December 2021 Indie World Showcase Roundup

It’s been a little while since Nintendo last broadcast one of their showcases specifically for indie-games. In the latest, roughly twenty-minute long presentation, they once again showed off quite a few games worth checking out if you’re a fan of indie games.

First comes a game by the creators of The Messenger. Sea of Stars is a turn-based RPG about a group of companions banding together to defeat an evil alchemist. The game looks absolutely gorgeous and the soundtrack already has me hooked, perhaps because Yasunori Mitsuda worked on parts of it. For those who don’t know him, he worked on (among other games) the Chrono Trigger soundtrack, which, despite never having finished the game, is one of my favorites. Sea of Stars launches Holiday 2022.

Aliisha: The Oblivion of Twin Goddesses (according to the developers) is a puzzle adventure game where making decisions plays a big part, decisions that supposedly have an impact on the story. While the premise always has my interest piqued, I’ve grown to be cautious towards these aspects in games. More often than not, they end up not making as big of an impact as promised. Still, the game’s striking visual style definitely made me put it on my list of games to look out for.

What’s interesting about this puzzle adventure game is that you control two twin sisters, either solo or in co-op, with both using different control schemes. One of them uses the Nintendo Switch’s motion controls, while the other uses touch controls. Whether this will actually be fun or not, we don’t really know yet, but we’ll find out eventually when the game launches next spring exclusively on the Switch.

I tend to really struggle with keeping up with Point & Click adventure games. There’s always something that keeps me from continuing or finishing them. Maybe this next game will get me invested enough to actually finish it for once. Loco Motive throws you into a murder mystery on a moving train. It looks charming enough with the quirky, pixel-art style.

Comedy is definitely going to play a big part in this game, and while I’m unsure if it mixes too well with a murder mystery, I’m still going to try it out. Something I personally haven’t experienced in a game like this before is getting to play as different characters at different points in the story. This is sure to make the mystery unravel in all the right ways when Loco Motive launches next Summer.

Those craving something more heartfelt are going to get their fill with After Love EP, a visually appealing narrative game about love, loss, music, friendship, and plenty of other topics. While the game has a manga-esque artstyle, the game itself is set in Indonesia. It makes sense, considering the team behind the game is based there, and they want to put an emphasis on the culture in the country. This has me interested for sure, especially since a majority of games set in a real place are either set in the US or somewhere in Europe. After Love EP releases next Summer.

Dungeon Munchies is a 2D side-scrolling action-platformer that has you hunting down monsters so you can cook and eventually eat them. There are around 100 dishes to choose from, all of which grant you different effects and abilities upon consumption. Figuring out the different dishes and combinations is sure going to be fun, and the characters, as well as their interactions with one another, seem quite interesting. Since it wouldn’t be a presentation without some sort of shadow-drop, Dungeon Munchies was made available shortly after the presentation.

Figment 2: Creed Valley is next on the list. This game puts the biggest emphasis on the music. Not only that, but the visual style and puzzle elements once again have me very interested in this game. If it all comes together nicely, I’m sure Figment 2 will be an absolute delight to play. A big plus is that the game will also be playable in local co-op. The wait until launch isn’t even that long. Figment 2: Creed Valley releases this coming February with a demo made available after the presentation.

Let’s Play! Oink Games is a collection of digital board games that can and probably should be enjoyed with your friends and family. The games are all made to be easily understood and picked up, reminiscent of their original tabletop counterparts. Thankfully, you can enjoy the game with friends online as well, with more games being added in the future. Let’s Play! Oink Games was also made available shortly after the presentation, which was a very smart shadow-drop just in time for the holidays.

Endling – Extinction is Forever is a game that tries to make us more aware of the environment around us and rethink our consumption habits, according to the developers behind it. You play as a fox in a seemingly somewhat post-apocalyptic world, dealing with threats in nature as well as humans, trying to protect your children to survive. I already know this game is likely to make me cry, but from the trailer alone I’m pretty sure I’ll enjoy it a whole lot when it launches this coming Spring.

We already saw some footage of OlliOlli World in a previous presentation, but it still looks like a bunch of fun. The visuals look as vibrant and quirky as they did before, so I’m still very much on “board”. The game releases February 8th of 2022, with some bonus items if you decide to pre-order it.

I’ve personally never played a River City Girls game, but River City Girls 2 looks like fun for fans of these beat-em-up style games. I’m not going to lie, the soundtrack, as well as the character designs, have me excited despite not usually being a fan of this type of game. It also comes with online co-op, so I might pick it up and end up playing it with a friend for some good fun. River City Girls 2 will release this summer.

There’s also a bunch of games being ported to the Nintendo Switch. Since most of these games are out already, I won’t cover them in a lot of detail, but they are definitely still worth mentioning. Parkasaurus, Don’t Starve Together, Chicory: A Colorful Tale (available shortly after the presentation), Baby Storm, Grime, Gerda: A Flame in Winter, Timelie (available shortly after the presentation) and Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery are all worth checking out.

Of course Nintento has to hold their tradition of doing “one more” at the end of every presentation. They announced that Omori is coming to the Nintendo Switch. I’ve held off on this game due to the heavy topics within it, but maybe I’ll finally end up diving in when it comes to Switch next Spring.