Gamescom Awesome Indies - article
Following is an exclusive and rather long (perhaps too long) demo of Far: Changing Tides, sequel to FAR: Lone Sails presented for the first time time at the last E3. It is an "atmospheric vehicle adventure" whose game director has described the game mechanics a little better. The protagonist is a character named Toe, who after losing his home following a huge flood establishes his new home in a ship, with which he sets out to discover new worlds. The game will be released in early 2022.
The tone has changed again with the pseudo-sequel to Serial Cleaner, titled ... Serial Cleaners. Compared to the previous game, which we advise you to recover, characterized by a fairly light-hearted tone, this sequel seems to focus much more on thriller atmospheres. Instead, the action-stealth style of the gameplay remains intact, even if the new "Diablo style" shot and the much wider and more complex levels suggest many more variations.
Watch on YouTube. There is no room to breathe and we move on to a tactical fantasy RPG developed by Afterschool Studios. It is called Cantata and alternates pixel-art graphics in the game phases, which take place on the classic "grids" with sublime level animated intermission sequences. It's one of those games to watch. Also beware of Squadron 51, even if here we are on a completely different genre. 1950s sci-fi movie atmospheres, complete with floating and spinning flying saucers, for a side scrolling shooter with style to sell. It looks like a spin-off of Tim Burton's Mars Attacks but don't laugh too much, because it also looks quite challenging.
Could a cyberpunk game be missing? Obviously not. Loopmancer will be a side-scrolling action-platformer with elements from Metroidvania that vaguely resembles Shadow Complex. Striking are the fights, very fast and apparently quite varied ... with the inevitable ninja with the luminescent katana. Here too there is the theme of the time loop combined with roguelike elements, a must in recent times, which must however be explored because from the gameplay trailer it did not seem very clear.
After a short advertising break dedicated to the "Green project" "from GamesCom returns Michael Swaim, the cringe host of the event who bravely strolled around Venice Beach wearing an unlikely pink flamingo shirt. Fortunately, it does not last long and we return to the trailers, more precisely to a pixel-art delight entitled There Is No Light. It looks like a sort of Devil May Cry with a potentially crazy combat system and the release is not far away: November 2021.
CONSCRIPT is a particular survival horror set during the First World War. Believe it or not it is developed by only one person. More pixel-art for a project that we have been following for some time, a sort of Resident Evil set during the Battle of Verdun in 1916, First World War. Perhaps you have already heard of it, it's called Conscript and winks more than one eye on the famous Capcom series. We strongly advise you to keep an eye on it even if its sole developer is struggling a bit to complete it. It was supposed to be released in mid-2021 but has been postponed to next year.
Tandem: We already know A Tale of Shadow. It is a puzzle-platform adventure that is somewhat reminiscent of the atmospheres of the Alice series. Alternating shots from the top and sides, he is able to create truly suggestive atmospheres, which envelop the two protagonists: little Emma and her Fenton teddy bear. This is also expected to arrive by the end of the year.
What looks like a glitched trailer of an old Final Fantasy 2D turned out to be a VERY unique game that seems to mix a myriad of genres, from classic RPG to 16bit to platformers, card games and so on. It's called Terrorbane, it's an all-Italian game (developed by BitNine Studio) and will be released in early 2022.
Watch on YouTube. This is followed by the umpteenth exclusive, a top-down-twin-stick-bullet-hell-shooter with cute stuffed puppets reminiscent of the very bad protagonists of Happy Tree Friends. They love to give it a lot in co-op up to four players in this particular post-apocalyptic show. A big mess of bullets and explosions that aside style left us a bit tepid. The Crackpet Show does not yet have a release date.
The latest work by the Goblinz Studio, which stars a desert world populated by extremely inspired anthropomorphic animals from a stylistic point of view, is much more interesting. Of the game, which is called Sandwalkers, not much has been understood except that the fights are turn-based with multi-character parties. The exact definition is "roguelike turn-based exploration game" but, to see clearly, we will have to follow it more carefully before its release, scheduled for PC and Switch next year.
Much more relaxed is the exploratory adventure Nura's Wish, reminiscent of the recent Omno. Persuasive music is the background to an anthology of environmental puzzles that we hope are inspired because everything else seems too generic. It seems rather original and funny instead You Suck At Parking, whose very inspired title suggests part of the gameplay. Basically you have to ... let your car travel and park on crazy roads full of obstacles. A sort of four-wheeled Fall Guys.
Terror of Hemasaurus is the heir to Rampage but in pixel-art. How can you not love him? We want it now !!! Circus atmospheres for The Amazing American Circus, which will be released very soon (September 16) on all platforms. This is yet another deck-building game, but this time rather original because the aim is to recruit artists with whom to transform a shabby suburban circus into an empire of entertainment. All set at the end of the 19th century in the United States ... in the heart of the old west. Move from one era to another with City Block Builder, which will delight anyone who loves building, furnishing and managing real estate by planning practically anything ... even the films they will show in your cinema. "The Sims" graphics and a myriad of customization modes across multiple game modes. If you like the genre, make a note of it.
Roots of Pacha is instead a management game in which you have to explore and evolve a sort of tropical paradise in the Stone Age. A sort of prehistoric Stardew Valley, very pleasant from a graphic point of view and apparently deep and varied ... there are also races with Alpacas and a kind of musical game. The release is expected on PC and Switch by the end of next year. Switch was also the protagonist of the next trailer, dedicated to another really delicious creative game that we had already seen in the past: Townscaper. This is already available on PC and we advise you to take a look at it because it could become your next drug.
Below we find a trio of titles in rapid succession: Time Loader, puzzle-platformer starring a nice little robot and a soundtrack from the full 90s; Jupiter Moons: Mecha, a robotic-themed roguelike adventure in which you have to defeat the robotic enemies with cards and Zephon, a post-apocalyptic-themed strategy game of which only a very short teaser has been seen.
Watch on YouTube. Not even the time to drink a cold tea that arrives Abyssus, a "brinepunk roguelike FPS" of which we had already announced the trailer yesterday afternoon. Interesting is the action-adventure The Serpent Rogue, starring a guy dressed in the classic plague doctor mask, but capable of creating various types of potions and transforming himself into ... practically anything. Arcadian Atlas is instead a promising strategic RPG along the lines of FF Tactics, complete with pixel-art. What initially looked like a "Mobile for Dummies" version of Fable turned out to be a (nasty, but maybe fun) RPG called Eville.
The final reel showed another handful of upcoming titles Release: Dice Legacy (whose review you will soon read), the forgettable FPS 9to5, the interesting fantasy city builder Against The Storm which will be released on October 18th, the Rampage-like in pixel-art Terror of Hemasaurus and a similar-Rez from instant epileptic seizure whose title frankly we have forgotten.
To close we find Oaken, another deck-builder game from the same developers of Sandwalkers, with strategic combat and a graphic style vaguely reminiscent of the Ori series .. . and the coolest game of the whole event: the seemingly mammoth sci-fi strategy game Falling Frontier, incredibly created by a single developer. This sadly will only be released next year but we have a feeling it will be worth waiting for.
Most Read Now
PS5 and Xbox Series X / S: Chips Get More Expensive and Consoles Might become even more unobtainable
Will players have even more difficulty getting their hands on PS5 and Xbox Series X / S?
Halo Infinite will allow you to level up in the Battle Pass not with XP points but through challenges
In Halo Infinite, players will always make progress.
Steam with its refund policy leads a developer to leave the gaming industry
Steam and easy refunds.
The Amazing American Circus could be one of the weirdest surprises of this Indie Showcase. We advise you to write it down. Gamescom Awesome Indies was a discreetly paced show, too often interrupted by "in-house" advertising, which condensed over 30 games in an hour. The average quality was not particularly high but once again the goodies to keep an eye on were not lacking. Have you marked the ones that impressed you the most?
