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What are some of the lesser known upcoming games that you're excited about?
With the focus on the big budget games at E3, smaller releases and indie games tend to get lost in the noise, or just ignored. Are there any upcoming games you're excited about, but don't see anyone talking about?
Personally, I've been keeping an eye on Noita, which was just added to Steam listings. The particle effects look amazing, let's hope the gameplay lives up to it!
I'm not sure if either of these are particularly lesser-known, but two of the main indie games I'm excited about:
Wow, Katana Zero looks amazing, like a vertical Hotline Miami! I can already tell I'll be listening to that sound track on repeat. Adult Swim is picking up some great IP, I never would have guessed.
I remember one of the GiantBomb podcasts mentioned the UFO 50 project, supposed to be inspired by one of those old-school 150-in-one game cartridges, right? I trust those developers to put something interesting together, so here's hoping :)
If your liked katana zero, give a look to mark of the ninja which is definitely less "frenzy" and more "stealthy" but still a great game that really shows how 2D games with a solid gameplay have nothing to envy to 3D games.
It is one of the very very few games I replayed in New game +, which is something I tend to avoid as i don't have much time and the backlog is too long :P
Damn katana zero looks awesome. Can't wait to play this game
Aw, hell yes! I played the heck out of that game back in the day, and through Corsix on modern systems. I'm glad they're keeping the general style and humor of the original game, that is super important to me. Defo gonna keep an eye on this one.
Oh great, you'll love Corsix. You can use demo assets, or GOG version if you have it.
I'll be checking all the things about TPH, love management sims with humor.
I'm sorry sir, but you have a fatal case of Bloaty Head.
I don't think that Noita, a game I'm pretty interested in, is too well known. Essentially, it's a magic-based 2d roguelite, with a pixel art style. But what makes it really unique is that each pixel is simulated. Let's say that you're in an ice cavern, and use a fire spell. It simulates how each pixel of fire interacts with each pixel of ice, determining which pieces of ice will melt into water, based on the fire pixels. Then the water pixels simulate their movement around the cavern. There are a lot of other examples you can see in their trailers when you look it up.
I linked in the text field ;)
...wow, I am blind as hell sometimes, haha.
Im really excited for both Satisfactorya factory building game essentially a 3D version of Factorio which I have sunk hundreds of hours into.
My second one is kind of a guilty pleasure - Ooblets, a sort of weird crossover between animal crossing, harvest moon, and pokemon.
Oh wow, that Satisfactory game is from the makers of Sanctum and Goat Simulator? That's quite a lineage. As a big Factorio fan, I am fully looking forward to optimizing my supply chain in 3D!
Ooblets looks cute as heck, gonna add it to the list :D
One game I am looking forward to is Atomic Heart, it's a Bioshock/Metro/Fallout FPS based in Russia. If the gameplay is anything like the youtube video I'll be buying it as soon as it's released.
Youtube
Steam
Eastern European developers have that post-apocalypse look down to a t. I'll keep an eye on it, too!
Eitr
There's no release date that I know of, but the developer did say 2018, so we'll see!
Was that the Diablo+Dark Souls looking game? I remember there was a slew of those announced a year or two ago, I hope this one's good!
Yeah it is. I haven't followed the development that much, but once I read your post it popped into my head for whatever reason. You're right, there were a lot of those games that came out, and I actually think the majority of them ended up being decent and fun games. Another one of the Souls-like games I'm interested in, which comes out in August I think, is Death's Gambit.
Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption. It is a kickstarted game by the people who made the Quest for Glory series (which is a fairly major game from my childhood). Its development had some rocky patches (they ended up changing some pretty big things because of backer feedback, and then did a second round kickstarter), but they have reached actual beta testing stages. I really hope it ends up being good, because I've been following it for a long time.
Kentucky Route Zero has its fifth and final Act coming out in the not too distant future, and I'm quite looking forward to it. It's a very melancholic and visually unique game that blends in a lot of interesting theatrical elements for a really beautiful experience.
Ice Pick Lodge's Pathologic has a full remake coming out soon, which I'm also really interested in. You play as three different characters over the course of the same few days, unraveling a story about a strange town and a plague that has struck the people who live there.
The last was on E3 which was kind of astonishing, and maybe doesn't count as "lesser known" anymore, but I'm really excited for Star Control Origins, Star Control II being one of the more formative games of my youth. Enormous open world with procedural generation, big overarching narratives that don't wait around for the player, interesting choices to make and creative humor all mixed together just right.
Wasn't someone developing a sequel by a different name? This sounds like a prequel now...
Oh man, Star Control 2 was so good. My brother and I played the battle mode so much, developed so many cheese strategies and counters. Hyperspace music is still one of my top gaming tracks of all time. I hope the next game lives up to those memories.
Yup. The original IP owners are developing a sequel, and the new IP owners are developing a prequel. There are also arguements about which chunks of IP are owned by who, and they are currently suing each other. Lots of drama.
I'm looking forward to Donut County. It appears to be part puzzle game, part...Katamari? There's a hole in the ground, and you move it around to swallow stuff up. As you do, it gets bigger, but you also need the use the hole in order to solve puzzles. There's not a release date for it yet, but it seems to feature the kind of weirdness I enjoy.
If the game is as chill as it looks, I'm down.
Déraciné. It's not really an indie because From Software are pretty big players these days but it isn't a big AAA game either. Hidetaka Miyazaki (Dark Souls, Bloodborne) does what appears to be an interactive visual novel, in VR. (PSVR only I think)
I can't buy that quick enough. He's probably the greatest storyteller in the video game format that I know of.
It can out a few weeks ago but I'm excited to play Overload. https://store.steampowered.com/app/448850/Overload/
I'm definitely picking this one up on sale. I used to play the heck out of Descent, even when it gave me a raging headache from limited FOV.
System Shock 3 is currently in development. I feel like the System Shock franchise is to games what The Godfather is to movies, so I don't know why more people aren't losing their minds over this.
AND if that weren't enough, it's developed by Warren Spector, lead designer on what I feel was the greatest game of all time, the first Deus Ex. He's finally coming back to develop a game after what feels like a lifetime outside the industry.
If these two things were happening independently of each other, just one or the other, it would be enough to supernova my brain. But they are part of the same project!!! I'm on the timeline of reality where this happens!
Six Ages, the spiritual successor to King of Dragon Pass, is going to release at the end of the month after several years of development. It’s even being developed by most of the original team.
Half-Life 3.
Any day now...
We can wish.....I'm still waiting for Left4dead 3
I'm surprised no one has said Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord! I would consider Mount & Blade/Mount & Blade: Warband to be the definitive realistic (mechanically) medieval sandbox rpg. The point of these games is not that there is a story, it's that you can command an army, fight using satisfying combat mechanics, and shape the world through persistent effort.
Now if only we could get a release date for Bannerlord...
I'm excited for Spire by Hitbox Studios, the same folks who made Dustforce.
I put quite a few hours into Dustforce, and speedrunning individual levels was always fun for me, so I am excited to see what Hitbox can come up with for this new game.
Call of Cthulu
I love me some Lovecraftian themes and imagery and I know the original game is considered by many to be one of those "flawed masterpieces", so I'm excited for a game in a similar vein to be coming out. There's another Lovecraftian game coming out soonish as well, though I cannot recall it's title.
Ori, Will of the Whisps is one that I'm really looking forward to. A good friend of mine introduced me to Ori last year, it's such a fun, beautiful platformer with a great score.
Insurgency is getting a sequel that's in UE4 and I'm excited for that!
I'm really excited for Spelunky 2. Spelunky HD is one of my favourite platformers, really skill testing.
Definitely on top of my watchlist. I hope it's not JUST 4 more worlds with new items and some hidden endings. I do have high confidence in Derek Yu, he's a smart dude.
I'm pretty excited for Ooblets which looks like a cutesy collision between Pokemon and Stardew Valley. I love both of those titles and am really into the art style and vibe of the game (e.g. dance battles instead of fights), so hopefully it lives up to expectations. A little bummed there won't be multiplayer, but it still looks like a fun time.