Five standout games from Day of the Devs June presentation
Day of the Devs is always a delight, offering new experiences for fans who are tired of the same old shooters and sports games. Indie studios pour their hearts into these passion projects, and it shows in their quirkiness, weirdness and most importantly their innovative ideas.
They challenge conventions or offer a fresh look at an old genre. This week’s Day of the Devs Summer Game Fest Edition Showcase had plenty of projects to pique the most jaded gamers’ interests. Here are some of the ones that stood out during the presentation.
“33 Immortals” — Multiplayer games are a blast, but what prevents many from jumping into the fun is the people. The toxic culture surrounding the experience has kept fans away. Thunder Lotus fixes this by creating a cooperative action roguelite that throws 33 players against one boss.
It looks like taking on a World Boss in “Diablo IV,” but in this case, there’s no voice chat. Players communicate using in-game emotes, and they have to work together as they take on one of four classes to help the group survive. If players get through one battle, they move onto the next one and growing stronger in the process. It’s scheduled for an official release on June 10.
“Dreadmoor” — I haven’t played a fishing game since the days of “Sega Bass Fishing,” but this fresh take on the genre is intriguing. It takes place in a postapocalyptic realm where the world has been submerged. Players fish in murky waters and use their finds to upgrade their boat, craft survival gear and fight creatures. This title from Dream Dock is scheduled to come out in the fourth quarter of this year.
“Threads of Time” — The Riyo Games founders grew up on “Chrono Trigger” and “Final Fantasy VI,” and these Japanese role-playing games were the seminal titles of their childhood. Now, the studio wants to re-create a similar experience with this time-traveling JRPG. Players are on an adventure to save the world, and to do that, they must restore the order of the fallen Time Knights and travel to different epochs.
It has a retro look and feel, but the biggest challenge facing Riyo Games is capturing a story that is as grand and evocative as those Square classics.
“Tenebris Somnia” — Imagine if the survival-horror genre emerged on the NES. How would it play? This title answers that question, as players battle horrifying enemies and solve curious puzzles in a 2D environment. Players will have to conserve ammo and manage their inventory to survive.
With the game being mostly in pixels, it may not create the same frights as modern realistic horror titles, but the developers, Saibot Studios, added a full-motion video element. The game switches from pixel art to live action cutscenes created by an award-winning Argentine director Andres Borghi, and that amps up the fear despite the primitive art-style.
“Shot One Fighters” — Nowadays, every game seems to be a roguelite. Although the genre seems to be on verge of saturation, developers have found a way to explore new avenues. In the case of Red Moon Workshop, the team shows that the concept works with another popular genre. The studio combines the roguelite with fighting games. In “Shot One Fighters,” players pick their hero and build a moveset that helps them grow more powerful with each run. They also discover artifacts and other power-ups that make their character and run unique for each playthrough.
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