A whole slew of new games to watch for

2023 has no shortage of big, blockbuster games on the horizon. It's a year where Final Fantasy, Zelda, and Diablo are al?l getting new entries. Yet coming back from PAX East 2023, I kept thinking about the smaller games now littering my release radar.

Hone?stly, this is a major appeal of PAX, at least to media and the games vying for their attention. It's a time where we're in town for a few larger projects, like a panel or a big hands-on, but we then have a lot of time to fill with various booths and games we might not have known much about going in.

So, my list of favorite games I saw at PAX East 2023 reflects that. Some of these entries feel entirely expected, as they're the most obvious candidates. However, others are surprise hits I barely knew about going into the weekend. All of them are great, even the few that didn't manage to make the cut or that I couldn't find time for in my schedule. Even in 2023, PAX Ea??st reminded me that there's no shortage of interesting games arriving in the near-future. I hope you look into at least a few, and I'll add ??in Steam page links so you can wishlist anything you want to follow.

Our favorite games from PAX East 2023

[caption id="attachment_371196" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Yacht Club Games[/caption]

Mina the Hollower

This was easily my most anticipated demo going into PAX East 2023, and it did not disappoint. Mina the Hollower feels like a full foot-forward for Yacht Club, applying a similar blend of nostalgic reverence and modern updat??es to the Game Boy era?.

Despite looking like it was from that time, though, I was constantly surprised at how modern it felt. The action was fast, and Mina has so many tools at her disposal, despite a limited control scheme. This studio has been defined by Shovel Knight for a long time, but I thi??nk they'?ve found an excellent new addition to the crew in Mina.

Follow Mina the Hollower on Steam here.

[caption id="attachment_370167" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Brace Yourself Games[/caption]

Rift of the Necrodancer

At first, Rift of the Necrodancer may feel a bit too straightforward. A normal rhythm game without a dungeon-crawling, roguelite twist could seem unusually vanilla to longtime Necrodancers.

What Rift actually does is mix several different styles of rhythm gaming together into one mash-up that's greater than the sum of its parts. One part Guitar Hero, one part Rhythm Heaven, and one part Punch-Out!, Rift of the Necrodancer feels like a celebration of the rhythm games that inspired the original Crypt. And let me tell you, the higher difficulties ?are no cake-walk.

Follow Rift of the Necrodancer on Steam here.

[caption id="attachment_371434" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Chucklefish[/caption]

Wargroove 2

In a time where turns, tiles, and tactics are on the rise, Wargroove 2 sports a similar vibe with one big twist. I got to check out this new roguelike Conquest mode at PAX East 2023, and I found it to be a refreshing take on the long-running Famicom Wars foundation.

Rather than building a base and pumping out units, every individual piece is all the more critical. Items and commanders make for huge potential swings in the tides of war. Where I was once curious where Wargroove 2 would fit into this new landscape, I'm now eager to see how it continues to forge its own pat?h ahead.

Follow Wargroove 2 on Steam here.

[caption id="attachment_371218" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Necrosoft[/caption]

Demonschool

I wouldn't ever say that a game feels made for me, but I can certainly feel like a game is hitting all of my favorite styles, concepts, and ideas in one fell swoop. That's the case with Demonschool. University students get caught up in demonic happenings??, bouncing bet?ween slice-of-life hangout sessions and sleek, challenging, turn-based tactical battles.

Demonschool was already something I was watching based off the pitch alone, but playing it at PAX East 2023 just confirmed what I knew: that Necrosoft's RPG is one to watch. If you dig tactical RPGs, ?horror-infused style, or gam??es that break from the norm, this is a project worth following.

Follow Demonschool on Steam here.

[caption id="attachment_372143" align="alignnone" width="640"] Art concocted by Eric Van Allen[/caption]

Unannounced Train Project

Now, you may be asking yourself how we managed to get such a beautiful artistic rendition of a video game in our list here. Well, the answer is the Unannounced Train Project, a new game THQ Nordi???c was showing off at its booth at PAX East 2023.

It doesn't quite have a name yet and hasn't even been fully announced, but the studio was demoing a slice of it on the show floor. It's essentially a real-time strategy squad tactics game, with some serious Commandos vibes in what I'm assuming is World War II, or some version of it. Commanding a small unit ??to make its way into a nearby town, then planning an assault on an e?nemy artillery emplacement while simultaneously defending the town, felt incredible, and was easily one of the more memorable gameplay moments I had at East.

That said, there are no official assets available for the game at this time, so please enjoy my personal rendition of the events of the demo??. I hope they aptly convey the drama and ma??gnitude of the experience.

Wreckreation

I only got a few minutes with Wreckreation, but even those bits I played felt spectacular. This new high-speed racing game from former Criterion devs has all the action you'd wan??t, as well as some big s??andbox potential.

In the demo I played, I was able to place various ramps, then race along the course against the computer. The cars controlled great, the creation was intuitive, and slamming opposing racers off the course in Burnout fashion ??was solid. All in all, if you like vehicular racing ??and destruction, this is one to watch.

Follow Wreckreation on Steam here.

[caption id="attachment_371935" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Black Tabby Games[/caption]

Slay the Princess

The demo for Slay the Princess became a hot-topic of PAX East 2023, and for good reason. Black Tabby Games' horror story offers a lot of choice, and adapts well to however you approach it. The mor?al dilemma of the titular drive—slay the princess, save the world—can branch and fork ou?t into many directions depending on how you approach it.

For those who love The Stanley Parable, or just enjoy seeing unique narrative direction in games, Slay the Princess is well worth your attention. It's got eye-catching art and stellar writing, further strengthened by the great voiceover work. It's a small gem that's an easy recommendation fo??r anyone who's tired of the ??same-old, same-old in their video game storytelling.

Follow Slay the Princess on Steam here.

VICE NDRCVR

I am, admittedly, a massive sucker for interface-driven stories in games. So?m??ething about poking and prodding around an operating system and files, especially with a tinge of detective work and snooping where you shouldn't, just works for me.

VICE NDRCVR does all that, with an?? added air of '80s drug-fueled thriller, as you hack your way into the systems of the cartel to expose their secrets. It's all the joy of discovering aliases and establishing a crime ?network, with all the tension of sneaking into systems you shouldn't be in.

Follow VICE NDRCVR on Steam here.

[caption id="attachment_372131" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Angry Mob Games[/caption]

Trinity Fusion

I know "roguelite Metroidvania" is a common refrain these days. Maybe it's because of those expectations that Trinity Fusion surprised me. It handles well, for sure. It also has a novel concept: you play as thr?ee multi-versal versions of the same character, trying to merge their dying universes into one, less-doomed universe.

What really hooked me was how those different universes worked; each one has its own biomes, enemies, and layouts, and each version of the character has their own traversal options. So swapping between characters and universes added ample variety and a sense of exploration that's oft?en missing in roguelites. It's enjoyable, and it's hitting Early Access on April 13.

Follow Trinity Fusion on Steam here.

[caption id="attachment_371611" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via BattleBrew Productions[/caption]

Cuisineer

This was my second time demoing Cuisineer at PAX East, and it was a good reminder of how solid the set-up is. One part action-RPG dungeon crawler, one part shop management sim, these are?? two great flavors that go well together.

Add in a cute look and some solid cooking-battle theming like slamming a giant skillet down for damage, and Cuisineer just seems like a pleasant game to vibe in. Absolutely watch this one if you like the idea of some Recettear in your Hades.

Follow Cuisineer on Steam here.

[caption id="attachment_372110" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via WildArts Studio[/caption]

Born of Bread

I dig that Paper Mario has been steadily inspiring more and more indie RPG projects, and Born of Bread certainly captures some of that charm. Following a sentient bit of dough that becomes a real boy, Loaf and pals journey across the realms for answers and adve?nture.

It's hard to convey this in a text write-up, but Born of Bread is an endearing world to be in. It's lively and vibrant, with gorgeous art and some stellar music. Additionally, the humor is filled with puns and gags without being overbearing. There's enough character here to drive a solid RPG th?at seems pre-destined to eat up hours on my Steam Deck.

Follow Born of Bread on Steam here.

[caption id="attachment_371710" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Digital Sun / Riot Forge[/caption]

The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story

The League of Legends spin-offs have been largely working out well, and the trend looks to continue with The Mageseeker. I got to check out a behind-closed-doors look at PAX East 2023, and Digital Suns' action RPG experience from Moonlighter translates well to Sylas' magical rebellion.

Alongside some great, fluid combat, there's a magic system that rewards clever copying-and-firing of enemy magic. It offers fast action that also makes you think, without those two ideas ever conflicting enough to cause friction. Add in some gorgeous pixel art of popular League characters, and Mageseeker could make an impact this month.

Follow The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story on Steam here.

[caption id="attachment_372134" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via FLARB LLC[/caption]

Xenotilt: Hostile Pinball Action

From the makers of Demon's Tilt comes a sci-fi sequel Xenotilt. Much like its predecessor, Xenotilt ??is a pinba?ll game where you're essentially fighting the table itself. Different enemies and bosses appear in each zone, and you'll need to accurately and carefully deliver pinball fury to their faces.

It's not quite full sensory overload, but there is something magnetic about how much light, noise, and text Xenotilt delivers. It's hypnotic. You just enter the Pinball Zone (TM) and stay there, slamming metal spheres into faces and seeing numbers climb higher. In other words, if you enjoy pinball, you will enjoy Xenotilt. Heck, you'll probably enjoy Demon's Tilt, too.

Follow Xenotilt on Steam here.

[caption id="attachment_372133" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via NIS America[/caption]

The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails

In another special demo at PAX East 2023, I got a chance to check out the upcoming English localization of the Switch remaster of the 2012 PSP Trails spin-off, The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails. It is an action RPG that's a little more Mana than turn-based, and it has some older game vi?bes.

But those throwback-feeling vibes are why, at the end of the show, I kept thinking back fondly on Nayuta. It felt like a quaint, charming reminder of tha?t style of RPG, before the action portion overwhelmed the RPG side. There was just the right amount of hack-and-slash mixed with adventuring, and even the early PSP-era aesthetic feels strangely nostalgic fo??r its PS1 predecessors. I dig the older RPG port vibes, I guess.

No date's been confirmed yet, but The Legend of Nayuta is expected sometime this fall.

Street Fighter 6

Okay, this may be cheating. It's not like this was the first time Street Fighter 6 was playable, and Capcom itself was not at PAX East 2023. Rather, several hardware companies were using SF6 as a showcase to draw ?players towards their set-ups. And look: it worked.

I'm putting Street Fighter 6 here, not just to assert that it's quite good (it is), but to confirm that it's good in-person. Playing local Street Fighter 6 was fantastic, in a way I haven't felt about this series for a while. Even just playing a bunch of matches in the standard Ryu vs. Chun-Li match-up (I played the latter), I'm reminded of how good Street Fighter can be when it nails the fundamentals. And Street Fighter 6 feels like it's got that in spades right now.

Street Fighter 6 hits on June 2.

The post PAX East 2023: 15 of our favorites from this year’s show appeared first on Destructoid.

All about the dough

Born of Bread starts off simple enough. Papa Baker, a chef for the city's royalty, is asked to make some special bread for the evening's dinner. After using a book with a cursed air about it, he accidentally creates a sentient dough boy. He dubs the living loaf as Loaf, and so Born of Bread begins: an adventure following a magical b?read boy brought to life.

It is charming, for sure. Role-playing games don't always demo well in loud, busy show-floor settings like PAX East 2023, but Born of Bread immediately clicked. It's got a gorgeous look, evocative of its inspirations in Paper Mario; the writing is fun, and the music hits. It's not all presentation though, as WildArts Studio's Born of Bread is a solid RPG that's worth keeping an eye on.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_oTf7993wQ

Getting a rise out of you

In my demo, soon after Loaf came to life, a series of events trans?pired that sent both Loaf and Papa Baker out into the wilderness. From there, the game kicked off in earnest, as we ventured to return to town. The only problem was that many paths ?and monsters laid in our way.

The battle system for Born of Bread reflects its inspirations as much as the look of the game does. It's a tu??rn-based RPG with active systems, where properly timing a defensive move or clearing a minigame will increase your skills' power. There are a few different meters to manage??, like your WP (Mana, essentially) and RP, a separate resource I wasn't able to dip into often in the demo.

[caption id="attachment_372110" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via WildArts Studio[/caption]

Different enemies may be weak to different attack types, so it's important to track that. The system is fairly straightforward, but it's still engaging thanks to a decent variety of moves and foes, as well as the look and feel of the whole th?ing.

Forming the perfect crust

As I said before, Born of Bread is an incredibly charming game. Its art and presentation is fantastic, as 2D objects ?jut out from the 3D landscape. Characters react and animate in fun ways, during both battle and dialogue. All of it just has a lively, expressive vibe that comes across well.

This extends to the battles, as they use a trading card-style framing for attacking, defending, and more. What I'm most intrigued by is a system that wasn't present in the demo: a chat feed. Much like Paper Mario has its audience of onlookers, Born of Bread concocts a chat feed in which viewers can cheer or jeer, or even request cer?tain moves for bonuses.

[caption id="attachment_372108" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via WildArts Studio[/caption]

Add in some absolute jams for battle music and good laughs in the narrative department, and t??he whole thing just melds together well. This is a world I want to run around and adventure in, and I was bummed when my time came to a close in the demo. It felt like I had only just started by the time it wrapped.

The big bread-winner

What's interesting is, it sounds like Born of Bread will not be a terribly long RPG. I asked the developers about how long Born of Bread would be, comparing it to recent titanic RPGs like Octopath Traveler 2, but their estimate was well below that sort of run time. Epic tales are great, ?but it's nice to know there's some more bite-sized ad?ventures on the way too.

It's really hard to say too much more than what's been said already about Born of Bread. It's charming, pleasant, and clearly spurred on by a love for a certain style of RPG, while still forging its own identity. I'm excited to see more of this world and its characters, to learn more about the mysterious group that hounds the party, and just get more time with Papa Baker. Thankfully, it shouldn't be too long of a wait. Born of Bread is targeting a summer 2023 launch.

The post PAX: Born? of Bread could prov??e to be a delicious RPG adventure appeared first on Destructoid.

Or, you know, the power of pettiness

Social links are a popular tool in modern RPGs. But Loop8: Summer of Gods doesn't just settle for a side serving of socialization. Rather, Loop8 builds its house atop the bedrock of friendship, affection, and yes, even ha?te.

Developed by Marvelous and published by XSEED, Loop8: Summer of Gods is a "coming-of-age" RPG set in the quiet rural town of Ashihara, in August 1983. You are Nini, a "newly earthbound" teen. And it's one month until the world ends. You and your frie??nds must loop through the eighth month of the year until you either overcome the Kegai, an otherworldly threat, or humanity becomes doomed.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AlJr-Ytq1Y

It's a really high-concept set-up for the story that, in all honesty, I'm still not 100% clear on. The mixture of time-looping and alternate-world monsters felt like something that I'd probably understand a bit more in the full game, rather than the quick 20-minute demo I got on the showfloor of PAX East 2023. What I did look at, and what has me eager about Loop8's potential, is its social system.

Friends 'til the end

A core part of Loop8 is forming and reinforcing relationships with o???thers in town. I saw this right away when, as soon as I launched into the demo, I was tasked with getting an ally to help me take on a formidable foe. I needed to recruit the right person, and crucially, it wouldn't be based off their level or experience.

Rather, Saru—my demo-chosen companion—was effective because of his relationship with the person we'd be fighting. This was the first hint of an overarching theme, as different characters' relationships all intersect with each other in good or bad ways. A special screen showed ?the bar chart of everyone's feelings for each other, with varying intensity levels of Friendship, Affection, and Hate.

[caption id="attachment_371958" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via XSEED[/caption]

The extra twist was that to add Saru to my party, I needed to actually find him. The diffe?rent cast and party characters all wander around the town on their own schedule, doing their own thing. So for a short spell, I ran around a few areas, trying to pick up his trail and catch up to him. It might seem annoying, and heck, it could be in a full game.

But this, combined with the heavy reliance on social links, gave me an appreciation for how Marvelous is making social interactions a pillar of Loop8. It felt very centralized, in a time and place, in a quiet town where there's still a lot happening if you go looking. It?'s got real summer vacation vibes going, in a way I instantly connected with and enjoyed.

[caption id="attachment_371955" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via XSEED[/caption]

Battle your pals

Things got a little stranger once I moved towards the combat section. I should note here that there's a slight stuttering to Loop8 at times. I couldn't tell if this was a specific choice? to emulate film or TV, or?? just a tech thing. Either way, it was noticeable, though it only really felt in a bad way during fights.

Once it was combat time, I went straight to the boss—I was on a time crunch, after all—and started the battle. Here, fights got a little interesting; rather than controlling the whole party, I just issued orders to my own character. Saru and my fox-maiden pal did their own thing in a system that instantly made me recall original Persona 3.

[caption id="attachment_371953" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via XSEED[/caption]

That said, you can intuit what your character can do by focusing on the emotions in the air. Little quotation bubbles will give you a sense of whether someone will go on the offensive or throw some support. I didn't love this, but it wasn't the worst, and it did play into Loop8's  "relationships are important" drive. Different ??skills c?an be augmented with emotions too, either driving up the enemy's rage or calming it, or doing bonus damage based on the typing.

I do wish I had more to work with in my section, as I had a slim set of skills. Characters are set to develop more powers and grow over time, so hopefully there are more tools to deepen combat once you've gotten to know everyon?e in town.

For now, Loop8: Summer of Gods is an interesting curiosity to me. It combines the summertime vibes of a rural town with social sim constructs to inform its time-lo?oping narrative. Whether it clicks into place or not, it won't be long until we know for sure.

Loop8: Summer of Gods arrives for Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC via Steam on June 6.

The post PAX: Loop8 truly believes ?in the? power of friendship appeared first on Destructoid.

Not quite your average princess

Throughout a show like PAX East 2023, you'll usually hear some variation of the "seen anything good" small-talk around the show floor. It's a casual fallback, and sometimes you hear about something you've missed. Yet there was one phrase, around one game, that really dominated this year: "Have you seen Slay the Princess yet?"

I went into the show already familiar with Black Tabby Games' unique adventure game, as its trailer caught my eye a while back and its demo impressed in a recent Steam Next Fest. The premise is simple: you're on a path, to a cabin in the woods, and inside there's a princess. The Narrator, guiding your way, asserts tha??t you must slay the princess. If you don't, the world will come to an end.

What starts as an intriguing premise becomes a? delicate dance of posturing and reasoning. Who is trustworthy, and who is truly dangerous? Though the Narrator may not be the most conscionable person, the princess is no damsel i?n distress either.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=RByDoYQpFa8

Making a Princess

For PAX East 2023, Black Tabby Games prepared a new demo, promising new lines, scenes, and four new "Princesses" to discover. If you're intrigued at all by this premise, I highly suggest you take a break, go play the Steam demo, and come back. It's worth the surprise. But taking some time to talk with Tony Howard-Arias and Abby Howard, the duo behind Black Tabby, I was curious to see both how Slay the Princess has evolved, and how it began.

"So it was kind of a mechanical thing, actually, because we wanted to see if we could do a game that had much more limited assets than our other game, Scarlet Hollow, which is super labor intensive," Abby said. "So this was? a very minimal project."

Scarlet Hollow, Black Tabby's other title, is an episodic and long-in-development horror narrative. As the pair point out, it's been in development for a while, and still has more to go. With Slay the Princess, the duo has found a project that's narrower in focus and a little less intensive, while giving them a way to fund their work without worrying about outside support. The result is, as they describe it, something a bit like The Stanley Parable with an Eldritch spin.

[caption id="attachment_371937" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Black Tabby Games[/caption]

Choices matter

If you've played the demo, or you're cheating a bit and reading on despite me telling you to play the demo first, you have a rough understanding of Slay the Princess' structure. Chapter 1 thrusts you into the driver's seat, contending with the Voice of the Hero and The Narrator, and soon the Princess; each choice you make can create ?branching paths until it comes to a head. Then, Chapter 2 starts. The Narrator is unaware of this loop, you're accompanied by a new Voice in your he??ad, and the Princess is different.

The Princess you get is based on your actions in Chapter 1, which became a talking point amongst people who demoed Slay the Princess. "Which Princess did you get" was a fun little way of seeing how t?hese paths branched out, and started to give me an appreciation for all the ways in which Black Tabby Games ??accounts for the player's choices. The demo has 11 different endings, but each feels informed by little tidbits.

"Very c??hoice-driven," Abby said. "Like, that's what we really love to do with our games, is make it so your choices actually do really matt?er."

[caption id="attachment_371936" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Black Tabby Games[/caption]

A path all your own

??Bringing the knife down, as Tony explains, might put your relationship with the Princess on edge. Whether you kill her, or she kills you, could sh??ift things. Heck, maybe you don't even go to the cabin.

At first, the tea?m started with a list of princesses and the kinds of relationships they wanted to explore. But as wri?ting continued, the pair started to add more, adapting to address how players approached the story.

"Like the first demo, I think there were six forms in total," Tony said. "And one of the changes we made for this one is there were a few where it's like, a given Princess had too many ways to get to that?? form, where it didn't really feel like it represented the players."

Little nuances, like taking the knife but still freeing the Princess, felt tonally different; so Black Tabby has continued to adjust, finding new angles on the evolving relationship? between the player and the Princess. My personal favorite, The Tower, is jokingly referred to as an Old Testame??nt, biblically accurate angel-style Princess. It's terrifying.

[caption id="attachment_371935" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Black Tabby Games[/caption]

Gathering a crowd

The most interesting twist about seeing Slay the Princess at PAX East 2023 was the venue itself. When I first demoed Slay the Princess, it was in the solace of my own home. But in Boston, Black Tabby had a spot on the corner of the PAX Rising showcase, right next to a large through-lane? of foot traffic. While one station was set up on a laptop with headphones, the other had a large screen, and the audio (including the phenomenal voice acting from Nichole Goodnight and Jonathan Sims) boomed out over a speaker.

Black Tabby noticed this too. Tony said that they had data of which Princesses players ran into the most from the first demo, and here on the show floor, they had seen a much different skew when players ventured with an audience. From my perspective, it was fascinating to watch people stop and watch others ?play. Passers-by would be drawn into the unfolding drama, as the player tried to argue for the Princess' free??dom, or attempted to end the threat themselves.

"We wanted it to ??be a complicated situation, where you had to like, really think about it to make your own choices," Abby said.

[caption id="attachment_371938" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Black Tabby Games[/caption]

Sketchy designs

With demo #2, Black Tabby Games is actually hoping for a launch window soon. Optimistically, Slay the Princess could hit sometime around early-to-mid fall, making the development cycle much faster compared to Scarlet Hollow. While it still features a hand-drawn style, the specific look of Slay the Princess makes it faster?? to turn around. Plus, it has the added benefit of being a pretty eye-catching aesthetic.

Already, Slay the Princess feels like it's building up a groundswell for Black Tabby Games. The team says that they've actually seen a noticeable uptick in Scarlet Hollow sales after the Princess demo. And it's for good reason, as Slay the Princess feels like it was the unlikely showstopper at PAX East 2023. It's thought-provoking, unnerving, clever, and a ??narrative adventure well-worth watching as it nears a launch.

The post PAX: Slay the Princess i??s a twisting, creepy, captivating moral d??ilemma appeared first on Destructoid.

You would never break the chain

The world of League of Legends has been rapidly expanding over the last few years. From series like Arcane to spin-offs like Ruined King, the world of Runeterra keeps on growing. It's the latter section where The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story fits in, handing a slice o??f the world to Digital Su??n.

As the team behind 2018's roguish action-RPG Moonlighter, Digital Sun take a similar approach to the world of League here, focusing on the champion Sylas. With the MOBA genre's roots in RPG systems and Digital Sun's proven talent for making a solid action-RPG, it wasn't surprising that Mageseeker works. What surprised me at my demo during PAX East 2023 was just how well it works?, and how the studio is pushing itself in the process to make a crisp, action-heavy? but magic-focused game.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KHMMMHvDdM

It's a kind of magic

Mageseeker is the latest partnership from Riot Forge, the studio's endeavor to publish games set in its lore from third-party developers. With this particular game, the Moonlighter crew took on Sylas, though it didn't quite set out to at first. Animator and cutscene coordinator Josep Baño tells me Riot approached Digital Sun after Moonlighter's release. The studio put together some ideas, includin??g one for a man who could steal magic. As it turns out, Sylas' release was right around the corner.

He was a bit after my own time with League of Legends, but Sylas is a mage who's able to copy and use the ultimate abilities of other champions. For Digital Sun's take on this, Mageseeker dives deeper into Sylas' past. In an intro cutscene for my demo, I saw a short slice of Sylas as he was in the past: his ability to sense magic used to hunt mages throughout the kingdom of Demacia and, after having a ch??ange of heart and defending one, becoming imprisoned as a mage himself.

[caption id="attachment_371709" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Digital Sun / Riot Forge[/caption]

What's nice about this is that, despite very little knowledge of Sylas' backstory, it was pretty easy to follow. Granted, I know some of the big cultural touchstones here. Demacia is a big part of League lore, and the story teases appearances from the likes of Garen and Lux. The focus, however, is on Sylas and the magical rebellion he seeks to incite after his esca?pe from wizard jail.

What's yours is mine

I??n gameplay, though, is where Sylas shines. He's a bit interesting, as both a mage and warrior, and that shines through in how he handles. Sylas' chains can be whipped out to latch onto enemies, letting Sylas leap forward toward them for a light-and-heavy attack combo. He's not squishy like the average magician, and it shows.

Still, he can copy magic, and t?hat's where his chains come back into play. Targeting a magic user will let Sylas copy their magical powers, which can then be cast once. These spells, metered? out by a mana-like resource under Sylas' health bar, work on a full-blown magical system with corresponding weaknesses. Steal a fireball spell and use it on an ice mage for extra damage, or vice versa. Spotting the type of magic an enemy uses is key to tackling some encounters.

"We wanted to translate this feel when you play Sylas in League of Legends," Baño said. "He has this magic stuff, but also he's very [physical], and very fast movement, and hi??s melee is very—how do you say—good-feeling when you play it."

[caption id="attachment_371710" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Digital Sun / Riot Forge[/caption]

This was emphasized in a later section I p?layed during the demo, where I could only really damage an enemy with magic. While Sylas will build up a repertoire of his own spells that can always be cast, there's still the o?ption to copy and unleash the enemy's magic too. The visual indicators are thankfully easy to follow, and it didn't take much time to figure out how to master the elements.

What results is a top-down combat system that feels like Kratos went to magic school. At times I went flying around the arena, pummeling foes with my fists, only ??to rip out a spell and toss it at another enemy. The arenas allow for plenty of ways for Sylas to get around, and Sylas has as many options available as he does foes.

We are the champions

This all comes to a head in boss fights, which can get intense. I didn't get to tussle with any of League's greats, though I did fight a mage ??that seems tied into Sylas' backstory. In an interesting twist, my focus wasn't on defeating the mage—who was a bit too powerful for Sylas to take on—but to bust open a door and hold another friend captive.

Through this fight, I found myself fighting against swarms of additional enemies, all with different types and skills that could throw curveballs at me as I beat down the door. Lasers, giant warriors, and swift assassins who could silence my magic all pestered me. It was a neat twist that really made me appreciate Digital Sun's approach to Mageseeker. This system already allows for excellent combat, but the highlight I saw focused on the tension of that combat without just putting ??a big, high-HP enemy to pummel?? in front of me.

[caption id="attachment_371713" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Digital Sun / Riot Forge[/caption]

Combine all of that with Digital Sun's incredible pixel art, and Mageseeker is looking like another solid entry in Riot's third-party lineup. It's got great action, a great look, and a compelling story that works even if you're not familiar with League of Legends. I'm curious to see how the whole thing slots together into one full game, and if each level can keep up the momentum of the few I saw. But Mageseeker certainly has my attention.

The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story arrives on April 18 for PC, PlayStation, ??Xb??ox, and Nintendo Switch.

The post PAX: The Mageseeker brings magical action to the fore in League of Legends’ latest spin-off appeared first on Destructoid.

Take me to rhythm heaven

It might, at first, seem like Rift of the Necrodancer is going back to rhythm basics. Previous release Crypt of the Necrodancer experimented with a rhythm twist on the roguelite formula to great success, while Rift looks to dive back into the pure rhythm genre. But a combination of great mechanics, variety, and charm all combine to make Rift of the Necrodancer's styles harmonize well.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV528_7Nx-E

We got to sit down with a demo of Brace Yourself and Tic Toc Games' Rift of the Necrodancer at PAX East 2023, showing off three different stages of the game. I??ts core is still rhythm-centric, with extremely good tunes backing the action. The approach, at first, seems like musical routine: slimes roll down the track one beat at a time, and I had to hit the arrow keys (left, right, up) to strike them down, sometimes in combination, or hitting down to hit all three lanes at once. Easy enough, right?

[caption id="attachment_370168" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Brace Yourself Games[/caption]

Not so easy

Turns out, not all enemies are simple one-hit-kill slimes. Some are bats, which jump to other lanes after you've hit them once, so you'll need to watch and take note. Some slimes take a few sequential hits on the beat to clear, while skeletons protected with shields need sub-divided bashes, and the undead leap acros?s lanes, and you can ??start to see how this all escalates.

The Rhythm Rift mode was the first play mode I saw, and definitely the one I latched onto the most. While it has those shades of lane-surfing bops like Guitar Hero or Amplitude, the use of e?nemy varieties to create quick moments of adaptation and exe?cution feels great. Seeing a bat come down a lane by itself, hitting it once, then seeing it hop over and back a beat to line up with a slime for a double-hit can instill some surprise and excitement, but it feels great to read that and nail the Perfect timing.

After grappling with the Normal difficulty, I ran it back on one notch harder, which added even trickier fo??es to combat. I dig that more difficulty doesn't just mean more notes, but also reading and adapting to an ever-evolving chart.

Strike a pose

The second stage I played through felt like a direct Rhythm Heaven homage. Necrodancer hero Cadence, who in Rift of the Necrodancer is a bit of a fish-out-of-water, attends a yoga class. So as the teacher strikes different poses an?d the students follow suit in rhythm, you end up being the final beat in th??e bar.

[caption id="attachment_370171" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Brace Yourself Games[/caption]

It's hard to describe in words, but there's a very natural, understandable cadence to these sections. The chant of "Tree!" and then one, two, and you answer on three, just works, the same as it did in Rhythm Heaven. Timing will switch up between double-time??, half-time, and all sorts of syncopation meant to keep you ??on your toes.

This is a good place to mention, as well, that Rift of the Necrodancer is extremely charming.? The art for Cadence and the supporting cast is fantastic and the music from Danny Baranowsky and colla??borators is on-point, and the little moments of success or failure in the yoga sequence were heightened by Cadence's reactions.

A literal beat-down

The last section I played was styled after Punch-Out!!, as Cadence brawled with a songstress in some strange dimension. Again, it was quickly a??nd readily legible what I should be doing, as strikes hit left or ?right, encouraging me to dodge and strike back.

[caption id="attachment_370169" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Brace Yourself Games[/caption]

And again, Brace Yourself finds ways to switch it all up on the spot. The foe snickers and switches up her sides, or throws one on each in quick succession. I had a little bit more trouble getting the timing right on the counterattack punches here, but in a way that felt like I was still adapting, rather than anything Rift of the Necrodancer was doing.

Though that was the end of the demo, I wanted to jump back in and play more. I sincerely still, while typing this, want to go back to some of the harder Rhythm Rift stages and master them. This feels like a varied, charming celebration of rhythm gaming fun, bolstered by the world of Necrodancer. And it clicks neatly into?? place like a metronome, in a way that makes me very interested in the final game.

No release date has been set yet for Rift of the Necrodancer.

The post PAX: Rift of the Necrodan??cer finds charming fun in focusing on the rhythm appeared first on Destructoid.

Play it again, Sam

Dead Island 2 has been a long, long time coming. At 11 years on from the original and a whole history behind it, I went into my PAX East 2023 demo wondering what a new Dead Island would look or play like now, in 2023. The answer, as it turns out, is a lot like the first Dead Island.

How that answer lands for you will depend on, well, how exactly you felt about the preceding entry. Dead Island 2 certainly looks good; it's got some lighting that creates some memorable moments. When I started the demo, my player character was on a beach at night. Fires burned, creating silhouettes of the walkers and runners who were so?on going to set themselves on me.

So, anyway, I started swinging.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKFXvXjhBT8

Melee it on me

While guns exist in the world of Dead Island, it's always felt like the franchise lik?es to lean towards the melee side of things. Bullets can be a precious commodity, while a bat can keep on swinging. And if that bat has nails, electric wiring, or a butane torch hooked up, it can d?o some solid damage.

The core of Dead Island to me, that persists in Dead Island 2, is melee combat with layered, makeshift implements of zombie destruction. In my demo, they didn't skimp on the goods either. Already in my inventory, there were electric claws, a flaming axe, and some sort of water-spreading tool. Sure, I had a katana and a staff, and even a few guns. Those were weapons meant for taking down enemies. But it's Dead Island. I'm going to use the fire axe.

[caption id="attachment_341314" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Deep Silver[/caption]

Elemental effects are a big part of Dead Island and in the sequel it seems like they take a much more central role to the action. With the original, I felt like elemental effects were a nice little addendum. But Dead Island 2 rewards you for masterful elemental use. Water can spread around, creating potential shock zones when mixed with electricity. Fire can obviously do some damage ov?er time, but so can acid. A??nd paying attention to which enemies have elements, especially ones that could help you if activated, is crucial when trying to fight off a big wave of infected.

Staving off the horde

Most of the level I played was spent carefully making my way around a boardwalk, seeking my objective marker all the while. Everything is shut and locked down, so occasionally some light puzzle-solving was required. There were some environmental tidbits to pick up, in order to?? learn more about what awaited me near the end. But for the most part, it was pretty straightforward: Forge ahead. Slay zombies.

While small encounters broke out frequently, full chaos broke loose when I reached the boardwalk's Ferris Wheel. Here, I had to kickstart the ride's system in order to move on, but doing so was going to attract t??he horde. It's a zombie classic at this point, and so much like I'd done many times before, I looked for the best holdout and chokepoints, grit my teeth, and started the action.

[caption id="attachment_368520" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Deep Silver[/caption]

Though there ?are normal, shambling infected as well as faster, running variations, here I also contended with giant ground-sl?amming behemoths and exploding zombies using my special abilities �which consisted of a Molotov and a zombie-distracting grenade. Still, it was tense. I even got taken out here, eaten up by the small army of undead. Eventually making it through, I got on the Ferris wheel and caught sight of an unusual, extremely dangerous type of zombie, right before my time ran out.

The song remains the same

Again, it might feel reductive to say that Dead Island 2 feels like "more Dead Island", but it really, really does. It's certainly been polished up and given some new tools, but the core framework of Dead Island 2 still feels like that Left 4 Diablo blend of RPG loot and bonuses in a ??zombie shooter world.

None of that is a bad thing, if what you wanted was more Dead Island. To be honest, my demo made me reminisce on the Xbox 360 era that bore the original title. Given the development history of the sequel, it almost feels miraculous that Dead Island 2 even exists, especially as other games �that have similarly toiled in development �haven't seen the light of ?day.

Dead Island 2 will see the dawn soon enough though, as the game's scheduled to launch on April 21, 2023 for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.

The post PAX: Dead Island 2 rekind?les all the same feelings as its predecessor appeared first on Destructoid.