as a representation of Warhammer 40,000's Warp. Rather than simply describe it, however, allow me to instead present you with the recent gameplay video. Needless to say, its is not safe for work! Have a look:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
Riverbond is a newly announced singleplayer action-adventure set in a rather charming and fairly destructible voxel world. The focus, as you might imagine, is placed squarely on the exploration, storytelling, and naturally, the occasional bouts of combat.
Rather than simply ramble on about what exactly Riverbond is, allow me to share with you the announcement trailer. It should give you a fairly good idea of what sort of a game Riverbond really is, and more importantly, how peculiar all of it looks. Here's the video:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
With the promising, but somewhat underwhelming stealth-adventure Shadwen now under wraps, Frozenbyte has begun work on their next project - a co-operative "blast 'em up" named Nine Parchments. Fans of the Trine series will be happy to hear that Nine Parchments takes place in the same universe, though the way they're connected hasn't been revealed just yet.
As for the story, it revolves around a rag-tag group of wizard apprentices who have decided to skip all of that boring training and studying in order to achieve greatness as quickly as possible, or more realistically, dismemberment via angry dragon. In order to avoid such a grizzly fate you're going to have to master the five elements and tactically apply a variety of devastating spells through a combat system that seems to be oddly reminiscent of Magicka's.
Whether there is any actual similarity when it comes to the raw gameplay, I honestly don't know, but here's the recently posted gameplay trailer so you can at least figure out if this is something you're interested in or not:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
The N series, to put it simply, is all about guiding your incredibly fast and acrobatic stick figure through numerous mazes and puzzles designed by the devil himself. It all starts off nice and easy, a couple of death traps here, a couple of turrets there, but 200 levels later you're going to be dodging 15 rocket turrets while bouncing your way across a particularly distorted piece of modern art.
All of that might sound like a complaint, but in reality its actually high praise given that I've spent well over 100 hours with N+ back when I was going through college and I still don't regret a single minute. With that in mind, I hope you can now understand why the imminent arrival of N++, the new and improved version, is such an exciting thing for me! And if you can't, here's a recent developer video showcasing the level editor and some of the gameplay:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
After playing Insomniac's Song of the Deep I acquired a bit of a taste for undersea exploration. Something that I've quickly come to regret once I've realized that the few games belonging to this genre are well over 10 years old... or just so bad they're better off left at the bottom of the ocean.
There is some hope on the horizon, however, as the recently announced Diluvion does appear to offer a hearty dosage of undersea exploration, and naturally, plenty of submarine on submarine combat as well. If this hasn't grabbed your attention just yet, then I would suggest you check out the announcement trailer as the gameplay is heavily inspired by the old school classic Freelancer. Here's the video:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
While I certainly enjoy games with mature storytelling and realistic characters, its a bit of a shame that ever since Telltale's The Walking Dead became a massive hit the entire adventure game genre turned all gritty and serious. A far cry from the ridiculousness of Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, and other such classics.
Thankfully, there are still games such as The Little Acre that remain unaffected. Instead of exploring the depths of the human psyche, The Little Acre is a charming, hand-drawn adventure that will task you with exploring strange worlds populated by bizarre, yet somehow still cute creatures. Here's the most recent trailer to hopefully give you an idea of what The Little Acre is all about:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
Shiro Games, the developers behind the Evoland series, have recently announced their brand new project, a Viking-themed strategy game called Northgard. Throughout Northgard players will be expected to explore and conquer new lands, establish self-sustaining settlements, befriend or wage war against the rather colorful locals, and achieve ultimate victory through a variety of means (conquest, trading, culture, lore, etc.).
Since all of this is a bit too much to explain in words alone, here's the recently posted trailer to give you a better idea of what Northgard is all about:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
Phantaruk is an upcoming sci-fi survival horror that takes place in one of the most terrifying locations known to the genre - a derelict star ship. There is no room to hide, the utilitarian design leaves little room for cheerful scenery, you can't leave unless you've suddenly developed space-gills, and worst of all, there is no limit to the amount of monstrosities that might populate the darkest reaches of space.
Since simply talking about horror games is rarely an effective way of letting you know what its all about, here's the recent trailer to properly set the scene: