Some Of The Best Indie Titles At PAX West 2017

When going to a video game convention, there will always be the triple A titles that everyone knows that they will be getting. What CFG Games like to do is always check out the upcoming indie titles to see if there are diamonds in the rought. PAX West this year did not disappoint us. There were a lot of great indies this year that were showcased. Here were a few that stood out the most:

Cuphead (XB1/PC)

Microsoft had a very busy booth this year, but one of their biggest games was one of their strangest games, that being Cuphead. Cuphead is a new Contra style platformer from developer StudioMDHR. The game has a lot of style, mimicking that of a 1920s/30s cartoon. The soundtrack is also reminiscent of classic cartoons. Game plays pretty much exactly like contra. You will pretty much run and gun down foes by yourself or with a partner in 2 player CO-OP. You can shoot a constant steam of “bullets” from you finger or switch on the fly to do a close range spread shot. The game is insanely hard, seriously, this is easily the best Contra clone I have played to date and rivals the difficulty of Contra 4… which is probably one of the hardest side-scrollers in existence. You will roam a world map, similar to that of Donkey Kong Country 3. From there you can enter levels, fight bosses, talk to NPCs or even purchase power-ups. So far only true issue I see with the game is that it is only couch CO-OP at launch. StudioMDHR did state that if it seems feasible after launch, they will look into adding online CO-OP. Lets hope they do, because this game was amazing and NEEDS to have that online CO-OP to help spread the love that is Cuphead. Game will be hitting the Windows store and XBOX LIVE store on September 29th 2017.

 

The Inpatient (PS VR)

This is the prequel to Until Dawn but on the Playstation VR. After strapping the VR on and sitting in a chair, I open my eyes to being strapped down to an inclined table with an old man talking to me very close to my face. The VR was very nice, crystal clear graphics, the room was eerie with another doctor in the back dissecting something. The old man doctor would ask me questions kind of like the Psychiatrist from Until Dawn. The doctor would make you reminisce about a dream you have been having of hiding in the closet and being chased by the orderlies. You wake up in your room where you learn to walk around and being taught how to pick up stuff.

The demo ends with you walking down a dark hallway with some demon jump scaring you ending the demo. I can see the Inpatient alone selling some more VR units come this November.

 

 

Sword Legacy: Omen

This is new indie game from Team 17. Sword Legacy plays RTS style like XCOM but set in the world of King Arthur. Sword Legacy was pretty easy to play and understand, although I did kill off Merlin in my play through. Sword Legacy has a good amount of blood in it, which I thought was done tastefully. The battles were quite fun and I’m not the best at RTS type games. After figuring out the fighting styles of the characters, I fell in love with the game and wanted to see more but the demo ended. Keep a look out for this game due out sometime this year.

 

Genesis Alpha One

Genesis Alpha One is a first person indie shooter set in space but with a building aspect to it. You can build and add on to you space station and set troops to gather new materials from different worlds. Cloning is a big part the game as you find new elements from aliens that board the ship after resource runs. Most of the game will be trying to manage your Space station and farm resources. It can be a fast paced or slow depending on the alien infestation that can potentially take over your ship. I had allot of fun with Genesis Alpha One but still TBA for a release date.

 

Yoku’s Island Express

I had a blast with Yoku’s Island Express which is another new indie game from Team 17 that reminds me a lot of Sonic Spinball. Yoku’s Island Express is open world pinball adventure with tons of puzzle elements. I had tons of fun with Yoku who is a little dung beetle rolling around the island trying to help his buddy’s. The game plays with just the triggers on the controller as bumpers as you pinball Yoku around. The music in Yoku’s Island was very fun and whimsical along with the sounds of the world. Yoku’s Island Express will come to the PS4 in 2018.

 

Battle Chef Brigade

Battle Chef Brigade was the most amazing and fun game I played at PAX West. Think of Battle Chef as a Fantasy Iron Chef game where you hunt animals for you food to help you cook fantastic meals. In Battle Chef you learn some fighting moves to help you defeat monsters to gather ingredients. After learning how to cook and prepare different styles of food, you are given the chance to enter into or challenge other rival chefs. Battle Chef then turns into a puzzle type matching game as you cook your food for the judge. Battle Chef Brigade was I think the most unique game I have seen in a long time. Battle Chef Brigade will come to the Nintendo Switch this Holiday 2017.

 

Dandara (Switch)

This is an indie game that caught me by surprise. Checking out the Nindies booth at PAX this game stood out amongst the rest. That game is Dandara by developer Long Hay House and publisher Raw Fury. This game is a simplified Metroidvania style game. Yes, we have seen many indie Metroidvania games, but this one has a bit of a twist. In this game you don’t just run around and shoot to get from place to place, you have to make a jump from wall to wall. This adds a bit more though into exploring. Because even though you can sometimes just zip between walls at high speed, there will be enemies and traps along the way which make you think on the fly. You will be solving puzzles and having to time jumps from place to place as well, adding a different type of platforming element which was just so darn entertaining. On top of the unique gameplay the pixel art in the game is top notch. I fell in love intently by just the look of the game let alone the fun gameplay. Though I’m a bit fuzzy on the overall purpose and story of the game from the demo I was able to try, I can say that I’ll be picking up this beauty when it is released later this year.