I had more time to be isolated within my own thoughts—for both better and for worse—and I can honestly say I learned a lot from it! There’s still a whole lot of good in the bad, reflected in the consistent deluge of quality titles and progressive milestones being made in the industry against all odds.

This Game of the Year with Video Game Choo Choo, once again, I intentionally limited what stood out to me the most through a tightly picked “Top 5” list of games. Continuing my personal goal of trying to focus on indies while also being faithful to my own interests, my Game of the Year list of 2021 also happens to be a curation of titles that all thematically tie an artistic tradition to a greater purpose—such as whether it’d be seeking answers to internal questions or outright using performance to save the universe.

5. OPUS: Echo of Starsong

OPUS: Echo of Starsong sits nicely in the wider catalog of visual novels and text-heavy games I enjoy, even leading me into discovering other games of a totally different ilk by Taiwanese studio SIGONO. Echo of Starsong takes place in a universe where corporate greed has fueled war over a valuable resource called Lumen. Although this intergalactic conflict seemingly resolves itself in time, it has sparked the birth of a vicious, cutthroat economy where now many adventurers are seeking to stake their claim and find their own riches. You control one of said adventurers, following his journey and transformation after a fateful encounter with a nearly-lost, innate ability to find harmony with echoes of the past through the power of song.

There is very little active gameplay in Echo of Starsong, but much of its heart resides in its writing and beautiful, but simple, visuals. While they all revolve around different stories and are all only loosely unified through their science fiction themes, adversity and a sense of hope in spite of dire, apocalyptic settings are recurring stays across all of SIGONO’s games in their OPUS series. And a future that still sees a silver lining despite how dire things get Is certainly a future I want to embrace.

4. TOEM

Back in E3 2021 (yeah gee, that did happen), no one was even sure what a “TOEM” even was, yet TOEM is now one of those things that I can’t stop thinking about! There’s been more than a handful of games with photography-taking elements as of recent, and TOEM is another title that reinterprets the mechanic its own special way. TOEM is not only fun for its quirky visuals and goofy writing, but it forces you to rethink how you shoot photos within an isometric map and 2.5 visuals. It is far from anything complex, but it’s a small enough reinterpretation of how photography should be approached in games that makes it refreshing. All of this and more is framed within a very feel-good, motivational journey of learning to try new things all while spreading simple acts of kindness within your community. So what’s a “TOEM”, you ask? Go play this game and find out!

3. Kraken Academy

Kraken Academy made me completely inconsolable. This game broke me. It spurned similar feelings I had over Yuppie Psycho with its similar humor that awakened something both juvenile and primordial. But despite the connotations its name carries, Kraken Academy is far from a horror game, lampooning the grisliness of eldritch fiction by being one of the funniest games I have played all year. You play a student enrolled in a dilapidated boarding school, and despite immediately being mistreated by your classmates and alienated all the more, you carry the burden to save it upon learning it’s going to be destroyed in a few days. You also learn this from a giant kraken in the nearby lake who claims he is the school chancellor, granting you time-looping powers to fix this mess. No big deal!

Kraken Academy hits in all the right ways with both its jokes and the sleek feel of its gameplay overall. Stuffing a bunch of horrible, feral teenagers in a loosely defined space that one calls a school is already a nightmare on its own, but doing so with various otherworldly elements in the mix no one questions is primed for comedy. There’s also an anthropomorphic broccoli girl and you just need to know she’s the best girl.

2. Wildermyth

I cannot exaggerate enough how getting really into tabletop games around my time at college was one of several benchmarks in my life that were very formative to me. So when something like Wildermyth came rolling along as a video game that is essentially trying to recreate the essence of tabletop roleplaying games, my interest was piqued. And where Wildermyth recreates all of the epic, memorable moments you have had with your friends playing something like Dungeons & Dragons, it manages to make you confront all the cringe too.

On the surface, Wildermyth honestly still needs some polish, and it especially may not stand out so much compared to many other games with similar systems with procedural generation. But harnessing it with all these other components, such as an interesting character builder and a wide net of many interwoven stories written from a place of clear passion for roleplaying games wraps it all up in neat, little love letter to both tabletop players and self-titled game masters alike. It just makes a very specific lobe of my brain go brrr.

1. Chicory: A Colorful Tale

Chicory is a perfect, personal game. Well, I may be hyperbolizing here—but I know for a fact that Chicory: A Colorful Tale is a game I needed to and deserved to experience in the time that I did and in all the manners that I saw myself in it.

You quickly learn that the fantastical, charmful setting of Chicory is not just a world of art, but it is a world that is specifically dependent on the tangibility of art in order to function. As much as Chicory depicts a world where art is probably better respected compared to our current reality, it does not shy away from the fact that there is still baggage that comes with art’s creation at the price of needing to constantly make something beautiful.

I am not special in saying that at some point in 2021 I felt extremely unhappy, but I had to take further steps to have this realization that I was going through artistic burnout. I was steadily hating the job I had at that point in time, and I kept second guessing myself because I thought I was regressing in my artistic abilities. It took numerous steps to admit to myself that I had a problem, and that denying it because I felt bad about all the other far worse problems in the world was not conducive.

In Chicory, you quickly gain an understanding that the titular character herself is undergoing these similar issues, and on your own journey of taking on her mantle, you inevitably meet her in the middle to help her on a path to recovery. Although I wish I had an adorable cartoon dog to pep talk me in a climatic boss battle to tell me everything was going to be okay, Chicory’s ability to portray a very specific type of a pain that can be difficult to describe that I and many others saw ourselves was reassuring.

Just like they did with the universality of song in Wandersong, Greg Lobanov, Lena Raine, Finji, and team have done it all again: In every aspect that the game succeeds—it’s freeform paintbrush mechanic, solid writing, and general cuteness—its portrait of imposter syndrome and the various insecurities that come coupled with it are respectfully portrayed in a heartwarming story that I think anyone can find themselves in.

Perhaps it is reductive to paint (ha) Chicory in such a grim light, but to merely praise the game for its colorful, poppy surface misses all the layers behind the work that it truly is. But even in the worst hours of our self-loathing while an unfinished canvas collects dust in our rooms, Chicory reminds us that you do not have to endure it alone.

The post Elvie’s Top 5 Games of 2021 appeared first on Gamesline.

Best Visuals: Psychonauts 2

Runners-up: TOEM, Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective

If I had to describe my aesthetic interests outside of just “anime,” I would have to pinpoint the vibrant and kinetic comic look of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and the caricatured-to-all-hell designs from Ed Edd n Eddy. Suffice to say, Psychonauts overall scratches a lot of itches for what I find visually baller in a video game. The 2021 sequel manages to upscale the Muppet-adjacent cast for next-gen hardware, but also goes above and beyond when it comes to representing the new minds you explore throughout the game. Levels like the PSI King’s Sensorium oversaturate colors to evoke not just 60s psychedelia but also the intensity of sensation PSI King’s panic attacks have on him, which you help him overcome throughout the level. Cassie’s Collection represents one of the former Psychonauts founders through the archetypes she had developed throughout her life; each one a paper sketch representative of these points that try and cohabitate the grand library that is her psyche. 

The cinematography also works hard to highlight the ways brain logic might not lend itself to the rules we consider physical space, seamlessly transitioning between main character Raz standing at a doorway, to only then fall through and end up in nightmarish geometry or a gauntlet against the mind’s internal censors. Psychonauts 2 does a lot to clean up the presentation of its core mechanics to better suit game flow in the current age, but that doesn’t stop the team at Double Fine from pushing the boundary to create something still visually fascinating and emblematic of an aesthetic so many people had been waiting to make a comeback.

– Mav

Best Presentation: Inscryption

Runners-up: NEO: The World Ends With You, No More Heroes 3

From the very first time you see a trailer for Inscryption, you’re most likely either immediately hooked or, at the very least, a little bit intrigued. It boasts a unique visual style paired with really exceptional audio design and a score that sets a tone fitting of a game where you’re trapped in a cabin with a madman who’s forcing you to play a card game he made up. It’s not just one element of this Inscryption’s aesthetic that stands out so well, all of it comes together effortlessly to draw you into the mystery and, if you’re an absolute freak (like me), eventually into a strange multiple century spanning ARG.

Almost every little element of Inscryption feels considered. From the large, hard to ignore text backed by the unnaturally synthesized mumblings of each character, the individual tokens carved out of bone dropping next to your playboard, to the velcro-y sounds of hides slowly being ripped off the bodies of animals in the music for The Trapper’s bossfight, every detail helps fit you into this world. Not only is Inscryption successful at employing sound so well, it’s also great in its utilization of a lack of sound. There are so many moments where you’re sitting there quietly, the only sounds being the shuffling of cards on your board, and you’re left with your thoughts, considering your next move. The twang of a folksy guitar in a minor key will kick in and you’re simply left there in the moment, absorbing the space as it’s laid out so carefully in front of you.

Inscryption doesn’t just have a unique visual style, however, it has three. Inscryption’s different acts shift into almost entirely different games tethered together by the same well constructed card game, and each one is a treat to absorb. While its middle chapter is certainly derivative of a lot of similar trading card game… games, it still sticks out with a really solid soundtrack of it’s own including some great remixes of songs you may have already heard, on top of top notch audio cues (the one that plays when you sacrifice a monster is burned into my brain). Even if you don’t play Inscryption, which you absolutely should, I highly recommend at the very least watching some gameplay. You just gotta see this thing.

– Scott

Best Writing: Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker

Runners-up: Psychonauts 2, Milk outside a bag of milk outside a bag of milk

When Natsuko Ishikawa took over writing duties for the main story of Final Fantasy XIV, there was an immediate and incredible increase in quality. While the narratives of Heavensward and Stormblood had been well-received and acclaimed, Shadowbringers took things to an entirely different level that represented not only a push past the surface-level political aesthetics that the game drowned itself in, but also an incredible attention to detail and character work that made a game of various threads and ideas into a grand tapestry where each thread feeds into the next.

Endwalker uses a narrative approach heavily reliant on retroactive foreshadowing, a technique that utilizes the bedrock of what’s come before as set-up for new stories to be built from. New characters are built out of the ideas and inklings established years and years ago in some off-handed comment or tertiary world-building. Old characters are refined and improved to become an ideal version of themselves, with one-note characters like Estinien, the moody dragoon from Heavensward, becoming a crucial and stalwart friend who’s really bad at managing money, and leaves your room by jumping out the window because he’s a freak. The story of Final Fantasy XIV has always been disconnected and patchworked because of its unfortunate conception, but to see it not only be molded into an interesting story, but a rare testament to what long-running games can actually meaningfully do with their overall experiences, is nothing short of incredible.

There’s a line in the song “Answers”, written by the writer of Final Fantasy XIV’s disastrous 1.0 launch and the English localization lead who’s only become more involved over time: “Look to those who walked before, to lead those who walk after.” While “Answers” was initially used as a cool thing to play in the background of a cinematic, and a cool thing to fight series regular Bahamut to, Endwalker actually managed to utilize this song nearly ten years later to reflect the core thesis of its narrative, while representing exactly the path the development team has taken over and over again. They don’t just forget the past, they learn from it, they build off it, and they remember.

– Rose

Best Mechanic: Metroid Dread

Runners-up: Monster Hunter RIse, Chicory

Samus Aran is not known for doing normal things. Most of her power comes from a mix of technological, terrestrial, and chemical mishaps, like if a sentient 8th grade science volcano was asked to save the galaxy on a regular basis. While it’s been a cool trick, the routine has become stale leaving casual players still asking normal questions like, “Why does Samus always start without any powers? Isn’t she supposed to be a legendary fighter? Why is Samus always so powerless before pillaging the ruins of some long-dead planet looking for ancient algae to shove into her arm cannon?” Nintendo has finally allowed the Metroid series to progress forward by letting Samus start with a tool that builds her as a character as well as helps modernize the conservatively-designed series as a whole.

The parry mechanic in Metroid Dread is not only an extremely powerful tool that helps quickly dispose of enemies, but also the special visuals and sounds that go with it are hype as hell, and its use as a ‘bonus life’ against the one-hit-kill EMMI robots make Samus look like a total never-say-die badass. It’s the last piece of Metroid Dread’s puzzle that keeps Samus looking so fluid and strong through her myriad movement options. The parry has grown from something that was a chore to use in Samus Returns for the 3DS to becoming an inextricable part of the Metroid formula! Metroid games are not known for being normal; the most common way to play them is abnormally, by breaking the game’s mechanics and sequencing to some extent. With this parry mechanic, however, there is now a side-scrolling Metroid game that is just as fun to play the normal way as it is with all the skips and breaks the series is known for. It’s such a normal thing, you’d think Samus always had this power inside her!

– Solon

Worst Mechanic: Pokémon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl

Runners-up: Balan Wonderworld, Emily is Away <3

The Underground in the original Pokemon Diamond and Pearl was already not much of a feature. You could dig up extra evolution stones, fossils, and other assorted knick-knacks, but the best aspect, to me at least, was getting Spiritomb through interactions you had there. Sure, it wasn’t particularly compelling, making you speak to 32 people in the underground before the Pokemon would appear elsewhere, but it was pretty easily cheesed by exiting and entering the Underground over and over, as each visit was considered a separate person. With online connectivity becoming the norm instead of a luxury, you’d think these connections would be made easier, and Spiritomb made a simpler get.

That’s not the case.

Instead, you must now track down 32 separate NPCs in the underground, who spawn at random rates and in even more random locations. There isn’t even an option to speak to other players online, even though you can watch them rush all around you. As the Underground expands while you progress in the overworld, you cannot get Spiritomb until the postgame unless you’re willing to spend hours upon hours resetting spawn points for these NPCs, and even then it’s all up to luck no matter how much of the area is available. The Spiritomb unlocking mechanic is a snapshot of how frustrating Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are, where a simple fix with more modern hindsight is ignored in favor of a baffling “new” concept that makes the game worse to play.

– John

Best Surprise: NEO: The World Ends With You

Runners-up: Hot Wheels Unleashed, Wildermyth

I fail to come up with a word to describe NEO: The World Ends With You that doesn’t just bring me back to “surprising.” Given Square Enix’s recent track record, this game shouldn’t exist, it feels like we should’ve just accepted that tiny bit of representation back in Dream Drop Distance as “good enough.” However, that’s not the only surprise when it comes to the sequel of a fairly beloved DS game from 14 years ago. Gameplay has been revamped to better suit current gen consoles while still maintaining an energy as kinetic as flicking your DS stylus on the bottom screen while fat-thumbing the face buttons to keep a combo up. The music maintains the energy of the original, while also delivering so many new bangers that drive the themes of the series home effortlessly. New protagonists Rindo and Fret do a lot in terms of giving a voice to a new generation of teens who, while constantly online, still echo the loneliness that made Neku equal parts frustrating to witness, but understandable in terms of where that rage came from.

That’s also putting aside the rest of the cast, who bring so much life to the streets of Shibuya! I can go on about each individual aspect of this game but it all serves to highlight the fact I couldn’t have expected a sequel to The World Ends With You. I couldn’t have expected a sequel that happily makes its audience fall in love with new characters, mechanics, visuals, and sounds. I couldn’t have expected this game to leave such an impact on me months after my initial playthrough. NEO: The World Ends With You could have easily been a throwaway sequel that made me look for a new DS and pay more money than I’d like to replay the original. Instead it’s easily one of the best games I’ve played this year and has managed to reignite the series in a way I could never have thought of first listening to Twister all those years ago.

– Mav

The post Game of the Year Awards 2021: Day One appeared first on Gamesline.

The land of Picnic bears the tradition of honoring someone with the title of “Wielder”, a person with the artistic gusto and expertise to maintain the world’s color via the power of a giant, magical paintbrush. As Picnic faces a crisis suddenly losing its color, the current Wielder, Chicory, finds herself in a self-destructive, defeated state of mind, and retreats away from the outside, becoming a recluse.

You play a dog — bearing some semblance to a very typical and simple stylization of a
labrador retriever — and stumble upon Chicory’s brush. Finding yourself attuned to it pretty naturally, you unexpectedly become the new Wielder. With Chicory missing in action, it is now up to you to stop a looming presence of darkness and corruption threatening Picnic.

Like a coloring book, Chicory is lovingly rendered in a cartoon style with thick, black line art that illustrates the colorless characters and the scenes they live in. The tip of the giant brush you harness is your cursor, spattering pigment at your disposal as you drag it along the map, all while a separate scheme of controls is dedicated to moving your character. Chicory’s co-op mode plays with these two dynamics, not only offering an opportunity to share more company, but to also make the game’s mechanics more accessible.

Although it looks like one, Chicory is more than just a coloring book game — because the key is not about filling in the lines, after all — it is simply a game with coloring mechanics. You are free to draw and color wherever you want, whenever you want! You can be preoccupied trying to figure out the perfect color to paint someone’s house, but the game’s emphasis is less on needing specific colors and being able to fill in the gaps of things with lines and shapes.

An example of one puzzle may require you as a way to light a path through a cavern by drawing one. Another puzzle may need you to remember a certain pattern and emulate it in order to unlock a pathway. There are also a few battles far and in between that you encounter — which mark the bookends of the different parts of the game — and they often just require you to draw or point your brush at the right time and right place.

It is an understatement to say that Chicory is a damn cute game. It is a game that relishes in that cuteness, even when you think it can’t be any more laced with saccharine than it is. As is, the childlike anthropomorphic animals that season the game enhances this appeal. For instance, early on, you are asked what your favorite food is and the word becomes the name of your dog character. Set in a place called Picnic, you realize every character is named after food to align with a very obvious theme.

It is the sort of charming game where you find nothing but puns, eccentricities, and quirks galore to pull from and remark gleefully about. There are numerous moments that take you away from the main story without disrupting it, such as characters pulling you aside to go off on a tangent on their life story or to make a simple drawing request. One particular moment involves your character being given the option to hand over the magical brush to a child to play around with. If you do so, you see the child draw their face on the ground, gleeful at the work they have done and in awe of your skills.

This is further reiterated by the fact that the game has no real items you need to progress in the game. Much of what you can collect are purely for cosmetic reasons, such as different pieces of clothing you can find or trade. Down the line, you will also be able to collect different brush presets, which are different shapes and patterns to change the texture of your brush’s point to produce different effects. Another optional thing you can do is clean and pick up litter throughout various areas with a counter to reference. Chicory also has an in-game camera to pictures or create animated GIFs of your messy masterpieces, also coupled with some filters you can additionally apply to your liking. (The game is also gracious enough to be so modular that you can move dialogue boxes around if they are in the way of something.) These elements don’t have much of an impact on completing the main storyline of the game — it is all just for fun!

In spite of its whimsies, Chicory does not shy away from depicting serious issues. In fact, the game’s entire appeal is that it attempts to unpack sensitive themes in a more approachable way. It is apparent the eponymous character Chicory herself is depressed, and her despair kicks off the crux of the events of the game. Although your character misunderstands her situation initially, they never judge her for it and are more than willing to listen and do the work she unwillingly thrusts upon them knowing it also serves a greater good. Chicory isn’t blamed, and neither is her depression treated as the sole trigger for the dangers approaching Picnic. But without the Wielder, what does it mean for the community’s safety? The entire situation speaks to deeper questions regarding the role between the creator and audience; in this case, the Wielder and the residents of Picnic respectively.

At some point, you also meet other previous Wielders, learning about the harsh realities that come with the job. One of them comments specifically on burnout and is still struggling to recover from it, saddeningly remarking that, “When you become Wielder, you aren’t drawing for yourself anymore.” And although you may meet many who are enthused by your Wielder status, there are other characters who are doubtful of your worthiness to carry the role. One character expresses not only disdain for you, but jealousy borne of their doubts about art school. Chicory not only grapples with mental health and how individuals’ experiences can impact the greater community, but how that is coupled with the creative experience specifically.

Chicory was made by noted individuals who already made their talents known in the indie games scene such as Greg Lobanov (Wandersong), Lena Raine (Celeste), and Em Halberstadt (Untitled Goose Game, Night in the Woods). The team also features newcomers Alexis Dean-Jones and Madeline Berger. From my own perspective as an individual who also creates and partakes in different visual mediums, this game was clearly developed with an authentic love, care, and understanding of the artistic process and the struggles that both sometimes come with it or are inflamed by it. Not only does it tap into what makes art fulfilling, but it is more than willing to admit where it can also be troubling. Art does not have to be a process of suffering if more people come to understand that it is an act of labor that deserves the aftercare and respect just as anything else.

A literal interpretation of Chicory: A Colorful Tale may suggest that anyone can be an artist — which is true! But even though its framework invokes deeper sentiments that may only specifically resonate with artists, at its core, Chicory is a sweet, sentimental game urging you to be simply mindful of the many things we take for granted that serve and run our communities, and particularly the people behind them. No one needs to do the work alone, and may we be beseeched in supporting their canvas so we can paint and make the world beautiful together.

The post Chicory: A Colorful Tale (PC) Review appeared first on Gamesline.

It was a massive news week as well with the new Steam Deck, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl‘s rollback netcode, and a Warthunder player leaking actual classified material hoping for buffs. We also discuss the potential problems facing the future of Judgement as well as the new Shin Megami Tensei 5 trailer. We cap it off with some quick news hits looking at the Monster Hunter Netflix animated series trailer, the Ghostwire Tokyo delay, Shrek being in Hunt: Showdown, Final Fantasy X-3 potentially existing, and Netflix starting a gaming division.

As always, you can support us on our Patreon, and follow us on Twitter @VGChooChoo, @scottblah, @lvmaeparian, @mavsplaniamania, and on Instagram @Fataleflare.

Also, don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes, and tell a friend about the show! If you want to send in questions send them to our ask box at videogamechoochoo.tumblr.com/ask.

You can also join our Discord channel at thegamezone.zone!

Our theme song is “Crush” by Melt Channel, from the album Magic is Real.

Subscribe via iTunes, hipcast, direct download, or listen below!

The post VGCC Episode 365: Switching Steam appeared first on Gamesline.

Indie Arena Booth took things completely online this year by hosting an expansive, virtual chatroom where attendees and developers can directly engage together. Trying to simulate the full-on convention experience, you could create avatars and navigate digital exhibits appropriately designed to thematically match the game they’re representing.

There was actually a small customization aspect to making the avatars, using different parts from some of the games being showcased to originally designed assets specific for IAB’s event. I personally settled on being a cat head floating in the void of space.

Walking around in a digital convention can be just as overwhelming as doing the same in a physical one, so you could’ve easily opted to open the map and jump around wherever strikes you as grabbing instead. Steam also ended up hosting a landing page dedicated to the event, so you could scroll through the games and streams like a traditional catalog. IAB typically goes hand in hand with Gamescom every year, and the two events collaborated again, with IAB fashioning itself as connected to the latter.

Given many scheduling push backs and delays due to the current world circumstances, games continue to be a nightmare as many anticipated AAA titles scheduled their releases all at once at the height of the holiday season this year—and unfortunately, even the indies are not immune to this release chaos! Indie Arena Booth Online states that they hosted about “185 games from 53 countries” this year, and you can bet I barely have scratched the surface in trying to tackle a majority of them.

I narrowed my focus on titles with available demos that I have never played before, even if they had already previously appeared in the Steam Summer Fest lineup. You can also find my other impressions of many other games I have tried from that event not specified in the aforementioned piece here. Ultimately, here are several games that I was able to try:

As Far As the Eye

A turn-based Eurostyle city builder, you take the role of the literal wind as a guide to beings known as Pupils. You have to help them manage their skills and resources before the world is submerged in an impending flood. The game is procedurally generated and there are different tribes of Pupils you can choose to start off with, each with their own benefits and disadvantages. The game is very cute looking with a storybook-like artstyle and mechanics that are pretty simple to learn. As Far As the Eye presents what seems to be a very meditative, peaceful experience that one could easily immerse many hours into, with only time and potentially poor choices serving as a threat to this journey.

Chicken Police

This is the third point-and-click, noir-themed, mystery game with anthropomorphic animals that I know of in development that is pending release for the last quarter of 2020 or early 2021. I am not sure what is inspiring this trend, but good for the furries, I suppose. What stands out immediately about Chicken Police is its zany art direction in using photo collage by merging real animal heads with humanoid bodies, which fits the absurdist, comedic tone it immediately gives off. Playing as a rooster detective, the game is fully voice-acted (with incredibly high production values) and is just screaming hamminess similar to the Ace Attorney series and its pastiche Aviary Attorney, but it takes it even further with a sprinkle of raunchiness. Unfortunately as with many works that feature animals as the primary population of focus, I’m already erring on the side of caution given the game has already made it clear there is going to be some exploration of their own version of an allegory to racism heads on, but I am definitely intrigued so far in how the rest of it is going to be such a trip.

Jessika

Jessika was released earlier this year and is an FMV containing many elements similar to Her Story, Emily is Away, and the Simulacra games. You work for a group that specializes in processing the digital footprints and data of the deceased at the request of their family. Like the aforementioned games, Jessika has you peruse through media left behind on a computer in order to find the information needed to move forward. The game puts you in the perspective that this job is noble at first, but after being thrown into a case revolving around a woman named Jessika, things take a dark turn. Jessika tackles heavy themes such as suicide, abuse, and privacy, so I am wary approaching the game given how consistently there seems to be an unfortunate standard with how women are treated in mystery titles like these. The game otherwise has a very intuitive, smooth UI and a system worth revisiting to see where the narrative takes a turn and can possibly exceed my expectations.

Neurodeck: Psychological Deckbuilder

Neurodeck is a different take on the deck-building genre; instead of aiming to build a collection of characters to fight, the goal is to rake up cards themed around psychology and the subconscious. You start off each “session” by selecting a particular character’s profile with a starting palette of different skills and passive abilities. The cards collected include things like memories, emotions, and other miscellaneous sources of comfort to combat monsters in the form of phobias and negative feelings. The goal is to complete each profile’s tree by tackling a sequence of battles, personality tests, or even meditating. It is currently unclear to me right now how much went behind the game in following this theme and if the information conveyed is something backed by proper research and consultation, but the premise is definitely interesting.

Over the Alps

Over the Alps is another game that has already been released as of this writing. A text narrative game, you explore a branching thriller taking place in Switzerland in the midst of World War II, making dialogue choices through the form of postcards. The game is extremely stylish, emulating the artstyle of Franco-Belgian comics contemporary to the game’s setting like The Adventures of Tintin. Although what seems to be very simple in execution, Over the Alps’ visuals and engaging writing are sure to be its main hook.

Paradise Killer

This game is pretty incomprehensible in every single way, but that doesn’t lend itself to be a bad thing at all—far beyond it. Paradise Killer is a murder mystery game where you take on the role of Lady Love Dies, an investigator freed from her exile to investigate a mass murder in Paradise. Paradise is an island that regularly gets destroyed and regenerated every few millenia thanks to the constant meddling of demons, and the recent incident disrupted the island’s latest cycle to finally achieve a near-perfect state. Paradise Killer is drenched with the colors of lo-fi, vaporwave dreams and PS1-era aesthetics, so it is a little hard at the moment to determine if there are aspects to the game that are still unfinished or deliberate. But eccentric is clearly an understatement to describe a game like this, as it is filled with layers of cryptic lore and utterly surreal visuals that want you to keep asking questions. The game has the promise that there is no true answer to the mystery at hand and that there are multiple ways you can tackle the narrative. It is certainly something I am looking forward to and I too, hope to enjoy my own time in Paradise.

Sword of the Necromancer

Your girlfriend is dead and now you have to find the forbidden Sword of the Necromancer to try to revive her! Roguelite, dungeon crawler games like these are not my jam at all and I personally find that many of them just end up blurring together in my mind. Yet, Sword of the Necromancer definitely has promise for those who are into this genre as another one that can be added to the personal library with pretty solid visuals, straightforward mechanics and even a co-op mode.

Weaving Tides

Weaving Tides is a puzzle adventure game in which you mount the back of your carpet dragon friend in order to weave across the textile-laden world to solve obstacles along the way. At some points, with your dragon’s tail acting like a thread, you need to patch up holes in the map by weaving through them. Enemies encountered can also be defeated by trapping them within the weave you make. The game’s concept is very charming, entirely themed around textiles and the processes behind fabric and embroidery. It has a visual style that is textured to look like everything is made from arts and crafts in some manner, presenting tiny, subtle details craftspersons would recognize and appreciate.

Many games events that have happened in 2020 have proven the resiliency of an industry when it comes to easily translating things for a community that has already been so normalized to the idea of being online and plugged in 24/7. Indie Arena Booth Online has presented a very unique and fun take on what a virtual show can do and look like. They continue to ask the questions on what future in-person events should do to innovate and be as accessible as possible, now knowing that a virtual event is more than capable of fulfilling everything a real life one can. In some ways, events such as these are possibly paving the path to large shows like E3’s obsolescence, and this also begins to beg other questions on how valuable some physical events were to begin with and what that means for them when they return.

The post First Impressions of Indie Arena Booth Online appeared first on Gamesline.