If you’re a Nintendo Switch owner, no doubt you’ll be somewhat familiar with its expansive eShop library, with the likes of Dark Souls and Breath of the Wild, to Doom and Xenoblade Chronicles 2. But the eShop is also home to smaller indie titles that are worth investigating, and thanks to the eShop the Switch continues to grow to be one of the best platforms to experience them on. With Nintendo’s Nindies Direct showcasing a plethora of excellent indie titles to look forward to, here’s but a few you should save space on that extra SD card for.
1. Creature in the Well
Published & Developed by: Flight School Studio
Release: Summer 2019
Creature in the Well utilises a gorgeous aesthetic style that looks like the art had pulled from a graphic novel. The bold colours and use of black shading, with stylistic graphic textures, are quite stunning. And the gameplay? It’s got the appearance of an action adventure, hack and slash game, with dungeon crawling elements, maybe something for Hyperlight Drifter fans to look out for, yet the combat is essentially… pinball. With a sword. Hopefully you’ve got good reflexes, because it looks like you’ll need them! The way the corridors and rooms are laid out, with timed traps and enemies, it all lends itself brilliantly, and rather creatively, to this design – with the pinball table motif in mind. It’s almost absurd to say out loud, but that’s partly why it’s so intriguing.
If the aesthetic design isn’t enough to pique your interest, at least finding out how pinball can be utilised as a battle mechanic certainly should.
2. Stranger Things 3: The Game
Published & Developed by: BonusXP & Netflix
Release: July 4th, 2019
Given Stranger Things is rooted in ‘80s nostalgia – from the music to pop culture references and overall aesthetic – it is fitting to see that the upcoming Stranger Things 3: The Game makes use of the popular 16-bit art style and beat-em-up, action-adventure gameplay popular amoung indie developers that are a throw-back to nostalgic retro gaming. With single player and multiplayer gameplay options, the adventure takes players through familiar events from the popular Netflix original series, while uncovering mysteries behind the events of the show. It seems there is more on offer here than simply a companion game for when the anticipated third series hits Netflix, with promises to mix puzzle, combat, and adventure elements to the gameplay, with 12 unique playable characters – who fans of the series are bound to recognise in all their 16-bit, isometric glory.
Hopefully there’s more charm to the game beside being related to the Stranger Things franchise. It’s often the case that companion games are less than enjoyable, but it looks like BonusXP/ Netflix may be able to offer a genuinely enjoyable retro-style nostalgia piece that breaks away from this tradition – after all, Stranger Things have happened…
3. Neo Cab
Published by: Fellow Traveller
Developed by: Chance Agency
Release: Summer 2019
What initially looked like the Uber Driver Simulator: Cyberpunk Edition we’ve all been clamouring for (like we do at a busy taxi depot), Neo Cab is a cyberpunk neo-noir with simplistic, yet stylistic visuals evocative of Blade Runner, accompanied by an ambient synth-wave soundtrack. The gameplay itself is somewhat reminiscent of Snatcher’s point-and-click style gameplay, with branching dialogue options that look like they could alter the story in drastic ways. Even the art style and colours will appeal to fans of Snatcher.
In Neo Cab, you play as Linda, the last human taxi driver, where dialogue trees open up with the various characters picked up on taxi runs to pursue different outcomes. There is a Big Brother vibe from the way you have to be wary of the passengers you choose to pick up and what dialogue paths you follow, while managing your cash income, cab rating, and emotional health, as you investigate your friends mysterious disappearance, adding a flavour of thriller to the cyberpunk neo-noir style. While struggling to keep your job, hopefully there’s at least some references to De Niro; a few dialogue reference options would really make the experience. We’re playing as a Taxi Driver, after all…
4. Untitled Goose Game
Published by: Panic
Developed by: House House
Release: Q1 2019
There’s a simple reason to pick up this game: You play as a goose. Your mission? Annoy everybody in every which way you can, and utterly ruin their day, stealing hats, hiding glasses, and destroying vases. Untitled Goose Game has garnered a lot of attention for how simplistic and effective the art and gameplay looks, and how immensely fun it promises to be. It also doesn’t hurt that there aren’t many games out there quite like this one: in fairness how many opportunities do you get to experience life as a goose?
Finally giving us the opportunity to let loose our inner goose upon a sleepy, quaint village, Untitled Goose Game packs in slap-stick humour and creative sandbox level design with clever puzzle elements. It looks to be a silly goose of a game, and certainly one to take a gander at.
5. Cadence of Hyrule – Crypt of the NecroDancer Featuring the Legend of Zelda
Published by: Nintendo
Developed by: Brace Yourself Games
Release: Spring 2019
This was perhaps one of the biggest surprises of the March 2019 Nindies Direct – and probably one most Nintendo fans are quite aware of. Crypt of the Necrodancer was a roguelike dungeon exploration game revolving around the premise of being a rhythm based action-adventure game that utilised the soundtrack to time your movements and attacks to the beat of the music. It’s a brilliant piece of game design that features an equally brilliant soundtrack – given the importance of music to it’s gameplay design, that seems like a must. Cadence of Hyrule, meanwhile, takes Crypt of the NecroDancer and places it within the familiar setting of Hyrule from Nintendo’s own Legend of Zelda.
For one thing, this marks an important step for the indie developer scene. The Nintendo Switch has been a fantastic platform for indie gaming, with an enormous library that covers all genres, but to see Nintendo give permission to an indie developer to create a game featuring one of their most beloved franchises is very exciting. Could we perhaps see Untitled Goomba Game in the future?
Well in the mean time, Cadence of Hyrule has stunning visuals and art style with assets that look like they were taken straight out of Link to the Past or Minish Cap, with items and weapons from the Zelda universe, as well as a suitable array of enemies and bosses to boot, with the chance to play as Link and Princess Zelda herself! Keen eared fans may also note that there will be 25 classic Zelda scores remixed in the style of Crypt of the NecroDancer.
6. Bloodroots
Published & Developed by: Paper Cult
Release: Summer 2019
Bloodroots, from the creative minds over at Paper Cult, is a chaotic, fast-paced beat-em-up that seems to offer a lot of creative and fun ways to wipe the floor – or rather, pave it with gore – with swarms of enemies. Using environments to your advantage, from barrels and axes, to carrots and an entire tree, there is an absurd number of options to wreak pure, unadulterated on-screen havoc in the most entertaining ways possible. And the art style certainly doesn’t take away from this impression! It’s a colourful top-own perspective that in a way is reminiscent of Flame in the Flood, but the gameplay is way on the opposite end of the spectrum.
It’s hard to imagine being able to stretch your attention away from the chaos on-screen for story elements, but Bloodroots is essentially a Western revenge story in which Mr. Wolf seeks to exact his revenge on his would-be killer, using all the weapons every revenge seeking madman could need. Including, but not limited to, ladders, trees, and… carrots. With beautiful visuals, a variety of handcrafted levels, and a combo system complete with a leaderboard, Bloodroots looks to be as deranged as its characters and offers some much needed pandemonium to the Switch’s lineup.
