Coming up on the best indie games of December: An iconic indie platformer, an RPG that knows
your name, and one of 2016's best stealth games.
But first, a final reminder, some news and some honourable mentions.
Today is the last day to vote for our 10 best indie games of 2016.
We're taking part too, and in fact, you can see my votes on the screen now.
To have your say, take the survey in the description.
Stay tuned to Indieformer to find out the final results December 31.
Night in the Woods has got a new release date of February next year, as well as a new darker
trailer.
Overland got the same treatment, with a confirmed 2017 release and a new trailer.
The game will combine post-apocalyptic road trips with squad-based strategy.
Metamorphabet is an interactive and creative alphabet, and it'll be pay-what-you-want
for the rest of the year on itch.io Lastly, Memoranda, a game based on the works
of writer Haruki Murakami, will release January 25.
That's the news, next up is our honourable mentions.
The zombie shooter Arizona Sunshine is one of the best games to come to VR so far.
However, because of a partnership with intel, horde mode was made available only to those
with 5th-7th generation core i7 CPUs.
The feature has since been made available to all players, but the whole affair has left
a sour taste in our mouths.
A Steam top seller on launch day, Astroneer has been blowing up.
At its heart, the game is about exploring the expanses of space and making cool stuff
with all the loot you find.
It can be played solo or co-operatively with up to 4 friends.
Like most early access games there are some early hitches, including fps issues and regular
freezing.
Astroneer has a bright future ahead of it.
Made for Ludum Dare 37, Code Red is an action platformer in which you play as a beast breaking
out of a lab.
The attack animations are stunning and the music gives off Metroid vibes.
Jumping felt hard to control for us, but that's quite excusable for a game made in 3 days.
Lobotomy Corporation is a permadeath simulation game in which you must contain monsters.
Still in early access, it still has some kinks to work out.
Samurai Lantern is unabashedly small in scale, but nevertheless enjoyable.
It has a killer hip-hop soundtrack and nice, simple controls.
Also, as you can make out from our gameplay, it's very fast and very tough.
If you do try it out, we hope you don't die as often as we did.
Managore, aka Daniel Linnsen, is back at it again with another out-of-the-box game.
Walkie Talkie is this giant message board that lets all players post and see one another's
messages.
Each message can be converted and then played as a mini-platform level.
There are over 7000 messages at the time of recording, so that means there are that many
unique levels to play.
It's free too, so you can go add to that number right now.
That's the honourable mentions done.
Now for the last time this year, let's crack into the top 5 indie games of month
We begin with a game that's a bit out of left-field.
Maggie's Grinning Soul was made for Ludum Dare 37, and for any game made in such a short
time, it is inherently limited.
Everything is rough around the edges and the game lasts less than an hour.
Still, the game really hooked us as we played it, and we'd love to see the concept expanded
further.
Set in the 70's, you play as a psychic hired to investigate the mysterious murder of a
David Bowie-loving teenage girl.
Pointing and clicking around items in her room you're able to talk to her spirit.
Different items trigger different questions that you can ask the girl.
Choosing which questions to ask is where things get interesting.
If you ask something that upsets the girls' spirit, she makes another mark on what turns
out to be a hangman drawing.
Ask too many wrong questions and you'll lose, adding some great tension and making
you more invested in the game.
For such a quick production, the voice acting is surprisingly good.
Aside from a few corny lines, the voice of the psychic adds great personality.
Not to mention, the French accent is nice too.
Maggie's Grinning Soul is not as complete a game as we usually show in our top 5, but
that doesn't make it any less interesting.
It's free to play, so we implore you to give it a try after the video.
Dungeon Souls is a perfectly fine game, but ultimately, it's just another indie roguelike
that we didn't really need.
All the genre usuals are present: shops, loot, randomised dungeons, booby traps, permadeath,
a Spelunky ghost and the list goes on.
If there are any roguelike fans out there desperate for a new game, then Dungeon Souls
will certainly suffice.
But outside of that demographic, we're not sure exactly who Dungeon Souls appeals to.
Everything just looks and feels same old, even its name, a pun on the Souls series,
screams traditional dungeon crawler.
We're not saying that roguelikes shouldn't be made, just that they've got to do something
new.
Crypt of the Necrodancer did it best with its rhythmic twist, flashing dancefloor and
fantastic soundtrack.
Risk of Rain had sprawling levels and was one of the first with good co-op.
Nuclear Throne and Gungeon brought bullet hell.
Dungeon Souls however, seems content with the status quo.
Whilst activating the 5 marks randomly placed in the level to progress seems fresh at first,
it quickly becomes repetitive.
Aiming, particularly for ranged attacks, is straight-up faulty.
You can't hold your line, and it makes the game frustratingly difficult.
Roguelikes demand hours of play before you get good, and sometimes that means hating
the game before you like it.
Spelunky is my favourite indie game of all time, but I hated it before I loved it.
In Dungeon Souls that payoff doesn't seem to come.
It feels and never ceases to be laborious.
Dungeon Souls is an uninspiring and limited roguelike that presents the genre in its most
basic form.
The Shantae series began in 2002 with the self-titled 'Shantae' on the Gameboy.
That first edition was published by Capcom, but ever since 2006, it has been self-published
by developer Wayforward.
This new game, Half-Genie Hero, is the fourth in the series, and the first to have 3D art.
It's a huge upgrade and the best Shantae has ever looked.
Much like the Donkey Kong Country reboot, the game is still, for all intents and purposes,
a 2D side-scrolling platformer.
Given that, Half-Genie Hero mostly carries the same gameplay formula of its predecessors.
The constant on the run action and backtracking are all there.
The big change from 2014's Pirate's Curse is the reintroduction of transformations into
animals like elephants, monkeys and spiders.
It's a welcome change, as it keeps the action varied throughout the game's entirety.
It also reinjects the game with more of that charming Shantae character.
The soundtrack, like all series entries, is full of fantastic upbeat tunes.
However, the new presentation lifts it to another level.
The energy of Shantae as she bops during her idle animation, the colours that permeate
the screen—it all captures the happy-go-lucky nature of Shantae like never before.
Half-Genie Hero is a big evolution of the series and should more than satisfy all the
fans that backed it on Kickstarter.
The game is out on now on nearly every platform you can think of.
Oneshot is a postmodern RPG that plays with you in the most unexpected of ways.
The name Oneshot comes from when the game first debuted as a free online title two years
ago, back then, if you tried to reload the game it wouldn't work.
Why?
Because you only get one shot.
This feature has been removed from the paid version, but it gives you a taste of the game's
clever, peculiar and facetious nature.
Without telling it, the game knows your name.
The info is taken from your Windows profile.
For unaware players, like us, it is an incredibly spooky moment.
Without spoiling anything, this is not the only way Oneshot meddles with your PC or your
mind.
These unusual proceedings continue to unfold, and surprise, thrill and unsettle you.
They also immerse you the person into the game.
You're referred to as God by the inhabitants of the game world.
Niko, the cat-girl you follow, is the messiah.
She carries the last source of light in this bleak world, hoping to restore it to its radiant
past.
It feels like the game knows you, and it makes you care more about the world and the plight
of Niko.
You feel responsible for Niko, guilty for harming her, proud for helping her.
Undertale has opened the floodgates for metafictional gaming.
Somewhat ironically, it is a game originally made before it and now remastered that has
been the next to do something truly different and remarkable with the postmodern genre.
With its unusual techniques, Oneshot grabs the player and throws them down its rabbit
hole for a strange and exciting ride.
Today's stealth games seem to be about action as much as they are about stealth.
Take for instance last month's Dishonoured 2 and its creative takeouts or even Aragami
the month before that.
Shadow Tactics: Blades of Shogun goes against this trend, instead harkening back to older
titles like Commandos and blending stealth with real-time strategy for wonderful results.
You have 5 assassins to move about the battlefield.
They must remain undetected, so hiding behind walls, concealing fallen enemies and so on
is essential.
It's not easy to do.
From enemy positioning and patterns to the area's layout, there's always a lot to
consider, making mistakes common.
Perhaps the game's smartest feature is its quick save, which counters these inevitable
stumbles.
What it does is let you save at any point of the game.
Once you become accustomed, you'll be regularly saving and reloading your position.
It keeps the long and complex levels from getting out of hand, and encourages you to
try creative and bold strategies.
The story is surprisingly good, and the interactions between the characters on the battlefield
are satisfying and amusing.
The cel-shaded art works well and from snowy outposts to colourful night markets, the settings
are consistently delightful.
Our only gripes were that the controls, particularly the camera controls, could have been more
intuitive and that the load times were considerably long.
Outside of those few issues however, Shadow Tactics: Blades of Shogun is a fantastic stealth
game steeped in the art of observation, patience and execution.
It's out now for PC, with PS4 and XBOX One versions coming Q2 2017.
Thanks for watching.
We'll see you next time here on indieformer.
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