Sony puts the limelight on some ports and projects

Though big-name games can dominate the discussion, there are some cool indie projects slotted for the coming months. Today, PlayStation showcased s??even indie games coming to PlayStation 4 and PS5 in the future.

All of these games have either been previously announced, or? previously released on other platforms. That said, it's an honestly great collecti?on of rad games worth keeping an eye on, especially if some have slipped you by.

Sea of Stars

First up is Sea of Stars, the classic RPG from Sabotage Studio, which made The Messenger. It recently got delayed into 2023, but today Sabotage showed off some gameplay and mechanics. Actions can build up combo?s, and timed hits can increase your damage and mitigate incoming hits.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMComOd9qP4

Cult of the Lamb

Adorable cult simulator and action game Cult of the Lamb got a feature on some of its base management and farming. Which uh, includes poop. Really no way of sugarcoating that one. Cult of the Lamb is set for August 11.

Signalis

Sci-fi classic survival horror game Signalis showed off its haunting world and atmosphere. This is still one of my most-anticipated indies of the year; the classic Resident Evil setup just meshes so well with the CRT screens and dark world. Signalis arrives on October 27.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFNRihUyo5o

SCHiM

SCHiM made a splash at this year's Day of the Devs presentation, and for good reason. It's a neat exploration game about dipping and hopping between shadows. While it looks great in stills, it's even cooler in motion. Be sure to check out the trailer and keep an eye out for SCHiM sometime next year.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLvChfIFnBs

The Tomorrow Children: Phoenix Edition

Q-Games recently reacquired The Tomorrow Children and revealed its plans to re-launch it as the Phoenix Edition. Today, Q-Games confirms that the phoenix will r??ise on September 6, and it showed off Monoliths??, a new mechanic for this version.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1WCCkauZQU

Cursed to Golf

Sports roguelite Cursed to Golf puts an interesting spin on golfing. Well, really any situation in which you need to golf your way out of purgatory is going to be interesting. But the golfing afterlife arrives very soon, it turns out. Cursed to Golf chips its way onto PS4 and PS4 (as well as Xbox consoles and Switch) on August 18.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SPxcFWzf_M

Inscryption

Closing out the day's reveals is an oldie but a goodie. Inscryption, from Daniel Mullins Games, made a big splash on PC last year. Now it's coming to PlayStation, with some PlayStation-exclusive features in tow. The Stoat will talk through the controller, and lighting will come out of the controller too. Seems pretty creepy, especially if haptics are also getting involved. No date yet, but Inscryption is bound for PS4 and Ps5.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAn7OxLub9Y

The post PlayStation spotl??ights seven rad indie games making their way to PS4 and PS5 appeared first on Destructoid.

Indie games old and new appeared today

Nintendo aired a new Indie World Showcase today, spotlighting some new and previously announced projects coming to Switch. Cards, crabs, and Making the Band all made the cut, as the publisher and Switch? maker showed off what's on the way.

20 games were on the docket, including four that are out today. A few brand-new reveals were also in store, like noir-meets-Metroid adventure Gunbrella and the Soulslike Another Crab's Treasure starring a crab.

It wasn't the most explosive showcase, especially if you were holding out hope for some Hollow Knight: Silksong news. But as always, I walked away from t?his showcase with a couple more games on my To Watch list, and at least a few I'm going to download and check?? out this afternoon.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV3tesGHSFg

Here's the full rundown o??f everything shown today.

Every game shown in today's Nintendo Indie World Showcase

• Ooblets: Glumberland's cozy, chill farming and monster-raising sim makes its way to Nintendo's handheld this summer. Dress up, play arcade games, and then duke it out in dance battles.
• Batora: Lost Haven: This action-RPG takes a puzzle-y, nonlinear approach to the usual Diablo style. Balancing body and mind seems key to surviving the journey. That's from Stormind Games and Team17, out this fall.
• ElecHead: Nama Takahashi's adorable little puzzle game ElecHead hits a system that seems just perfect for it. Using the lil' robot guy's head and body, you solve a bunch of puzzles involving tricky floors and traps. That's on Nintendo Switch this fall.

• Soundfall: The first "available today" of the Indie World Showcase goes to Soundfall, a rhythm and dungeon-crawling hybrid from Drastic Games and Noodlecake. Explore the levels, pick up the loot, smack enemies, and do it all to the beat for extra power. It's got over 140 songs and, importantly for some, up to four players in local or online multiplayer.
• Wildfrost: A new tactical roguelike deckbuilder from Deadpan Games and Chucklefish is on the way. Wildfrost has a Norse mythology vibe to it, with some great art and what looks like a tactical approach to putting cards on the table. I'm intrigued to see more of this as we get closer to its holiday launch window.
• Totally Accurate Battle Simulator: This summer, armies of little dudes can be slammed against each other on a whim, and on the go. Totally Accurate Battle Simulator is headed to Nintendo Switch, so you too can be a callous and uncaring god, seeing if a few boulder guys can beat a mammoth.
• Gunbrella: This new game from Gato Roboto developer Doinksoft and Devolver Digital might be my highlight of the stream. A noir-punk Metroid-style game where the protagonist has a gun, that's also an umbrella. Say no more. But do please keep me updated and apprised as this aims for a launch on Switch next year.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uaqf0k9r36c

• We Are OFK: We got a decent look at Team OFK's Making the Band-style narrative adventure today. Released as weekly animated episodes with interactive music videos, I dig the vibe and look of this a lot. The series starts this summer, as Itsumi Saito and her friends embark on their journey to make it big.
• Silt: Giant fish! Big teeth! Silt looks frightening. But if you're somehow not terrified of the deep, and you should be, Silt is coming to Nintendo Switch in June.
• Mini Motorways: From Dinosaur Polo Club, this Mini builder lets you organize the routes and highways cars take on their daily commute. Much like predecessor Mini Metro, this looks like a deceptively straightforward but ultimately engrossing puzzler. It's out today on Nintendo Switch.
• Wayward Strand: This narrative adventure from Ghost Pattern has a real look and style to it. Follow along as an intrepid young journalist explores a flying hospital, in what looks like a cozy but probably very sad story. It hits Switch on July 21.

• Cult of the Lamb: We didn't learn too much new here, but Cult of the Lamb continues to look good. I was impressed by my time with it at PAX East 2022, and will definitely keep my eye on it, for whenever it lands this year.
• Another Crab's Treasure: From Aggro Crab, makers of dystopian dungeon crawler Going Under, it's Another Crab's Treasure. Be a crab. Fight other sea life. Acquire new shells. Profit? This new action-adventure crabwalks onto Switch next year.
• OneShot: World Machine Edition: Leading off the closing montage of indies is OneShot, a bit of a cult classic on PC that's coming to Nintendo Switch. I hesitate to say more, but fans of Undertale and Inscryption should take note. That's coming to Switch this summer.
• Gibbon: Beyond the Trees: Another out today, this game from Broken Rules has a narrative journey about a lost gibbon on a dangerous journey. Hopefully it isn't heartbreaking!
• Idol Manager: Manage and train a stable of idols on Aug. 25. I didn't get too strong of an impression from this, but it looks appealing to folks who like sim-narrative games, like the Princess Maker series.

• Card Shark: Devolver and Nerial's game about getting away with cheating at cards has two pieces of news. In the showcase, it was confirmed to have a demo out today. And right after, the team locked in a date of June 2!
• Cursed to Golf: This golf roguelike certainly made an impression in my PAX East demo. We didn't see too much today, but it's one for golf fans to keep an eye on this summer.
• A Guidebook of Babel: Since this popped up in the montage, I didn't get too much info about this. Even so, I dig the art, and it seems to have some kind of puzzle-solving going on too. I'm keeping my eye out for more info as we get close to a fall release date for this.
• Opus: Echo of Starsong - Full Bloom Edition: This under-the-radar hit from Sigono is coming to Switch, and doing so today. Its mixture of narrative and puzzles with some great art and mysteries put it on my backlog, and with a Switch version out today, it's about time I got to playing it.

The post Everything shown at today’s Nintendo Indie World Showcase appeared first on Destructoid.

Some of the coolest upcoming games we saw at the show

PAX East 2022 was a strange one. It was my first time attending the show since ??the pandemic shuttered in-person conventions. And it was nice, getting to see old friends, new faces, and plenty of?? interesting indie games in Boston again.

Throughout my four days, I wandered the show floor, checking ou?t plenty of games along the way. And to be clear, I didn't see everything. Despite best efforts and a slimmer-than-usual year, there was still plenty on the floor I never got a chance to check out.

But among the list of what I di??d see, a few in particular stood out. So without further ado, here are some games worth keeping an eye on from PAX East 2022.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uyhz-HBx9wI

Lucid

Take a little bit of every platformer you've dug in the past, mix it together, and you're somewhere in the ballpark of Lucid. It's got a little Celeste and Metroid, plus some time-trial speedrunning influence, and a Hyper Light Drifter-adjacent style.

B?ut comparisons don't really do justice to seeing it in motion. It ties this all together into a game that, even in a behind-closed-screens hands-off demo, looked tight and fast. This small indie project was one of my favorites of the weekend, and though I only saw a little slice, I'm incredibly interested in seeing what developer Eric Manahan has in store for the future.

Find it on Steam here.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=h66fgPv1EnM

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge

What more do I need to say? TMNT: Shredder's Revenge turned out exactly as I'd hoped it would. I??t's energetic, upbeat, easy to pick up and a blast to master.

It's full ??of charm, the way you'd want a Saturday morning brawler to play. The turtles, Splinter, and April all feel unique and worth swapping around the roster to check out. I'm glad this retro brawler is shaping up so well.

Find it on Steam here.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=avX_SrXRyTk

Cursed to Golf

Someone in the comments section of my preview asked why so many indies are tackling golf in particular. It's been a few days since, and I feel like Cursed to Golf provides the answer.

Golf itself is a malleable sport. You have clubs, a ball, and a hole you have to whack the ball into. Everything in-between is completely up to the designer; the course can take whatever twists and turns it wants. Cursed to Golf does just that, turning a grand ol' game of golf into a platforming, puzzle-solving, route-planning roguelike full of challenge and fun characters. It's a clever reinterpretation in the vein of Golf Story and What the Golf, and worth keeping an eye on.

Find it on Steam, with a demo, here.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxvpJ1g54sY

Signalis

The demo I tried out at PAX East 2022 was actually the same one I played last year, so I don't have much new to report on the Signalis front.

That is also an incredibly good thing, as I was more than happy to play that excellent demo again and still be just as excited for the full game. This lo-fi, sci-fi survival horror with classic Resident Evil vibes is high on my watchlist. If you like horror of the technologic, extraterrestrial variety, don't let Signalis slip by.

Find it on Steam here.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlwimDp1eqw

Cult of the Lamb

This was one of the big surprises for me. Not because I wasn't aware of Cult of the Lamb; I'd seen ??it pop up in showcases and trailers. But I did not think I was the target demographic for this one.

Behind the admittedly fun contrast of cute and grim, beyond the roguelite action, there's a base-building management side that captured my attention. Building a cult means building, after all. And I'm very eager to build my own adorable animal following when Cult of the Lamb finally drops.

Find it on Steam here.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJQjQ-nfJRY

Lego Bricktales

Few games have captured my childhood like Lego Bricktales, a game about physics and Lego bricks in equal measure. It's a fun adventure through a dioramic world that lets you problem-solve with batches of plastic br??icks.

Snap them together, then send across the robot and see if it holds. It's a surprisingly simple concept that works very, very well in the world of Lego. Keep an eye on Bricktales if you want more? hands-on buil??ding in your virtual Lego experiences.

Find it on Steam here.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYPSoSsOCrU

Rusted Moss

I managed to catch a spot on the Rusted Moss set-up in the PAX Rising area between appointments, which was a surprise in and of i?tself. It garnered quite the crowd there, and after playing some, it's easy to see ?why.

Rusted Moss has elements of bullet hell, Metroid, Contra, and even Bionic Commando. It looks great, feels great to play, and swinging across gaps with my ba??rrel blazing down on enemies felt incredible. It ticks an incredible number of boxes and, even in a short demo, made a long-lasting impression.

Find it on Steam, with a demo, here.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNsmLahKQE4

Potionomics

The way Potionomics mixes multiple genres I really enjoy together into one cohesive brew is pretty astounding. Sell potions to meet people, date those people, get their cards, and haggle better at the store. Build decks, seek rarer ingredi?ents, and?? meet the needs of a town full of adventurers and mysteries.

Throw in a dash of quite excellent character design and animation, and Potionomics seems to be coming together quite well. I'm exc??ited to mix, socialize, and sell later on this year.

Find it on Steam here.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMotjq4Dltg

Demon Throttle

The pitch for Demon Throttle is pretty different from your usual game. It's a physical-only game, for the ??Nintendo Switch. And while I'm cautious on the approach, I do admit,? it's a pretty fun game to play.

Demon Throttle is a pretty tough top-down shooter for two (or one person with character switching). It's got some RPG elements in the mix, and a lot of fun jokes. The pair of heroes seek revenge against a demon: the vampiress because it took her chalices, and the gunslinger because it slept with his wife. It's funny, very retro, and very fun. My one worry is more folks won't be able to play it, as it's currently sold out on the site. Hopefully manufacturing doesn't get in the way of a good time with Demon Throttle.

Update: Developer Doinksoft has reached out to clarify that pre-orders are currently capped to let the manufacturer know how much to make in the initial run. The game will start shipping in "July or August," and during that time, sales are expected to re-open. Their intention, Doinksoft says, is to ensure Demon Throttle is "continuously available" to buy after launch.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXQMkQ71F_M

WrestleQuest

Wrestling and RPGs turn out to be an incredible mix in WrestleQuest. At first glance, it's easy to get taken in by the pixel art and turn-based battles where several fighte?rs are duking it out in the ring.

Show up for that, but stay for the surprisingly good storytelling and tackling of darker subject matter. The narrative? in this isn't pulling punches, and it's got a star-studded lineup of wrestling legends to boot.

Find it on Steam here.

And one last note, special PAX East 2022 shoutouts to Match Point, a four-player competitive Pong-alike that's already out and was extremely fun to play; and Tough Love Arena, a free-to??-play browser-based fighting game. They're both alre??ady released, but very much worth your time.

_{This article has been updated to clarify Doinksoft's manufacturing plans for Demon Throttle.}

The post PAX East 2022: 10 of our favorites from this year’s show appeared first on Destructoid.

Golf your way out of purgatory

The sport of golf has been remixed quite a bit over the last few years. Games like Golf Story, What the Golf, and even the Mario Golf series have turned the sport on its head again and again. Cursed to Golf takes its o??wn sp?in, turning golf into a roguelite, and a pretty fun one too.

Cursed to Golf introduces your player character as quite possibly the greatest of all time. You're in the final rounds?? of a major championship and poised to permanently ink your name in the annals of histo??ry. Then lightning strikes.

A bolt strikes your golf down to the depths of purgatory. There i??s good news, as a looming spectral giant called The Scotsman informs you: you can, actually, golf your way out of the underworld. And so your journey begins.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=avX_SrXRyTk

It isn't as easy as driving your way to the green, though. The basics of golf are boiled down to their crucial components. There is a hole you must reach, using a driver, iron??, or wedge. Shot power and angle are easy to grasp and master, and there's no depth; it's a 2D, side-to-side scrolling view. Making shots felt very intuitive, very fast.

Forever cursed to golf

Every one of those shots has to count, though. Par is not really a metric of good or bad, so much as it's life or death in Cursed to Golf. Every course starts with five on your Par Count, and? ticks down. Run out of shots and you fail the hole, plummeting back to the depths to start anew. Smashing idols along the course can add more shots to the Count though, so ro??uting becomes very important.

Yes, routing. Holes can have multiple flags, obstacles to overcome, and different cha?llenges. Maybe a column of TNT blocks a path, so you'll need to use a ball to blow open a path. The alternate path might not require a spent ball, but it may then take a more perilous route, with plenty of places for a ball to get stuck.

Ace Cards bring it all together. As you progress through courses, shops and challe??nges will offer up Ace Cards that act like a power-up. Practice Shot lets you literally fire off a shot that doesn't officially move your ball forward, but also doesn't count towards par. It's extremely useful for tripping TNT or testing out a risky chip. Others let you add more shots to the Par Count or directly deal with hazards.

My favorites were, of course, the m?ore outl??andish. Activating a time-freeze card will let you drop a shot at any point in its delivery. So you can arc a golf ball just over where you need it to go—the hole, for example—and then, at just the right time, freeze and drop it straight down. The U-Turn felt like it opened up incredible new strategies; once activated, you can essentially "bump" your shot in a direction after firing it off. So you could, theoretically, slam a ball towards a wall, rebound it off, and then use an extra hop from the U-Turn to navigate up a series of platforms.

Golf platforming

If that sounds a bit like a platformer to you, well, it sometimes is. There were moments in Cursed to Golf where, as I was navigating the level, using physics and tools available to do things like hop ac??ross platforms or traverse dangerous areas, it felt like a pl??atformer. The last touch developer Chuhai Labs adds is a little bit of spin, which brings the platforming together.

After a shot's been fired off, you can add just a little bit of front or backspin on it. It's tiny and, ??as developer Liam Edwards told me during my demo, originally meant to help players who kept driving into corners and getting stuck. (I may or may not have done exactly that during my demo too.)

But that last touch puts the cherry on top of the golf sundae, making Cursed to Golf feel like a fun new take on golf. I failed my second hole, thanks to a risky full-send that plunked right into a bunker. And right away, I wanted a?? second run. I had so many ideas of how I could navigate better, route better using the Birdie Eye Cam, and tackle the hole like a true golfer?.

Cursed to Golf is also extremely charming. It's bright and colorful, with great pixel art filling out the courses. The music is chippy and fun, and for a game about golfing, it's got some fun humor and gags. It has a cheery approach to sporting out of the afterlife, like a mix of Hades and Golf Story, and it hits the mi?ddle point of that Venn diagram ?just right.

So yes, even at this moment, I'm eager to try my hand at escaping golf purgatory again. I'm sure those shots will work, with the right Ace Cards and a little spin on the ball. There's no firm date for tee-off, but this golf-based escape will be coming to PC, Switch, and Xbox this summer, and I'm looking forward to another shot at the devil's green. There's a demo available on Steam if you'd like to try your hand, too.

The post PAX: Cursed? to? Golf is a clever roguelite reinvention of the classic sport appeared first on Destructoid.

Metroid and roguelikes meet on the golf course

Golf games have been exploring just what virtual golf can be, exactly. And Cursed to Golf, a new golfing game from Chuhai Labs and Thunderful Publishing, asks: what if golf?? was a roguelike? And what if you were also i?n Golf Purgatory?

Announced today, Cursed to Golf is headed for PC in January 2022 as a full-fledged game. The setup is that you're on the winning shot of an international tournament when tragedy strikes, and ??now you—the Cursed Golfer, trapped in Golf Purgatory—need to tee off across the devious? courses of the underworld to get home.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWwv7HRifug

I mentioned "full game" because there's a precursor of sorts available free on Itch, if you'd like to get an idea of what Cursed to Golf is going for. I had act?ually played ?it a while ago, after seeing it pop up on social media, and it's pretty interesting.

As you golf through courses, you c??an pick up new boons to help you make Par on each new hole. Different upgrades can add new abilities to y??our golfer, to make navigating the treacherous hazards a bit easier, and it looks like the full game is adding some wild stuff. I love the portals, in particular.

The final game will also include online leaderboards, as well as over 80 holes to play and a Daily Challenge Mode. Basically, a lot of golf to play. I've been enjoying the way that developers have been re-interpreting the act of virtual golfing, with neat indies like Golf Story coming up with inventive uses for a classic style of gameplay. Seems like Cursed to Golf is one to keep an eye on if you're also into fresh takes on the digital green?.

You can wishlist Cursed to Golf on Steam over here.

The post Cursed to Golf will have you golf your way out of Purgatory next y??ear appeared first on Destructoid.