Posts from ‘RPG’ Category

Trailer: LISA

By: Derek Yu

On: October 26th, 2014

A game about survival, sacrifice, and perverts…

Lisa is a quirky side-scrolling RPG set in a post apocalyptic wasteland. Beneath the charming and funny exterior is a world full of disgust and moral destruction. Players will learn what kind of person they are by being FORCED to make choices. These choices permanently effect the game play. If you want to save a party member from death, you will have to sacrifice the strength of your character. Whether it’s taking a beating for them, or losing limbs in a Yakuza style apology, or some other inhuman way. You will learn that in this world being selfish and heartless is the only way to survive…

LISA was successfully funded on Kickstarter on December 14, 2013.

Steam Greenlight: LISA

Legend of Grimrock 2

By: Derek Yu

On: October 24th, 2014

Legend of Grimrock 2 launched fairly quietly about a week ago. The sequel to the successful 2012 dungeon crawler, Grimrock 2 seems to improve and expand on nearly every aspect of the first game without sacrificing any of the classic exploration, combat, and puzzle solving that defined it. Probably the biggest change is the inclusion of expansive outdoor environments – whereas Grimrock 1 took place entirely underground inside dark dungeons and caverns, Grimrock 2 let’s you explore the surface of the Isle of Nex, traversing opulent beaches, forests, and other outdoor locales. Monster AI is also noticeably improved, and though the combat retains the “dance-like” quality of Grimrock 1, it’s not as easy to lead opponents around the same four tiles without getting hit. Monsters are more likely to anticipate and dodge your attacks, and are less inclined to walk into the range of your weapons. New races, new classes, an upgraded skills system, and a friendlier UI round out a list of improvements that should please fans who were satisfied with the original.

Read the rest of this entry »

Kickstart This: Creepy Castle

By: Alehkhs

On: September 30th, 2014

Indie studio Dopterra has just three days to reach the modest goal of $6000 for its colorful 8-bit title, Creepy Castle. Promising a mix of 2D platform-based exploration and turn-based RPG combat, the game follows the adventure of Moth (note: an actual moth) within the halls of the titular Creepy Castle in an effort to uncover and thwart a looming threat. Dopterra has also teased several other protagonists, playable in an assortment of scenarios that intertwine with Moth’s story.

With a graphical style inspired by the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and a catchy chiptune soundtrack, Creepy Castle certainly aims to present a fantastically old-school experience – but its six-person dev team is not afraid to pay homage to the modern indie game scene as well: It’s been revealed that characters from recent indie titles such as Shovel Knight and Super Meat Boy will appear in-game, possibly even in the form of playable characters.

With only three days to go in its Kickstarter campaign, Creepy Castle is tantalizingly close to reaching its goal of just $6000. Whether you’ve long dreamt of fluttering your way as a moth through a labyrinthine castle – drawn not to a flame, but to your awaiting destiny – or you simply enjoy old-school graphics and gameplay, Creepy Castle might just be the game for you: Head on over to the Creepy Castle Kickstarter page to learn more and pledge. You can also vote for Creepy Castle right now on its Steam Greenlight page. Finally, if you simply want to watch the game as it develops, be sure to check out the Creepy Castle DevLog on TIGForums.

Read the rest of this entry »

Kickstart This: Darkest Dungeon

By: Alehkhs

On: February 10th, 2014

Darkest Dungeon 01

Red Hook Studios’s gorgeously gothic RPG Darkest Dungeon went live on Kickstarter just nine hours ago, and is already looking ready to slay its goal of $75,000. Boasting the traditional roguelike staples of procedurally-generated levels, permadeath, and turn-based combat, Darkest Dungeon also promises an “uncompromising, unforgiving, and unconventional” approach to the classic dungeon crawler. Drawing influence from the creeping terror of H.P. Lovecraft’s literary works, Red Hook Studios hopes to implement an “Affliction System,” forcing the player to contend with “paranoia, abusiveness, fear, irrationality, and a host of gameplay-meaningful quirks” as they lead a team of heroes ever deeper into the dungeon.

With the game set to meet its funding goal within the first day, and with a long list of stretch goals promising ever more content and polish, Darkest Dungeon is a project I will certainly be keeping my eye on. To learn more, jump on over to the game’s site, or head straight to the game’s Kickstarter page to get on board.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sui Generis: Pre-Alpha Gameplay

By: Derek Yu

On: November 18th, 2013

Bare Mettle Entertainment has released the first public footage of Sui Generis since its Kickstarter began a year ago. This video was announced to backers with the following message:

Somewhat later than promised, here finally is a new public video!

During development it’s easy to dismiss many glitches and other issues due to things being unfinished and as you know we are developing all technology in house. As we endeavoured to make this video we became determined to solve every issue we encountered rather than avoiding them or using temporary workarounds. We are after all making a game, not just videos. The game is now very stable, the performance is solid and we removed every glitch we could find.

While the game still deserves many tweaks and improvements, and we want to continue improving it almost indefinitely, we feel we’ve reached a good level of quality and functionality. We’ve avoided showing some aspects of the game that we don’t feel are complete enough yet but we tried to convey the spirit of the game in the video’s narrative. Hope you enjoy it!

The physics-based combat (which looks a little more stable now) has rightly drawn a lot of attention, but Bare Mettle has promised a lot of things for Sui Generis: a detailed and highly-interactive open world, non-linear storytelling, and deep customization. Time will tell whether the game lives up to those ambitions, but even if the team quit now, at least we’d still have the best “medieval tripping on furniture” simulation out there. In all seriousness, though, good luck to them – I’m really looking forward to this one.

(Source)

Path of Exile 1.0

By: Derek Yu

On: October 30th, 2013

Path of Exile, by Grinding Gear Games

After nearly a year of open beta, Path of Exile has finally reached version 1.0. The release will conclude this chapter’s story and bring with it a slew of new features, including a prestige class, the Scion, which is unlockable by beating the game in Normal Difficulty. It’s also available on Steam for the first time.

Path of Exile’s itemization and passive skill tree impressed me when the open beta first began, and since then it seems like Grinding Gear Games has made good on their promise to continue making improvements and expanding their ambitious multiplayer modes. And it’s free-to-play still, so if you’re a fan of ARPGs, there’s no reason not to try it out – PoE is supported entirely by the purchase of cosmetic effects and account improvements (extra character slots and stash tabs).

Read the rest of this entry »

Kickstart This: TinyKeep

By: Alehkhs

On: May 26th, 2013

TinyKeep is an indie 3D Action RPG title, drawing inspiration from both roguelikes and dungeon-crawler RPGs such as Ultima IV. The player is tasked with escaping the titular keep in which they have been imprisoned by exploring procedurally-generated dungeons and fighting various monsters as they progress. To increase the challenge and create a world that feels alive, the game’s sole programmer, Phi Dinh, has placed heavy focus on the project’s AI system. Dungeon inhabitants and monsters each have needs and desires, and will move about independent of player interaction in an attempt to fulfill those goals – feeding, sleeping, and interacting with each other in interesting ways. Along with the roguelike staple of procedurally-generated dungeons, Dinh hopes that these AI systems will lead to more emergent story opportunities and unique experiences for the player.

TinyKeep is currently on Kickstarter, and hoping to achieve its funding goal of only £22,162. Although it is currently more than halfway there, there are only 4 days left to achieve its goal – but with luck, we will all get the opportunity to explore and escape TinyKeep!

Pre-Alpha Teaser: Darkwood

By: Alehkhs

On: March 7th, 2013

The three-person indie studio, Acid Wizard, has released a gameplay teaser for their current survival-horror project, Darkwood.

Billed as a “top-down, oldschool survival horror set in a procedurally generated open world, with RPG and roguelike elements,” where players must explore the dark forest surrounding their cabin and defend against the terrors of the night, Darkwood sounds like a project to follow. As the trailer shows, Acid Wizard certainly knows how to do atmosphere, and the gameplay itself strikes me as a top-down mix between Project Zomboid and Alan Wake. A great first impression, to be sure, and I’ll certainly be keeping tabs on this project as it goes forward.

Driftmoon

By: Derek Yu

On: February 26th, 2013

Driftmoon

After 7 years of development, Ville and Anne Mönkkönen have released Driftmoon, an adventure/role-playing game set in a charming and colorful fantasy world. The game comes with development tools that you can use to create and share mods. Also, a large demo is available to try out and includes the full editor.

You might remember Ville as the creator of the survival game Notrium from 2003.

Read the rest of this entry »

Path of Exile Open Beta

By: Derek Yu

On: January 23rd, 2013

Path of Exile, by Grinding Gear Games

There’s no need to beat a dead horse but it should be mentioned – yeah, Diablo 3 was a pretty disappointing experience for me, too. It happens. However, just as the third Godfather movie didn’t mean the end of good gangster flicks, neither does the third Diablo game mean the end of good point-and-click action RPGs.

Path of Exile is one of the newer entries to the genre, and the one I’m most excited about. Unlike Torchlight, the theme and graphics are dark, gritty, and almost oppressive. And unlike Grim Dawn, PoE will be available to play later today, as an open beta. Unlike all the other Diablolikes, the game will always be free-to-play, with cosmetic microtransactions being the only source of the developer’s income from it.

Read the rest of this entry »