Welcome to GTOGG’s September 2023 edition of Promising Indie Game Releases, where we highlight indie and non-mainstream titles that we believe deserve your attention – in other words, “look at all this potentially cool stuff you might’ve missed otherwise”. That would’ve been too long for a title, though.
In any case, let’s get right down to it.
Lies of P
Lies of P wears its inspirations on its sleeve: it’s a steampunk Soulslike that mixes the aesthetics and gameplay mechanics of Bloodborne with… uh, Pinocchio. Because why not? An interesting combination for sure, but the end result speaks for itself: if you like Soulslike games, you’re going to like this. It plays and looks exactly like one, and offers exactly what you’d expect from it, more or less. It’s also decently hard, so do get ready for a challenge.
Witchfire
Very aptly described as “dark fantasy with guns”, Witchfire is a grim first-person shooter from The Astronauts, the team that created 2014’s narrative adventure game The Vanishing of Ethan Carter – let’s not forget, however, that certain members of this team also worked on fast-paced FPS games like Bulletstorm and Painkiller. In any case, Witchfire will have players take on the role of a deadly witch hunter sent by the Church to retrieve an artifact that could help turn the tide in the war against the witches – there’s an entire army of monstrosities standing in your way, and you’ve got forbidden spells and plenty of guns at your disposal. You can probably figure out what happens next.
Eternights
The world has gone mad, with people turning into vicious, bloodthirsty monsters – that’s the basic premise of Eternights, an anime-style action game that mixes third-person hack’n’slash combat with dating sim elements. Yup, you read that right: the world may be ending and the clock may be ticking, but when you’re not scavenging for supplies or crawling in dungeons, there’s always some time to romance one of the cute anime girls accompanying you.
Summum Aeterna
Inspired by the rougelike and metroidvania genres, Summum Aeterna will let you take control of the so-called King of Darkness, a ruthless, immortal warlord who comes back every time he is defeated – hence the roguelike angle. The game also features a unique “seed” mechanic that lets you experience randomly generated dungeons, as well as “seed genes” (modifiers) that determine the various positive and negative aspects of said dungeon to make it fresh and exciting every time. Other than that, the game promises more or less what you’d expect: relentless, fast-paced action across numerous maps, customizable weapons, hordes of enemies and challenging bossfights.
El Paso, Elsewhere
El Paso, Elsewhere is a neo-noir third-person shooter that very much hopes to become the spiritual successor to the classic Max Payne franchise. Featuring all the slow-motion gun fights you could ever want in your life, the game places you in the role of a determined man who must go up against the forces of darkness – werewolves, vampires, and various other assorted nasties – as he shoots his way through a supernatural motel that’s suddenly gained 46 floors below ground.
REMEDIUM
Set in a world utterly ravaged by a deadly plague, REMEDIUM will have players take on the role of a fortunate (or unfortunate) survivor who finds himself infected by the disease, and must race against the clock in order to survive. Faced with an endlessly hostile world teeming with mutated monstrosities such as towering golems and vicious gargoyles, you must shoot your way to salvation, craft powerful potions and even use the increasingly violent symptoms of your illness in order to devastate your enemies.
And that’s our list for now! Did you discover a new indie game to look forward to? Well, we hope you did. In any case, don’t forget to check back in about a month for our next episode, where we’ll be taking a look at the indie games of October 2023!
