A sequel to 2015 game Stasis, which I never played.
Stasis Bone Totem sees husband and wife oceanic salvagers Mac and Charlie O’Bannon (and robotic bear Moses) stumble across a derelict oil rig run by the Cayne Corporation.
What follows is a Lovecraftian tale that takes the main characters all the way down to an undersea complex and melds themes of an ancient alien civilisation, unnatural human experimentation and Gieger-esque visuals.
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At its heart, Everspace 2 is an arcade shooter – and I’m perfectly fine with that.
Originally funded by a crowd-funding campaign, Everspace 2 has just come out of a two year early access phase.
It describes itself as “a fast-paced single-player space shooter with deep exploration, tons of loot and classic RPG elements.” Well, it’s all of those things wrapped up in a space faring package that will scratch that space combat itch that’s been bugging you for so long.
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I usually find that when I think about a game at lot when I’m not playing it.
Trying to find solutions to mysteries, mulling over exactly what did that cryptic conversation with a character mean, then I’m usually smitten with that game.
For me at the moment, that game is Dredge, a “fishing” game from a game development studio in my home town in New Zealand, that has buried itself into my mind and I can’t stop thinking about it, I can’t stop playing it.
I’m smitten with this indie gem.
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Deliver Us Mars has come out of the blue for me. I had no idea of its existence and have to say the same about its prequel, Deliver Us The Moon.
But now after playing Deliver Us Mars, I have an interest in going back to investigate the prequel.
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I don’t do scary Movies, scary TV or scary Video Games. I just don’t enjoy them, never have…and never will?
Yes indeed, confusion abounds because I love the Dead Space franchise. The sci-fi setting, the stunning graphics and immersive in-game UI all sold me on this niche genre in 2008.
Making Dead Space an all-time fav of my Xbox 360 generation.
Its 2023 and in keeping with the current market trend, EA have seen fit to have Motive Studios “remake” Dead Space… and wow. It is very, very good.
So it should be though, as the bones the remake is built on are just as solid now, as they were 15 years ago.
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In Wavetale, you play as Sigrid.
A young girl who lives on an island above a submerged city of Strandville that lies in an island archipelago.
Wavetale was first released on Google Stadia in 2021 but has now made its way to PC, and is predominately platforming with a smattering of combat.
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Somerville, the debut release from Jumpship. A new independent studio out of Surrey in the UK co-founded by Dino Patti of Playdead (Limbo and Inside) fame.
And this history is very evident within Somerville. Is it to the same calibre of Inside and Limbo? Not quite, but there is still enjoyment to be had here.
Although I have already mentioned Limbo and Inside as comparisons for Somerville, I think the best way to describe it is Cloverfield meets Another World.
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If you’re looking for a game that was the very definition of a relaxing experience, then Submerged: Hidden Depths could well be the game you’re looking for.
Coming from Australia-based development studio Uppercut Games, Hidden Depths has players guide a young woman, Miku, as she explores the ruins of a flooded city, having to heal the city from a black vine-like substance called The Mass.
Hidden Depths is a sequel, I guess, to Uppercut’s game Submerged from 2015 and I’m able to tell you about my first hour with latest game.
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Five years.
Five long years (actually, it’s more like five and a half years but what’s six months?)
That’s how long I’ve been waiting for Psychonauts 2 from Lucasfilm alumni Tim Schafer & his Double Fine Productions studio to be released since I backed it on crowd-funding platform Fig in January 2016.
I’ve long been a fan of Tim Schaefer’s work – don’t get into a conversation with me about how good Grim Fandango is – and while Broken Age didn’t do it for me, despite funding that, too, I jumped at the chance to crowd-fund Psychonauts 2 when I learned it needed help to be made. This was a chance to be part of game development history, right?
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Fenyx Rising initially presents as a light take on Greek Mythology. It has a colourful art style, cartoonish characters and a banter-heavy story presentation. After spending days with it, I can say it is as broad, deep and work-like as any major Ubisoft product out there.
The sheer volume of tasks awaiting you stands in the dozens of hours. It is not a Breath of the Wild wannabe, although the similarities are many. Fenyx Rising is an adventure heavily reliant on simple physics puzzles combined with the sting of some very tough combat. It is also very customisable. Combat too much? Change the difficulty to easy. Just want to do puzzles? Seek them out from high ground and place stones on weight plates to your heart’s content.
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Stranded on a desert island, what do you bring? As much as I would love to say…. “a PS4 and a copy of Windbound”, alas I cannot. Its beautiful art style and fun sailing mechanics, have been scuttled by the tough rogue-like penalties and clunky combat encounters.
Windbound is a survival game built around rouge-like mechanics and procedurally generated islands. Anyone who has played “Don’t Starve” will have a very good understanding of the design philosophy.
Windbound initially presents as a sort of paired down version of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Which, let’s be honest is a great place to start. Windbound will not however, have the broad appeal of Zelda. I think it’s going to be an acquired taste for many gamers as they will need to be patient and forgiving lovers of rogue-likes, to find joy here.
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