I wasn't expecting much when I first stepped onto the indie games floor of MAGFest 2017. I've been to several conventions representing Extra Life in Philadelphia, and after several lengthy research sessions trawling through YouTube to find something worthwhile for our Week Aheads, I've grown jaded. You could make a quilt the size of an American football field with screenshots from every retro-pixel Dark Souls-difficulty roguelike hitting Steam each week, and while I was always excited to see new developers within the Greater Philadelphia, D.C. and Baltimore area where I live, it rarely manages to go beyond "school project" territory: neat ideas lacking the time, expertise, or polish to truly make for an easy recommendation.
Well, the many indie developers at MAGFest sucker-punched my expectations and proved to me how very, very wrong my prior assumptions had been. It turns out there are a lot more talented developers in my local area than I had thought, and I have never been so excited to return to a game floor just to discover something else I might have missed.
To talk about everything I did play would take too much time, and I missed just as much on the show floor as I managed to play. However, I wanted to highlight a series of games I anticipate GWJers to not only be interested in, but to be gifting each other in future Steam sales. Here are my MAGFest 2017 Indie Games to Look Out For.
Pixel Noir
"But wait!" I hear you ask. "Didn't you just criticize retro-graphics in the overly verbose preamble to this listicle?" Why yes, I did! However, while retro-graphics have become an over-saturated demographic unto themselves, it wasn't necessarily Pixel Noir's graphics that grabbed my attention. There's a polish to the presentation here that many such games do not get, and a variety of clean animations that you wouldn't have found even in the games being made homage to.
Regardless, it's the story and setting that I think will draw players in. There's some Blade Runner style noir in there, a very clear Shadowrun influence in terms of the RPG gameplay, and even some creepy 80's and 90's cyberpunk anime aesthetic going on.
The combat, however, could still use some work. Inspired by Super Mario RPG's timed-attacks for boosted damage or defense, there's not really as wide a window of opportunity as afforded in the inspirational game's animation. However, the game is not slated for release until 2018, and the developers were open to my feedback on such an issue. Of course, you can play a demo for yourself, and I'm sure the developers would love any feedback you can provide.
Sneaky Ninja
Developer Michael Sullivan sought out to bake himself a special dish using the key ingredients of Super Mario accessibility and Mark of the Ninja stealth design, topped with Mini-Ninjas' totally adorable character-design philosophy. The end result is a pretty delicious gaming meal that allows players to progress through each level at their own pace and in their own fashion. Do you want to sneak by all the enemy guards? Or would you prefer to defeat them all on your way to the goal?
While the Mark of the Ninja influence is quite obvious in user-interface and feedback, that focus on Mario's friendly design keeps it from being a copycat. This is a stealth-action game that parent and child can enjoy. Developer Michael Sullivan is planning to release on Steam in February 2017 and hopes to publish onto the WiiU eShop shortly after that. You can find more information at on the Starfall Studios website or keep an eye out on Steam.
RPG Arcade
I've been following Island Officials since playing their game Hands on Tengrams way back at the now-defunct VGXpo in Philadelphia. They're right around the corner from my parents' house and also host the wonderful South Jersey Geekfest, so I've always counted on seeing them at local events and finding out what they've been working on. They've always produced some good work, but RPG Arcade is no-doubt my favorite thing they've done.
While the presentation is very clearly Final Fantasy-influenced, the mechanics are much more drawn from the likes of Super Mario RPG and Shin Megami Tensei. Focusing purely on the combat and a touchscreen-friendly interface, the player jumps between characters as the need arises, using their equipped attacks to slaughter the hordes of foes on the left side of the screen. Time your taps or clicks to reduce damage taken or deal additional damage. Keep an eye on those cooldowns and be careful not to lose track of player health.
You can find out more about RPG Arcade on the game's website.
Railgun
Railgun was perhaps the most polished of all the games on display, and given the development background listed on the game's website, it's no surprise to see why. Railgun is a perfect modern arcade game, taking the concept of Space Invaders and introducing it to a 3D world. You have to shoot down asteroids and space ships plummeting towards your city, with nothing more than the rail circling it to navigate, and an assortment of weapons to swap between based on the situation.
Throughout the weekend I kept on wanting to go back and play, to see if I could take lessons learned from my first time and implement them on a superior playthrough. The concept itself may be simple, but Full Impact Games is going as deep as that small pond can go, and by release will even come with weapon-customization options.
If you'd like to give it a try then you can sign up for the Closed beta access currently going on now.
Seafoam Empress
The internet would certainly have you believing that, even now, everyone but Nintendo is making their own take on the Metroid style of progressive world-exploration*. Indie studio Sky Tyrannosaurus has combined said influence with that of the Capcom-developed Little Mermaid NES game to produce my favorite demo of the entire show. A wonderful setting with wonderful characters and animation are the first thing to draw you into this game.
What makes Seafoam Empress stand out mechanically from other games of its type is the manner in which you interact with the environment. While underwater, the player is always sinking, requiring them to carefully think about how they will navigate through hazards in the environment. The player also does not have any weapons or guns to wield against foes, at least not at first. It's all about using shells, jars, and a variety of other objects within the environment to clear paths and survive dangerous threats. Which item you choose to carry comes with unique abilities that could require careful planning when solving a puzzle, many of which are designed with Nintendo's style of expert care.
Even thinking about it now has my fingers twitching in anticipation. It's a good thing then that Sky Tyrannosaur plans on releasing a demo to the public soon, as this may just now be one of my most anticipated titles of 2017. Keep an eye on their website for more information.
* Thanks to forum member ClockworkHouse for a much better term than Metroidvania.
Comments
I want to be cynical and detached, but some of those screenshots are tugging at me.
Words... are a big deal.
Jill Lapore wrote:Editing is one of the great inventions of civilization.
You should see Seafoam Empress in motion. It's like playing a cartoon.
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