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[BlastProcessing]

Ephemerid: A Musical Adventure - $5.99 (Steam)

Steam Page

Ephemerid combines elements from rhythm and point-and-click adventure games into an interactive concept album. The core of the game is it’s original music. All of the art in the game is made from handcrafted paper, glass, and paint. The game tells the tale of a paper mayfly and it’s one day on earth. It is the best love story we knew how to tell.

This is actually my game. In my completely unbiased opinion, it is the single greatest game of all time .

 

[More_Badass]

Ephemerid: A Musical Adventure - $5.99 (Steam)



This is actually my game. In my completely unbiased opinion, it is the single greatest game of all time .

Recommended, really enjoyed this on iPad. Lovely visual style and music

 

[macfoshizzle]

More impressions please? Is it mainly a Sandbox still or does it actually have content to follow up on? Whats your motivation to keep playing?

you start off in a plane and crash into the middle of the pacific. basically playing the same scene from cast away. you're left with a small life raft, bottle of water, knife and go to the nearest island. the island isn't big. very tiny actually. but in the distance, you can see there are many which you can swim to or use your raft. everything is randomly generated so no 2 play session is going to be the same. you have to take note on where the sun sets, and use tools that you find either on the island or from the sea. so yeah, it's basically cast away.

it's still alpha and early access but what they have here is something great. the water effects are good, the weather and day/night cycle all makes it very immersive. the core gameplay elements are there.. you eat raw crabs and you'll get sick. chop up woods and pile it next to rocks and you can make an ace or spear. when the sun goes down, it's dark and you regret not making a fire unless the beautiful moon comes up.

the only complaint i have at this point are some of the mechanics like jumping. you jump like mj with even better hang time. you can also pretty easily defeat a great white shark with just a knife! there are too many sharks. the craft system needs heavy tweaking where it should be a lot more intuitive on what you can make. i wish the islands would be bigger.

 

[Toma]

For the new page: GOTY thread

And after 2:30 hours of playing, just a short note that Darkest Dungeon is really damn good already, but the balancing still feels a bit off.

Nonetheless fantastic concept and mechanics already, definitely worth the price and easy guess for the Indie GOTY 2015 list.

 

[More_Badass]

For the new page: GOTY thread

And after 2:30 hours of playing, just a short note that Darkest Dungeon is really damn good already, but the balancing still feels a bit off.

Nonetheless fantastic concept and mechanics already, definitely worth the price and easy guess for the Indie GOTY 2015 list.

Yeah, I played an hour and it's fantastic. The presentation is just superb, between the art style and aesthetic and attack animations. And of course the incredible narration, holy shit.

I really like the gameplay design: walking between rooms, choosing the best member to deal with traps and locked chests, the tactical depth of positioning and buffs, camping, dealing with stress in town

My biggest gripe is that you have no way of knowing the order of which your members and the enemies will attack. That seems like some pretty critical info that impacts your strategy.

But overall, Darkest Dungeon already lives up to hype

 

[More_Badass]

Ubisoft's Grow Home releases tomorrow. There hasn't been any gameplay footage yet, but considering how good Valiant Hearts and Child of Light were, plus the low poly art style and procedural animations and GIRP-style gameplay in 3D, I have high hopes

Seriously, Ubisoft's small-scale projects have been hitting it out of the park

 

[Toma]

Ubisoft's Grow Home releases tomorrow. There hasn't been any gameplay footage yet, but considering how good Valiant Hearts and Child of Light were, plus the low poly art style and procedural animations and GIRP-style gameplay in 3D, I have high hopes

Seriously, Ubisoft's small-scale projects have been hitting it out of the park

Too bad that Ubisoft itself is going down the drain. Considering their corporate policies it actually surprises me to see them support so many indie end
eavors.

 

[rybrad]

Not sure how many people remember Under the Ocean but it sounds like the game won't be happening. The dev says he will continue working on it but with all of the promises made over the last year that never came to fruition I wouldn't count on it. Additionally, the game will be delisted from Steam by the dev so if you are the collector type, time is limited. It is a bummer to see another early access title flop but luckily (so far) these seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

 

[More_Badass]

Not sure how many people remember Under the Ocean but it sounds like the game won't be happening. The dev says he will continue working on it but with all of the promises made over the last year that never came to fruition I wouldn't count on it. Additionally, the game will be delisted from Steam by the dev so if you are the collector type, time is limited. It is a bummer to see another early access title flop but luckily (so far) these seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

Awaiting the typical GAF reaction in the thread about this. "Early Access is a scam and never works", "this is why Early Access is bad", etc, etc.

 

[CheesecakeRecipe]

Not sure how many people remember Under the Ocean but it sounds like the game won't be happening. The dev says he will continue working on it but with all of the promises made over the last year that never came to fruition I wouldn't count on it. Additionally, the game will be delisted from Steam by the dev so if you are the collector type, time is limited. It is a bummer to see another early access title flop but luckily (so far) these seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

Well that is... really unfortunate. I was charmed by the very early version of the game I saw and have had it since relatively early on in its life cycle. I just decided to wait until it was more complete. Best of luck to the remaining dev on the team in seeing it through.

 

[rybrad]

Awaiting the typical GAF reaction in the thread about this. "Early Access is a scam and never works", "this is why Early Access is bad", etc, etc.

I have been involved with 4 (I think) Early Access games that have flopped and I have backed 80+ of them through various channels. The only game I have ever felt scammed on is Cubeworld. At least with the other games the devs have been communicating and discussing publicly the issues they run into. I can understand that sometimes shit happens and projects fail but taking money from people and vanishing without an update in years like the Cubeworld devs is terrible.

Well that is... really unfortunate. I was charmed by the very early version of the game I saw and have had it since relatively early on in its life cycle. I just decided to wait until it was more complete. Best of luck to the remaining dev on the team in seeing it through.

I think they got too ambitious with the Alpha 9 they had been talking about for awhile. It was completely different from the initial game and looked really cool but it just never came together.

 

[More_Badass]

I have been involved with 4 (I think) Early Access games that have flopped and I have backed 80+ of them through various channels. The only game I have ever felt scammed on is Cubeworld. At least with the other games the devs have been communicating and discussing publicly the issues they run into. I can understand that sometimes shit happens and projects fail but taking money from people and vanishing without an update in years like the Cubeworld devs is terrible.

I think they got too ambitious with the Alpha 9 they had been talking about for awhile. It was completely different from the initial game and looked really cool but it just never came together.

Didn't mean this thread, but the thread that someone will probably make about the news. I think here, we have a more realistic view of Early Access compared to the reactions you tend to see in other threads

And yeah, I actually checked the CubeWorld site last week and it hasn't been updated in months.

 

[PandaPedinte]

Not sure how many people remember Under the Ocean but it sounds like the game won't be happening. The dev says he will continue working on it but with all of the promises made over the last year that never came to fruition I wouldn't count on it. Additionally, the game will be delisted from Steam by the dev so if you are the collector type, time is limited. It is a bummer to see another early access title flop but luckily (so far) these seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

Sad news, I was expecting for the alpha 9 release. If I remember correctly the game gpt released before early access was a thing.

 

[BlastProcessing]

Recommended, really enjoyed this on iPad. Lovely visual style and music

Thanks for the kind words!

I have been involved with 4 (I think) Early Access games that have flopped and I have backed 80+ of them through various channels. The only game I have ever felt scammed on is Cubeworld. At least with the other games the devs have been communicating and discussing publicly the issues they run into. I can understand that sometimes shit happens and projects fail but taking money from people and vanishing without an update in years like the Cubeworld devs is terrible.

I think they got too ambitious with the Alpha 9 they had been talking about for awhile. It was completely different from the initial game and looked really cool but it just never came together.

After shipping a game myself, it now seems like a goddamn miracle that any game ever ships at all. I think Early Access,on the whole, makes it much more likely that a game ships.

 

[sheaaaa]

Darkest Dungeon looks amazing but I think I'll wait till it's out of Early Access to pick it up.

On another note, Sunless Sea is out of EA in a couple of days and that looks great too.

 

[Wok]

Not sure how many people remember Under the Ocean but it sounds like the game won't be happening. The dev says he will continue working on it but with all of the promises made over the last year that never came to fruition I wouldn't count on it. Additionally, the game will be delisted from Steam by the dev so if you are the collector type, time is limited. It is a bummer to see another early access title flop but luckily (so far) these seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

This is not what I understand from what he says. To my understanding, the bottleneck was the programmer who lacked motivation. Plus, once the game is done, it will be re-listed.

 

[glaringradio]

Man, the Darkest Dungeon "tutorial" may as well just be a quick screen saying "D forward, A back, W investigate, attack things, good luck".

I'm all for games not holding your hand every step of the way, but this game is in serious need of a proper tutorial explaining most, if not all of, the game's mechanics.

I get that it's Early Access and all, but it seems a bit weird that with the amount of content they actually have to give to early adopters, they would make quite a lot of it (I would actually say most of it, they don't even explain what the preferred positions/attacking location icons are) completely incomprehensible without having to look up a guide or figure it out for yourself.

I get that they want to make this a very hardcore dungeon crawling experience, as if Wizardry became a rogue-like, but I'm worried that it will hurt them in the long run if they don't make things a bit more accessible than they currently are.

 

[Toma]

Man, the Darkest Dungeon "tutorial" may as well just be a quick screen saying "D forward, A back, W investigate, attack things, good luck".

I'm all for games not holding your hand every step of the way, but this game is in serious need of a proper tutorial explaining most, if not all of, the game's mechanics.

I get that it's Early Access and all, but it seems a bit weird that with the amount of content they actually have to give to early adopters, they would make quite a lot of it (I would actually say most of it, they don't even explain what the preferred positions/attacking location icons are) completely incomprehensible without having to look up a guide or figure it out for yourself.

I get that they want to make this a very hardcore dungeon crawling experience, as if Wizardry became a rogue-like, but I'm worried that it will hurt them in the long run if they don't make things a bit more accessible than they currently are.

Hm, I thought it was pretty easy to figure out yourself since most symbols and icons are rather self-explanatory.

 

[More_Badass]

Man, the Darkest Dungeon "tutorial" may as well just be a quick screen saying "D forward, A back, W investigate, attack things, good luck".

I'm all for games not holding your hand every step of the way, but this game is in serious need of a proper tutorial explaining most, if not all of, the game's mechanics.

I get that it's Early Access and all, but it seems a bit weird that with the amount of content they actually have to give to early adopters, they would make quite a lot of it (I would actually say most of it, they don't even explain what the preferred positions/attacking location icons are) completely incomprehensible without having to look up a guide or figure it out for yourself.

I get that they want to make this a very hardcore dungeon crawling experience, as if Wizardry became a rogue-like, but I'm worried that it will hurt them in the long run if they don't make things a bit more accessible than they currently are.

Not true. Over each skill is a row of dots: the yellow dots tell you what position you need to be in to perform that skill and which enemy positions that skill can hit. Also on the character state page, there's a preferred position section at the top that tells you the spots where that character is most effective

Edit: oh, you're saying that it should be better explained? I thought it was pretty clear. My main gripe is that turn order seems to be completely random and you have no idea which of your party will attack next or if your enemy will attack next

 

[glaringradio]

Edit: oh, you're saying that it should be better explained? I thought it was pretty clear. My main gripe is that turn order seems to be completely random and you have no idea which of you party will attack next or if your enemy will attack next

Yeah, I mean its easy enough to pick up by observing the tool-tips, but such a vital mechanic should be explained in the tutorial. It isn't something that should be left to the player to discover.

 

[Phawx]

Hey Indie friends.

I have an advance copy of Barbarian Brawl:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/332730/

Requirements:
Someone near NE US (to keep latency low)
Someone able to play around 1AM EST
Don't mind having the game you're in being recorded
Having a Mic is a plus, but isn't necessary

Let me know if you're interested. I can give you a key.

Ubisoft's Grow Home releases tomorrow. There hasn't been any gameplay footage yet, but considering how good Valiant Hearts and Child of Light were, plus the low poly art style and procedural animations and GIRP-style gameplay in 3D, I have high hopes

Seriously, Ubisoft's small-scale projects have been hitting it out of the park

I'm on "the list" for this. But haven't heard anything, so probably they passed on me.

 

[More_Badass]

Grow Home's out now. Here's the launch trailer

Grow Home - $7.99 (PC)

http://store.steampowered.com/app/323320/

In Grow Home you play as BUD (Botanical Utility Droid), a robot on a mission to save his home planet by harvesting the seeds of a giant alien plant. On his quest BUD will discover a beautiful world of floating islands that are home to some rather strange plants and animals.
Grow the giant plant and use your unique climbing abilities to reach ever higher ground, but be careful…one wrong move and it’s a long way down!

 

[SerTapTap]

Man, the Darkest Dungeon "tutorial" may as well just be a quick screen saying "D forward, A back, W investigate, attack things, good luck".

I'm all for games not holding your hand every step of the way, but this game is in serious need of a proper tutorial explaining most, if not all of, the game's mechanics.

I get that it's Early Access and all, but it seems a bit weird that with the amount of content they actually have to give to early adopters, they would make quite a lot of it (I would actually say most of it, they don't even explain what the preferred positions/attacking location icons are) completely incomprehensible without having to look up a guide or figure it out for yourself.

I dunno, it's pretty standard for roguelikes to more or less throw you to the wolves and let you learn as you go. I think I've mostly learned what I need to buy just playing, a lot of things I didn't understand I simply hadn't experienced yet. It did take me a couple runs to fully understand the dots, but once abilities start working/not working or you see the AOE effect for "linked" dots it's fairly obvious.

Let's not forget that Binding of Isaac, IMO one of the best roguelikes (or procedural death labyrinths if you prefer, since it's even less Rogue than Darkest Dungeon) has a "tutorial" that is just the controls written on the first floor of the map. And since Rebirth they're not actually even labeled, since it's not keyboard only anymore...they're basically useless.

I did find it kinda funny that I successfully completed the tutorial after everyone died. It was a major relief to find it's one of those "you survive even if your party doesn't" affairs though.

 

[titch]

FREAKING MEATBAGS - $9.99 (PC/MAC)

http://store.steampowered.com/app/297060/

Land on a planet, pick up some rocks, leave before the solar system explodes. Oh, and don't die in the nightly robot attacks! Freaking Meatbags is a humorous real-time strategy game that's all about building a base, mixing meatbag DNA, then convincing those dolts to help you gather resources.

25% Off atm!!

 

[SerTapTap]

Freaking Meatbags seemed funny but I didn't get too far into it. Any particular hooks it has that aren't visible from the tutorial? RTS often require a level of both waiting AND babysitting that kinda bug me. Levels seemed short at least.

 

[Toma]

Freaking Meatbags seemed funny but I didn't get too far into it. Any particular hooks it has that aren't visible from the tutorial? RTS often require a level of both waiting AND babysitting that kinda bug me. Levels seemed short at least.

Cant remember what the tutorials made you do, but its basically a free form tower defense with RTS style base building and resource gathering that gets more intricate the more options you have at your disposal. Clone workers with good abilities (or to give them laser eyes), make sure to maximize the resource input, work on effective tower defenses etc, I really like it.

 

[One Foul Note]

I played a bit of Unrest now and I can give it a resounding 'eh' to it. Their is an interesting game somewhere in there but given its primary mission as a story based choices game I found the writing just not good enough to fulfill that role and their are a fair few minor annoyances with the UI and general game performance which make the game unpleasant to play over time. For 2 pounds I can't not recommend it, but unless you are a major story game fan then you are not missing much which is a bit of shame because on the outset the world this game creates is rather fantastic.

 

[Toma]

I played a bit of Unrest now and I can give it a resounding 'eh' to it. Their is an interesting game somewhere in there but given its primary mission as a story based choices game I found the writing just not good enough to fulfill that role and their are a fair few minor annoyances with the UI and general game performance which make the game unpleasant to play over time. For 2 pounds I can't not recommend it, but unless you are a major story game fan then you are not missing much which is a bit of shame because on the outset the world this game creates is rather fantastic.

Thanks for the impressions, but that sounds about right with what I expected. Too bad.

 

[MrNinjaSquirrel]

Grow Home's out now.)

Surprised to see this release at $8 and with pretty much zero fanfare for something published by Ubisoft. Would love to hear impressions if anyone picks it up, since I'm definitely interested in it but have absolutely no idea what it's actually like.

I played a bit of Unrest now and I can give it a resounding 'eh' to it..

Pretty much what I expected, but still a bit disappointed. Appreciate the impressions; will hold off on it until I have less of a mountain of games I'm more interested in playing, assuming that ever comes.

 

[More_Badass]

Surprised to see this release at $8 and with pretty much zero fanfare for something published by Ubisoft. Would love to hear impressions if anyone picks it up, since I'm definitely interested in it but have absolutely no idea what it's actually like.


Pretty much what I expected, but still a bit disappointed. Appreciate the impressions; will hold off on it until I have less of a mountain of games I'm more interested in playing, assuming that ever comes.

OT's here:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=985718

Played it for 2 hours already and I'm really enjoying it. The climbing and jumping is great, especially when you make a massive leap and then just latch onto a handhold. Wonderful artstyle

It's not a difficult or challenging game, definitely something to play to just relax and explore and have fun.

 

[MrNinjaSquirrel]

OT's here:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=985718.

Ah, thanks. I keep forgetting there tends to be dedicated threads for a lot of games.

 

[PandaPedinte]

Echoes+ - First surprise this month. Looking on the developers page the PC version got released back in September 2014 but thanks to this thread now I'm being aware of this little gem. The game is very simple but it doesn't take away the fact of how much fun I was having while playing it to beat my scores and the music did fit very well keeping me glued to the game. Echoes+ feels like a version of Asteroids full of energetic. Recommended for people who like high scores games.

 

[More_Badass]

Somerville - 2016

http://somervillegame.tumblr.com

Somerville at it's core is an episodic cinematic platformer with responsive shooter mechanics.  It draws influence from my beloved days of grinning through Eric Chahi's Another World but dragged through a nice contemporary wash.  Expect a core mechanic that borrows a little bit of Treasure shooter, a smidge of rhythm action, bookended by a fleshed out adventure game experience.  
Told through a series of narrated chapters from a primary school teacher to her class.  The book chronicles the life of author JOHN E. SOMERVILLE.  A key historical figure that rose from the wake of a devastating alien occupation of earth.

 

[titch]

Echoes+ - First surprise this month. Looking on the developers page the PC version got released back in September 2014 but thanks to this thread now I'm being aware of this little gem. The game is very simple but it doesn't take away the fact of how much fun I was having while playing it to beat my scores and the music did fit very well keeping me glued to the game. Echoes+ feels like a version of Asteroids full of energetic. Recommended for people who like high scores games.

It's a great price too Cracking game - I really like how it in't an instant contact death you can make some mistakes and the cost isn't fatal.

Somerville - 2016

Is it 2016 yet!!!

 

[PandaPedinte]

Naut - Cool idea and the character design is charming but the gameplay felt bad, specially driving the car and you need to drive it to travel the longer distances between the houses, so mostly of the time I was running to the other houses and it bored me. :/

Other positive point is the music, it's pretty good.

Grow Home's out now. Here's the launch trailer

Grow Home - $7.99 (PC)

I thought this was a Ubisoft game?

 

[Toma]

I thought this was a Ubisoft game?

Yep, technically disqualified.

 

[More_Badass]

Oblitus, Westerado, and Rain World are being published by Adult Swim. Would those be disqualified too?

Considering that Grow Home had one of the most quiet under-the-radar launches I've seen in a while (the devs didn't even release actual gameplay footage before launch) and it was made by a small 8-man team as a passion project, that they themselves consider an experiment rather than a game, personally I'd call Grow Home an indie game

 

[Toma]

Oblitus, Westerado, and Rain World are being published by Adult Swim. Would those be disqualified too?

Considering that Grow Home had one of the most quiet under-the-radar launches I've seen in a while (the devs didn't even release actual gameplay footage before launch) and it was made by a small 8-man team as a passion project, that they themselves consider an experiment rather than a game, personally I'd call Grow Home an indie game

Adult Swim is not Ubisoft though. I mean there are several publishers which are basically "Indie" publishers, like Devolver Digital. If I remember correctly, you also agreed with not including Child of Light, another Ubisoft game.

I get what you are saying, but I really dont see the point of doing marketing for Ubisoft

 

[flowsnake]

I hope this doesn't turn into definition wars...

 

[Toma]

I hope this doesn't turn into definition wars...

Considering how long this thread runs, I'd say we did a great job of avoiding definition wars so far. I think we are being pretty lenient currently with our rules regarding that, but I'll be using a huge veto-sign if we are starting to consider doing marketing for Ubisoft, EA, THQ, Microsoft or Sony (or whatever).

 

[titch]

Hope we don't end up with another rogue scenario situation I'm still trying to get my head round lite/like

I guess indielike would be a game the looks like an indie game but has the backing of a larger corporate like sony.

Maybe I shouldn't have tried to give it a name...

 

[Toma]

Hope we don't end up with another rogue scenario situation.

I guess indielike would be a game the looks like an indie game but has the backing of a larger corporate like sony.

Maybe I shouldn't have tried to give it a name...

Indielike.

 

[titch]

CASTLE IN THE DARKNESS - $5.99 (WINDOWS)

http://store.steampowered.com/app/262960

Castle In The Darkness is a fun and challenging shout out to the early days of video games! It's an action exploration platformer with some RPG elements, much like games from the Castlevania or Metroid series. It's super fast-paced, challenging, and full of secrets

I'm a Sucker for these types of games

17% off at the moment $4.97

 

[flowsnake]

Considering how long this thread runs, I'd say we did a great job of avoiding definition wars so far. I think we are being pretty lenient currently with our rules regarding that, but I'll be using a huge veto-sign if we are starting to consider doing marketing for Ubisoft, EA, THQ, Microsoft or Sony (or whatever).

Yes, of course. I'm just wary after seeing a lot of JRPG/WRPG threads get like that lately.

 

[Toma]

Yes, of course. I'm just wary after seeing a lot of JRPG/WRPG threads get like that lately.

No need to worry I think Speaking of on-topic discussions, what are you currently playing?

 

[More_Badass]

Got a load of this. Procedural road trip game where you're in control of the smallest details.

Hac - Free alpha (PC, Mac)

http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=44437.0

A first-person game about driving 1990's Europe, with a focus on meaningful interactions and a "true" driving experience. The closest comparison I'd imagine is Euro Truck Simulator with a narrative.

 

[Toma]

Baddy you already played Grow Home? Just because I wont include it next month doesnt mean I am not interested in your opinion

Someone mentioned something with a comparison to Collossus?

 

[More_Badass]

Baddy you already played Grow Home? Just because I wont include it next month doesnt mean I am not interested in your opinion

Someone mentioned something with a comparison to Collossus?

Yeah, it's great so far.

This game is awesome! It's like a janky shadow of the colossus where you grow your own colossus.

The climbing and jumping is very fun and enjoyable. That SoTC comparison is kind of off-base, because this has no enemies, it's not difficult or challenging. It's very much a game you play to relax and enjoy and have fun. The art style is wonderful.

But damn, I'd kill to see a game with this kind of procedural climbing mechanic mixed with SoTC-style gameplay. Indie devs, make it happen

 

[More_Badass]

Echoes+

A hectic Asteroid on steroids. The game is packed with content, between the various modes and difficulty levels. Echoes+ delivers arcade action as asteroids assault you from all angles, the flashy neon visuals and effects making each round a chaotic spectacle. An easy recommendation for fans of high score games and twitchy shooter fun

Naut

I like the art style, but controls feel weird, the driving physics are unresponsive, and it's just a boring game in a flat boring landscape. The art style is the only interesting thing about Naut

Operation Covert

Barely a demo at this point. It's one room, one enemy, a few interactive things, and that's it. Not worth the download

1. Besiege
2. Splasher
3. iO
4. Echoes+
5. Naut
6. Operation Covert

 

[flowsnake]

No need to worry I think Speaking of on-topic discussions, what are you currently playing?

Well, I'm not sure how on-topic it is since it's not a PC game, but the new Shantae is out so I've been playing that a bit. Not too much to say, other than the music being great.