Shockingly, I did manage to play a solid number of game titles with a healthy investment of time put into them to make the assessment that they are pretty damn good. Sadly, making room to shove even more games on my plate was probably not the best idea, so there were many that caught my eye, but simply passed on by in a blur.

The blessing and curse of things like Steam sales and big-cut discounts ensure that my gaming queue will never be empty, and I have no reason to complain about being bored ever again. It’s not like I have really “missed” anything, when for the most part titles on my to-do list are likely to remain accessible to play for a long time. However, I also cannot say with certainty how much my 2020 gaming palette would have been any different if I did indeed play these titles fresh from their initial release windows.

5. The Flower Collectors

Actually I lied—sorry! I already completed the first couple of chapters of The Flower Collectors. Set in a fictionalization of a 1970s Spain set in the aftermath of the Franco regime, The Flower Collectors takes a lot of cues from mystery thrillers like Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, in which you play a boomer ex-cop bound to his apartment teaming up with a young,idealistic journalist after witnessing a crime from his window. Spanish citizens are now anthropomorphic animals, but that eccentric window dressing does not undermine what has been a compelling mystery so far set in a very specific socio-political setting I would love to learn more about. Still can’t make heads, tails, OR paws as to why furries are having a noir movement for some reason even into this next year!

4. Summer in Mara

I was following Summer in Mara for a while since its original crowdfunding campaign and followed along its marketing trail across the various in-person to online shows that it was being promoted. As another cozy farming sim with all the expected works of crafting, cropping, and cooking, I was pleased with the promise of its archipelagic cultural and visual influences and what I played in its demo, but never went past the confinement of its walls. In fact, I even finally recently purchased the proper full version of the game but still have yet to dip my toes in it, knowing there’s even more seas to see and a boat to cruise along it too! Oh well, it looks like summer has to wait yet again.

3. Alba: A Wildlife Adventure

Alba: A Wildlife Adventure is another game set in the isles that also just happens to check another box by clustering itself with a bunch of titles released in 2020 that feature  photography mechanics as well—and unfortunately for me, it was another title that got lost in the sauce well after that year turned over. You play a young girl who becomes impassioned by the animals she encounters, and soon takes it upon herself to try and rally others to help bring awareness to and revitalize the community’s wildlife. Although photography is not the main selling point of Alba, it seems to evoke similar intentions with the hide-and-seek aspect to TOEM, while being more close to the themes of another nature conservationist game Beasts of Maravilla Island.

2. Wintermoor Tactics Club

Wintermoor Tactics Club seems like it would have been another game that would be an easy win in my book: tactical RPG  inspired mechanics, visual novel elements, and a bunch of rambunctious, imaginative kids just trying to survive school drama and perhaps the drama of the otherworldly kind. And yet, it is another game I already have in my library that is collecting dust with the plastic shrink wrap still tightly hugging it. I took an interest in Wintermoor because its premise seems strongly inspired by Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, a game I adored and played hours on end. Both games’ events are catalyzed by a snowball fight and the enduring troubles of teens simply trying to escape reality; though I sense that Wintermoor does not include the terrifying, traumatic isekai part and all the angst that followed in Final Fantasy.

1. Kentucky Route Zero

I know. Tons of people have already raved about how well Kentucky Route Zero hits its points, yet I still sit here with zero comprehension on what any of that acclaim actually means. Kentucky Route Zero already started off as a game mostly relegated to the praise of critics when its first part released way back in 2013, but it was soon a lingering memory that depended on loyal followers to be reminded of its existence for what grew to be sporadic updates reliant on a very small team of developers. The conclusive fifth act of the game was finally released many years later in 2020, and based on what those whose opinions I trust have said about it, it seems like the wait was worth it. It was a long road taken for the game to finally be respected as a modern Southern Gothic story. While I can’t wait to finally experience the complete journey it for myself, it seems like everyone else had to.

The post Elvie’s Top 5 Missed Games of 2020 appeared first on Gamesline.

The Gecko Gods – by Solon
Louis Waloschek

You know how in Zelda games Link always walks into a dungeon and everything’s like perfectly sized for him? Well, same spirit of dungeoneering, but now you’re a gecko! In The Gecko Gods, everything’s much larger than you and definitely still made for people, but you’re doing your best by walking on walls, jumping over gaps, and solving puzzles. Little Linky lizard slinking ‘round some ruins solving mysteries and stuff! The dynamic where everything in these rooms is perfectly still until you interact with it was really captivating!

Bear and Breakfast – by Elvie
Armor Games Studio

Look at that damn cute bear! In this management sim, Bear and Breakfast has you play a bear trying to run a bed and breakfast alongside his fellow forest-bound friends—all while possibly learning that there is more to the wood itself.

Button City – by Solon
(Subli)minal Gaming

A lot of indie games this year are working towards being feature-rich and full of different modes and mechanics to play with, and Button City is one of these that puts in all the systems I love to see. I’m not one for farming and house-sim mechanics, but show me a car INITIAL-D DRIFTING and I’ll freak out. Button City has you taking down capitalists with all your friends with a pastel-y and anthropomorphic style very reminiscent to Ben Esposito’s Donut County and that’s always a headspace I want to be in.

Lake – by Elvie
Gamious via Whitethorn Games

Man, if you haven’t been really keeping up with things this past year, or just somehow never gotten mail ever, you would know our country’s public postal system deserves better! I am actually not sure what Lake is trying to do here, but I’m intrigued. In lieu of many cheesy Christmas movie rom-com premises, you were a #girlboss who was just sick of urban life and decided to lay down low moving back to a smaller community in the suburbs; except instead of falling in love with a prince from a fictional country, she decided to become a mail carrier! Through your job, you get to know the residents of the town more, and perhaps are bound to fall in love at some point anyway,

Paralives – by Solon
Alex Massé

I’m looking up more about Paralives right now, and the trailers that played during Wholesome Games didn’t even give us half the picture. I’m enraptured by how Paralives let’s you cleanly control building a house like it’s The Sims, but with way more architectural customization, by letting you extend walls and adjust elevations, you can express a character’s stylings so much more thoroughly and subtly than simply filling a flat square with knick-knacks. This is the aspect of interior-decorating that gets me excited, and on top of that, looking through the dev documents, it seems there are full characters and narratives that are currently being built out. Plenty to come from Paralives!

Woodo – by Elvie
Yullia Prohorova

You know that baby puzzle-solving toy where you have to put a shape in the right hole? That is what Woodo is! But more complex! Woodo is based on the charm of wooden toys all in video game form. You scan through rooms to fit objects all in the right place where they belong, and these challenges seem to increasingly get harder as the scope of the room expands. It’s a rather simple concept that can still get your brain juices flowing while innately tapping into your inner baby—and I think it’s brilliant!

We Are OFK – by Solon
OFK

So this confuses me and charms me. OFK is like supposed to be an actual band IRL but virtual, kiiinda loosely like the Gorillaz, but as far as I understand they mostly exist for this game, whose trailer is super well done! I’m not sure what direction the game itself is going and so this is something I want to keep a close eye on because there’s so much messaging that seems like It’s desperate to be seen bya millennial audience, but also deeply corporatized for marketing purposes. I think I’m capable of being hype for a trailer and also skeptical of the direction it’s going in? Either way, We Are OFK is going to be fascinating to see this develop.

KreatureKind – by Elvie
Valiant

KreatureKind had an awfully short teaser within the grand scheme of the Wholesome Games’ showcase, but it captured my eyes with its stunning, highly illustrative, character-driven art style. A card battler, KreatureKind takes heavy inspiration from fantasy and subverts our usual expectations of combat by instead having you kill things with kindness. Despite the very little we have seen with the game thus far, its concept certainly puts “wholesome” in Wholesome Games.

Princess Farmer – by Solon
Samobee Games

There were so many Witchy Puzzle Farming games throughout the E3 lineups today, and for me, Princess Farmer as well as Spirit Swap: Lo-fi Beats To Match-3 To both scratched a really nice itch for me aesthetically and mechanically. If I could just smoosh them together into like one of those 2-pack DVDs you used to see at the grocery store it would be perfect. I think the Switch actually has that functionality? Either way, be strong and gay and beautiful and match-3 to farm up some witch’s brew while some hella good tunes play!

Please Be Happy – by Solon
Studio Élan

“I love being a fox!” and immediately the trailer showed a foxgirl making out with a different anthropomorphic girl. That’s the opening for Please Be Happy’s showcase in the Wholesome Games E3 block, and you know what? Yuri visual novels in the Wholesome Games! That owns! Let’s go! No more information needed, thank you Wholesome Games for repping art. It’s Studio Élan, so if you know… you know.

Passapartout 2: The Lost Artist – by Elvie
Flamebait Games

Art is pain and the sequel to Passapartout: The Starving Artist is here to come back with a vengeance to remind you of that! Our Muppet-like Frenchman returns to the canvas for Passapartout 2: The Lost Artist, and they seem to be in better spirits! Not much else is known about this so far besides returning to the usual system found in the first game, but the announcement trailer leads us to believe we are in a different location (Italy? Pray tell.) where we must impress to find success. What sort of new grievances will burden our creative soul this time?

LEGO® Builder’s Journey – by Solon
Light Brick Studio

LEGO® isn’t messing around! You want extremely well-lit peg blocks going on an adventure? I didn’t know how much this was something I needed nor how much effort LEGO® was going to be putting into what looks to be a text-less adventure game where everything is expressed through simple LEGO® puzzles. It’s kinda like the Captain Toad games but with a wider opportunity space and a super special lighting system.

Ooblets: Port Forward – by Elvie
Glumberland

Speaking of an all-new location, the Ooblets: Port Forward update is now here! According to the official developer’s update logs, Port Forward is going to be a “pretty big departure” compared to the gameplay of the other game’s regions thus far. Following a major quality of life update as well, which included finally the ability to stack items on other furniture pieces (Take note, all life sims!), the Pokémon-like title is still technically in Early Access, and every new update is taking a huge step towards what a huge (cute) behemoth of this game will potentially become in its final release.

If you’d like to see even more games, the entire list was full of charm and love! We recommend checking out the Wholesome Games website where you can wishlist and follow and Patreon-ize and all the other indie things we need to do to support these games within their overwhelming storefront infrastructures! We all lift up together out here!

The post E3 2021 Day 3 (But It’s Actually the Real Day 1, Full Release) – Wholesome Games Direct Roundup appeared first on Gamesline.