Here's a Rundown of Everything at Nintendo's Indie World Showcase [18/08/2020]

It’s been a paradoxical Summer. With no E3 their has been a deluge of replacement summer events and showcases and yet when it comes to the big three console manufacturers it feels like there has been a dearth of sought after information. Next-gen pricing, services information and launch games all seem to be AWOL while Nintendo has been near-silent on any major releases in 2020 bar Animal Crossing and Paper Mario. With many expecting an E3 style Nintendo Direct to have happened already, anything that isn’t that is been scrutinised more than ever. 

So on Monday when Nintendo announced there would be an Indie World Showcase the next day Nintendo (I hesitate to call them this but) fans made it very clear they had high expectations for this show if there was to be no Direct. For people that don’t spend our time equating our own value with that of a brand though it was a nice opportunity to take a look at some chill and niche games coming to the platform that became a hit thanks indie support early on.

Hades

The show kicked off with what could be described as a blockbuster announcement among Indies, that wouldn’t have been out of place in a Direct proper. The team at Supergiant games have become darlings of the gaming world with their tent-pole releases like Pyre, Transistor and early Indie hit Bastion. But for the last year, they have been the talk of the PC Early Access town, thanks to there sublime action roguelike Hades. Despite its current feature-richness, Hades hasn’t hit 1.0 yet but when it does, this Autumn, it will coincide with a Switch release and the ability to use cross-saves (insert fistjump.gifs here).

Hypnospace Outlaw

Hypnospace got a cult following back in March of 2019 when it was released on PC. It’s over the top 90s attitude, Geocities inspired webpages and biting internet commentary that still feels applicable today all came together to create something wholly unique and mesmerizingly, hypnotically, sickeningly 90s top to bottom. It’ll be available on the eShop on August 27th.

I’ve seen this game in a pre-release capacity so many times the idea of playing the retail version feels weird.

Spiritfarer

The first surprise launch of the show was next. Spiritfarer has been grabbing rave previews at every convention it has been shown at since launch (including when we saw it at Gamescom last year), paired with the fact that it received a demo during Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest means that there’s plenty of people who have been excited for this adventure of a while. Playing as Stella, the ferrymaster, it is your job to guide souls to the afterlife in this cozy adventure, management sim. The beautiful hand-drawn artstyle and instantly lovable cast of anthropomorphic animals will have hooked many in, and if you want to play it it is available right now (on PS4, Xbox, PC and Switch).

Garden Story

Garden Story, the 8-bit action-adventure game, where you seem to play as a grape, showed up with its one-man team, Picogram and publisher, Rose City Games. In this game, previously shown at the wholesome Direct, you slowly restore and build-up a community while you meet other animals, plants, fruit and veg to welcome to your town. No date was given beyond next year.

Subnautica and Subnautica : Below Zero

Unknown Worlds Entertainment, previously most well known for its Half-Life 2 mod, Natural Selection, first released Subnautica way back in 2014 in Early Access. In 2016 it made its way to a console with Xbox’s beta Early Access program and was fully released in 2018 to a sea of people that would go on to tell me, and everyone else they met, to play it and not look up the end game. What first appears to be a simple survival crafting game on a watery planet soon becomes a narrative-driven experience where you, as a crashed astronaut, must discover what is going on this planet. While Subnautica: Below Zero is a sequel that takes place on a different planet and is still receiving updates. Both are launching on the Switch next year.

Who needs Wallace & Gromit when you have video games?

Takeshi & Hiroshi

Coming from Japanese mobile game Studio, Oink Games, Takeshi & Hiroshi received positive reviews but didn’t get much attention when it first released on Apple Arcade on November 8th. But now the story-driven game about development game is coming to Switch. The game is a mix of claymation cutscenes and hand-animated gameplay which sees you, Takeshi, develop and balance, an RPG adventure for your sick brother Hiroshi to play. You’ll be able to adjust difficulty and enemy encounters in the hopes of keeping your little brother interested whenever you like, because it launched right after the show on the console-handheld hybrid.

Raji: An Ancient Epic

This game has been floating around for a while but I had yet to see gameplay. In it play as Raji, a young girl, trying to save her younger brother from invading demons. The game places it’s fast-paced combat at the forefront along with a striking artstyle and a world inspired by Hindu and Balinese history and mythology. Raji released just after the show on the Switch and is coming to other platforms later this year.

Bear and Breakfast 

This is a quaint management sim where you Play Hank, a teenager that discovers an abandoned shack and decides to turn it into a money-making B+B. Oh, did I forget to mention, Hank is a bear. You’ll personalise the rooms of unsuspecting guests while running errands and eventually stumbling upon a deeper plot out in the forest. Bear and Breakfast is coming to PC and Switch (as a timed console exclusive) in 2021.

A Short Hike

This game is wonderful. I could tell you more about it but that would take away from the experience of playing A Short Hike only a couple of hours long and brimming with earnest emotions, this pixel-y polygonal joy is a game you should buy. And now, after being free on the Epic Game Store, it is on the Switch so you have basically no excuses left to not play it.

(If you really want to know more there is a review on the site)

This might not be a casino but I’m pretty sure the bourgeoisie treat cheats about as nicely if they find you out.

Card Shark

Nerial, creators of the hit Reigns series Reigns, arrived with a new IP, this one even more overtly a love letter to the cards. In Card Shark you play a man in 18th century France cheating and bluffing his way to the top. The trailer showed the player starting in small bars and open games and eventually winding up playing with high rolling aristocrats. As a card game about cheating the main focus of the game is not to get caught and you’ll be able to test out your sleight of hand in 2021.

Torchlight III

The follow-up to the poorly received Torchlight II still seems to be chasing the highs of the Diablo inspired original. Based on its current mixed reviews Torchlight III  hasn’t got there yet but Echtra Inc. seem dedicated to the game, and as part of this ongoing support they are bringingTorchlight III to the Switch in Autumn of this year.

I can’t keep track of the days anymore, do you really think I’ll be able to follow this nightmare?

Manifold Garden

This self-proclaimed M.C. Escher-inspired FPS puzzler came to PC and iOS in October last year but now after 8 years of development, it is finally launching on consoles. William Chyr’s “universe with a different set of physical laws” has been compared to mind-benders like Antichamber but very much so stands on its own. And it launched on all consoles just after the Indie World show.

Evergate

This 4-year long passion project from first time team, Stone Lantern Games, has been drawing a lot of comparisons to the likes of Ori. This is mainly due to its beautiful artstyle, ethereal music and difficult looking platforming. Hopefully, it finds its own audience after launching when the show ended.

MONTAGE TIME, BABY!

The show wrapped up with a collection of indie games, many coming soon, that have also partnered with Nintendo for their releases. 

• Haven, from The Game Bakers of Furi renown, which will be launching this year.

• Going Under, from the small new team of Aggro Crab and being published by Team17 was shown. And will be releasing on the 27th of September on Switch and 24th on PS4 and PC.

• The Red Lantern, from Timberline Games, is coming sometime in Autumn to Switch Xbox and the EGS.

• Unrailed!, from Indoor Astronaut is arriving on the 23rd of September to the Switch with a demo now available. 

• The gross and comical looking Struggling, from Chasing Rats Games and being published by Frontier is arriving on August 27th.

• Published by Chucklefish was the creepy looking INMOST, from Hidden Layer Games, and will be releasing on August 21st.

• The highly anticipated gorgeous RPG She Dreams Elsewhere, from Studio Zevere, is coming in Early 2021.

• While everyone’s favourite Apple Arcade time waster, Grindstone, is coming Switch thanks to developer Capybara Games in Autumn of 2020.

• Art in Heart, developers of early Switch hit GONNER return to the platform when they port GONNER2 to the platform in Autumn.

I promise I won’t do a bit where a goose interrupts me because that joke is ju- *HONK*

Motherfu- *HONK* *HONK*

One More *HONK!*

I highly doubt you even need me to tell you this, as if you heard anything about yesterday’s Indie World Event it was this. But Untitled Goose Game is getting a co-op mode where you and a horrible friend will wreak havoc on a small English town as two horrible, horrible geese. The update will arrive on the 23rd of September and will be horrible…

Nintendo’s first Indie World in a while was a stacked affair full of requested ports, surprise launches and cool looking projects I’ve only now heard of. While there is a shitty, and particularly loud, subset of fans that were upset that there wasn’t a full Direct yesterday, it is hard to turn your nose up at what was a strong showing for an indie event.