With PAX East wrapping up today, the conference as always brings with it several fantastic new and upcoming games. Obviously, there are the big wigs like Square Enix with Final Fantasy 7 Remake or Larian Studios with Baldur's Gate 3, but those developers/publishers don't take up the bulk of the show. The show floor is mostly occupied by the games that come from smaller teams and smaller budgets.
With the Indie Games Megabooth and more filled to the brim with all kinds of unique and new projects, it's hard to check out every new indie game that's there. Even with limited time, fans were able to demo several fantastic projects in development worldwide. Here are some of the best indie games that were on the show floor at PAX East 2020.
Gamedec
With the popularity of the Cyberpunk subgenre reaching its height in 2020, a project from Polish developer Anshar Studios is looking to explore that dingy world in a thought-provoking way with Gamedec. It is an isometric and adaptive RPG where players take control of the titular private detective, a "Gamedec," in charge of investigating real problems in virtual worlds. Players explore game worlds investigating crimes in virtual reality that affect citizens of the real world in various ways.
The hands-on demo featured a snippet of gameplay from a game world within Gamedec called "Harvest Time," where virtual players of this farming simulator are mysteriously collapsing among other health issues. As the detective, the player needs to determine why this is happening. Players are given a set objective to meet with a contact inside the game named "Stan," but are free to explore the Harvest Time world.
As an RPG similar to a tabletop-inspired game like Disco Elysium, players get to tailor their Gamedec's attitude and personality through branching conversation options. The goal is to gather clues both through conversation as well as details found throughout the game world. An important aspect to note is that the demo did not contain any combat, emphasizing the investigative nature rather than violence.
From there hints and clues are collected in the Deduction tree, where evidence is compiled together to unlock the next chapter of the story. What's most interesting are the differing amounts of evidence needed to conclude parts of the case. Players can choose whether they have enough clues to continue to the next chapter or need more context/evidence. It's an interesting mechanic that allows players to prioritize and customize their experience, which in turn influences how the rest of the case plays out, positively or negatively.
For those looking for a less action-heavy and more story-driven RPG, Gamedec takes the cyberpunk subgenre and drills it down into an investigative focus similar to that of Disco Elysium's world.
Players will be able to get their hands on Gamedec later on in 2020 on PC via Steam.
Liberated
Games with a comic book aesthetic have been crafted in a variety of styles and scales, ranging from Mirror's Edge to Telltale's The Walking Dead. Atomic Wolf's Liberated takes the comic book aesthetic and ramps it up tenfold. Also partially inspired by Cyberpunk but heavily grounded in reality, Liberated depicts the story of a democracy now controlled by "authoritarianism," in an inter-connected dystopian society in the near future. Billed as a "playable graphic novel," Liberated is a game that plays out like the pages of a noir story, with cutscenes unfolding as if they are panels in a comic book. These moments blend seamlessly with the gameplay, which takes place from multiple character perspectives in Liberated's bleak world.
Gameplay itself is a side-scrolling stealth and action game, as if Inside and My Friend Pedro were mashed together. As the game progresses, the player takes the perspective of several characters in differing scenarios throughout Liberated's world. The beginning of the demo places the player in the shoes of a member of the "Liberated" rebellion escaping police drones, whereas later on perspective swaps to a boots-on-the-ground police officer assaulting a Liberated stronghold. Each character has a firearm they can use with 360 degree aiming as enemies can approach from several angles.
What was more interesting is that the demo occasionally took the focus away from shooting. There were some stealth segments throughout the demo that allowed players to sneak up on unsuspecting NPCs for takedowns. There was also some light platforming throughout each section, mostly focused on verticality. During the demo players also encountered a basic hacking puzzle, asking users to match the numbers of a keycode together using a decoder. There was also a section towards the tail-end of the demo where players took control of a police drone to remotely place bombs in a room prior to an ambush. Liberated will be adding these elements of variety throughout the full game as something to break away from shooting all the time.
Liberated will be available sometime within April-June (Q2) 2020 on PC as well as Nintendo Switch.
Spiritfarer
First unveiled at the Xbox Conference during E3 2019, Spiritfarer is a spiritual adventure from Thunder Lotus Games all about death and the afterlife. Taking inspiration from the Greek myth of Charon, Players take on the role of Stella, the "ferrymaster to the deceased." Stella is tasked with building a giant ship, befriending animal spirits of the deceased, and navigating across the seas to guide them to the afterlife. As dreadful as the premise may sound, the game is actually overflowing with charm and serenity.
Players are graced with bright hand-drawn aesthetics and animation, instilling a sense of vibrant peacefulness throughout Stella's adventure. Gameplay surrounds a base-building style mechanic similar to the mechanics in Don't Starve, as the player designs and customizes their ferryboat to accommodate the many animal spirits Stella has brought aboard. Resources can be acquired through a variety of methods: Fishing off the stern to gather food, channeling lightning energy during a storm for use as currency, and exploring islands the islands for more. Even more impressive is that the game is entirely playable in co-op, with player two taking on the role of Stella's cat Daffodil.
Each spirit has one last request to be fulfilled by Stella before she can guide them to the afterlife, bringing players to various islands in search of memories and heirlooms the spirit left behind. The playable demo had Stella searching the islands for a necklace that once belonged to Summer, the snake spirit. Stella can converse with and befriend all the spirits, and tend to their moods. Every action the player takes affects the moods of Stella's passengers, meaning players have to manage these relationships as the game progresses.
The defining aspect of Spiritfarer is its wholesome and accepting nature. Even though the game is centered on themes of death and passing on, the adventure is light-hearted and pure, focusing on what people leave behind and how to say goodbye.
Spiritfarer will be out later this year for PC, PS4, Switch and Xbox One.
Ghostrunner
Ever wondered what it would be like if a game featured mechanics from Doom and Dishonored but ramped up the speed and smashed them together into one singular experience? One More Level's Ghostrunner does exactly that, and does it very well. Players take on the role of the titular character in a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk-inspired world, where humanity's last bastion is a giant tower-city in the middle of a ravaged city.
Ghostrunner crafts a pulse-pounding gameplay experience by combining several elements of speed and power to make players feel unstoppable. Armed only with a sword, players have to creatively navigate environments and firefights to defeat enemies. Luckily navigation is the best part of Ghostrunner, where players have access to a variety of speedy traversal options. Players are able to wallrun and parkour like in Dying Light and Mirror's Edge across a variety of environments at extremely high speeds, dodging bullets at high speeds before closing in on the kill. Obviously dodging a high velocity projectile is very hard to do on reaction, which is where Ghostrunner's mechanics shines. Players are able to use both a dash and slowdown-dash ability to close in and kill enemies from longer distances.
What makes Ghostrunner's gameplay so high-stakes is that there's no health or energy-management mechanics. Enemies die in one hit, and the player dies in one hit, no exceptions. In a sense of fragility akin to that of Hotline Miami, Ghostrunner is all about being the best legendary assassin you can be. What will allow players to excel in the game will be a mastery of the movement and dashing mechanics. Many of the environments have several routes through the sandbox, so there's plenty opportunities for variety in each playthrough.
The sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that comes through beating a brutal level in Ghostrunner matches that of Doom, meaning this game will be challenging in all the right ways. Ghostrunner will be available later this year on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
PAX East had a variety of fantastic games on the show floor, and these games are a fraction of all the fantastic projects that were on the show floor this weekend. Gaming fans should be excited for what's to come in 2020.