Kate Robinson Hightlights Some Of The Best Sleeper Hits Of 2023 | Winter Spectacular 2023
2023 was a tumultuous year for the games industry that saw some of the most ambitious releases for the medium alongside studio closures, acquisitions and lawsuits confirming rumoured practices from the biggest tech companies in the world. The last year has provided gamers with a lot of pause for thought which has encouraged people to engage in discussions surrounding the interactive artform, but it has also inevitably cast a particularly large spotlight on big-budget developments.
On a personal level, I started my career in the world of professional games writing which consisted of news, reviews and guides, most of my time was spent consuming multiple epic RPGs that will likely shape the gaming landscape for years to come. I think myself and many others have overlooked a ton of passionate projects that are every bit as unique and complete as their monumental counterparts.
So, before the next boundary pushing blockbuster game releases, I wanted to showcase a slew of smaller projects that deserve more love and attention. These titles should also end up satisfying a number of niches without breaking the bank.
En Garde!
Fireplace Games’ debut title puts players in the shoes of a shamelessly skilled swashbuckler on a high-flying adventure to disarm the law with style. En Garde! stylishly cuts through crowds of contemporary counterparts with satisfying slice 'n dice combat that utilises every aspect of the game's vibrant environments. There's a cartoonish level of detail put into every expressive element of En Garde!, in particular, the art direction, animation and voicework which charismatically cultivates a vibe of slick finesse and charming adventure that is often relegated to silver screen productions.
Combat competently combines the flashy and flamboyant feel of a spectacle fighter with a cornerstone of crowd control conflict. The main moveset feels fabulously frenetic and is demonstrated delightfully during perilous platforming sections where the protagonist pirouettes atop troublesome targets. But there's also a ton of tricks to pick off pundits as almost every environmental item can be used to disarm, distract or dance around a mob angered by Adalia’s audacious attitude.
Enemies may be easily enraged by Adalia’s antics but her quick-witted dialogue and delivery makes every engagement feel engrossing with endless amounts of entertaining exchanges between the colourful cast of characters leading to tantalising twists taken from the best telenovelas. Furthermore, vistas are violently vivid, conveying cinematic levels of clarity complete with awe-inspiring, action-filled animation that accentuates appeal.
The Tartarus Key
When a puzzle game really nails what its going for it can become a fascinating, brain-bending title that can contain some of the most unique and satisfying challenges in gaming. For a while, puzzle games lacked a sense of atmosphere and identity in favour of tightly designed gameplay, but since the release of MYST in 1993, puzzle games have become a lot more interesting. Lucious locations, charming characterisation and mechanics that cohesively blend thematics and schematics in a seamless fashion are present in the majority of modern titles, so what makes The Tartarus Kay stand out?
The Tartarus Key uses this framework to combine puzzle and PSX style horror games in a way that stays true to the roots of each genre with modern quality of life improvements. Challenges take the form of logic puzzles similar to classic Resident Evil titles, cryptic designs and all, but The Tartarus Kay contains its clues to small, intricately designed environments with tons of interlocking secrets.
There’s an inescapable feeling brought on by the tactility of escape room-escue design that makes puzzles feel satisfying to crack, especially as the game tries to crack you with mind melting frights. The game is contained within an environment designed to warp your expectations at every turn, which is introduced through exploration and tested during puzzles. Alongside this is a fully voice-acted storyline packed with compelling character interactions and humour that doesn't feel out of place in this loving homage to old-school horror.
Bramble: The Mountain King
Created by a small team of Swedish university students, Bramble: The Mountain King is a cinematic platformer that rivals moody mainstays like Little Nightmares and Inside but on a far larger scale. You play as a young boy looking for their sister in a brutal world full of nordic nightmares, Bramble utilises a 3D perspective with stop-motion animation inspired graphics to make marionette monsters feel larger than life and instil unease throughout every step of the stunningly isolating world.
During the journey, you’ll meet marvels of madness, each with a looming presence overshadowing the player, each encounter telling its own little story with dangerous life lessons that have to be overcome by the protagonist using different levels of moral justification. The result is something that feels like a modern collection of Aesop's Fables (the creepy and messed up ones, not the fun Disney ones). The helplessness of each encounter is furthered by stiff controls that, to me at least, feels surprisingly warranted, as Bramble achieves ludonarrative consistency without feeling frustrating.
None of the stunning sequences are shown without reason and are all designed in the name of creating a thematic consistency. The overarching adventure balances a sense of hope and fortitude throughout its runtime, making each scene feel unknowingly impactful in its own right while tiptoeing around foreboding dangers. Bramble is a unique artistic achievement that pierces through the trend of hide and seek horror with brightminded visual storytelling that doesn’t overstay its welcome.
Lunacid
From Software has made a ton of cult classic titles that have fundamentally changed the gaming landscape with fair foundations that test players’ determination through tricky trials and gratifying goals. A ton of studios have been inspired by From’s compelling combination of harsh combat and metroidvania-esque worlds over the past decade, leading to the creation of the Soulslike genre, but one developer was inspired by different RPGs from the company’s back catalogue.
Lunacid is lovingly inspired by the King’s Field series and Shadow Tower with open world dungeon crawling gameplay, jittery PSX style graphics and otherworldly imagery that made me feel helplessly intrigued along every step of the journey. Developer Akuma Kira has managed to update a collection of ambitious but noticeably aged old-school RPGs with an artistic flair that keeps the weirdness of From’s forgotten favourites alive in 2023 without feeling derivative in the slightest.
In fact, Lunacid is one of the most original feeling dungeon crawlers I’ve played in the past decade as the open world exploration constantly left me on edge with captivatingly eerie imagery that feels dreadfully easy to get lost in from the moment I pressed play. If you’re a fan of profoundly off putting journeys that convey a constant sense of unease, you’ve gotta try out Lunacid.
Spin Rhythm XD
If you know how to keep a beat, rhythm games can be incredibly addictive though fundamentally fulfilling game-feel and mesmerising music. Spin Rhythm is a must buy if you enjoy playing games like this on a controller as its unique motion-based control scheme feels unlike any other game in the genre.
Lining up notes requires spinning the controller like a steering wheel, giving an extra level of physicality to the gameplay that could previously only be replicated with either an arcade setup or plastic peripherals. In some ways it feels better to play than even its most elaborate contemporaries as there are multiple ways to stay on track depending on whether you choose to turn left or right at crucial moments.
There is always one caveat with rhythm games and that is the music, Spin Rhythm is full of electronica tracks from modern labels, with Monstercat filling up most of the track list. But there's also plenty of indie artists and game music from the likes of 2 Mello (Later Alligator, 2064: Read Only Memories) and Lena Raine (Celeste, Minecraft, Chicory) to spice up the selection. There is the option to add your own tracks, but it probably won’t feel as good as the game’s officially licensed music selection.
Laika: Aged Through Blood
The final game on this list tells a traumatic tale of loss and revenge in a way that no other game has dared to attempt. Laika has been awarded critical acclaim for balancing serious subject matters with brutal bike-based combat in an arcadey metroidvania that never takes its foot off the throttle. Despite the inclusion of cute critters and elaborate trick focused gameplay, Laika keeps on track by twisting the intent of familiar mechanics through impactful imagery and forcing you to employ survival strategies that require expert reflexes.
Laika could have easily gotten away with throwing a coat of paint over pre existing principles but instead, it expertly conveys the emotion needed to drive the plot of motherly vengeance home by creating bleak and bloody setpieces in an industrial wasteland where rules are left to die. But the game’s surprisingly intricate and layered mechanics makes each conflict feel suitably formidable.
Precise multitasking is required to eradicate enemies as ramps are used to determine the trajectory of shots and pinpoint timing is required to pierce through gaps in enemy defences. Funnily enough, flipping the bike in the air causes your guns to reload too, this may sound silly, but the 360 degree motion feels incredibly tactile as it replicates motion of a chamber and adds another challenge to the overwhelmed but determined mother. Platforming on a bike also feels uniquely satisfying as terrains take the balance and weight of the vehicle into consideration.
