Metroidvania games are enjoying something of a renaissance right now, with indie darlings like Hollow Knight reigniting the passion of gamers and developers alike for the sprawling, interconnected worlds and tangible sense of progression of the genre. Indie developer Phigames seems to have taken the idea and run with it with their upcoming title Recompile.
First revealed back in 2019, Recompile will see players take control of a "semi-sapient" program in a sprawling 3D world known as the Mainframe. As they explore, they can unlock various traversal abilities in classic Metroidvania fashion to aid them on their journey to achieve true sentience. A big selling point is game's claim to a story with "multiple, highly dynamic critical paths," meaningful choices and a potentially unique narrative. Publisher Dear Villagers may have hit on another big selling point, though, with the announcement today that the game will be available on Xbox Game Pass upon its release.
At its Indie Showcase event on Twitch today, ID@Xbox, the independent and digital publishing arm of Xbox, announced that Recompile, along with a host of other indie titles, would be coming to Xbox Game Pass upon their release. Featuring announcements and updates from such big hitters as Devolver Digital and DrinkBox Studios and showcasing over 100 indie games, the event gave gamers a lot to be excited about for the coming year.
With big names like Among Us stopping by the event and a host of smaller games besides, it would appear that Recompile will be in good company when it comes to Game Pass later this year. Viewers were treated to a star-studded lineup of indie games including celebrity-voiced time loop story 12 Minutes and beautiful exploration game Omno, many of which will also be coming to Microsoft's subscription service as soon as they're released.
Microsoft seems determined to regain its status as an indie game hub akin to when it launched Xbox Live Arcade back in 2005 with such hits as Bastion, Braid and Limbo, and nurturing dozens of smaller developers with events like this is sure to help with that plan. If there's one thing fans learned over the course of today's event on Twitch, it's that there is a wealth of excellent indie content just waiting to jump onto Xboxes and PCs across the world. With titles as varied as Recompile, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, and intriguingly sinister fishing game Moonglow Bay all coming to the service on release, indie fans will have a lot to look forward to in the coming year.
Recompile launches on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X later in 2021.