Nintendo Indie World August 2024 - Game by Game

 

Alright, I haven't written long-form like this in quite a few years, so let's see about shaking the cobwebs off with game-by-game thoughts on everything in Tuesday's Indie World. I was watching the Nintendo UK broadcast - here - and will be providing timestamps throughout. I'll follow up with a Partner Showcase article later, because the Blogger editor is screaming in pain at the length of this one.

Indie World - 0:25:24

Balatro - Friends of Jimbo (Update) - 0:27:17

Well this was a fun start. Balatro! And also, a difficult one for me to start this rundown on. I haven't played Balatro yet. I know I should, but it's a terrifying time sinkhole that only seems to grow with every new update. Speaking of which, what a fun selection of crossovers here - The Witcher 3, Vampire Survivors, Dave the Diver and Among Us. Jimbo clearly keeps good company. Alright, look, I can't really add anything else for this one. Will they play well? Will they add interesting new wrinkles to the gameplay? I haven't a clue. Haven't played it. Therefore, I award this update a perfect 10/10.

Neva - 0:28:32 

 

Now this one I can talk a bit about. I liked Gris quite a bit for what it was. Sure, it was gameplay... light, and sure, it didn't have a whole lot to say beneath the thick layers of arthouse iconography, and sure, the glacial traversal made me balk at the idea of doing any completion of it beyond hitting the ending inside this lifetime. Did I like Gris? I think I liked Gris. It was really incredibly pretty and sometimes really incredibly pretty is just about enough. Neva here looks like it's got some real gameplay to it this time, so it has my interest. 10/10.

Moth Kubit - 0:30:10

I love this. Not my favourite game in the showcase, but the one I most often kept forgetting about and then rediscovered on rewatches and went "oh yeah! This looks really cool!" Is that complimentary? Sure. I love a game that chucks loads of weird ideas into the mix and this looks packed with them. Intriguing stuff. 10/10.

Coffee Talk Tokyo - 0:31:14

These games aren't quite my cup of tea (oh ho ho!) and so I haven't played the previous two, but, sure, if you liked those then this looks like it'll provide a nice thematic twist. The pixel art is undoubtedly pretty but there's something a bit uncanny about some of the faces.10/10.

Sea of Stars: Throes of the Watchmaker (DLC) - 0:33:32

I'd completely forgotten this game was getting DLC, so this was a pleasant surprise. New battle roles, new partners and a new location suggest this is going to be a very standalone campaign, and quite a meaty one too. And it's free? You spoil us, Sabotage. Looking forward to this one. 10/10.

PowerWash Simulator: Shrek Special Pack (DLC) - 0:34:27

Hmm. Well. Hmm. I'm not much of a Shrekhead (do you think fans would like being called Shrekhead? I think it's worth a whirl) and already fairly wedded to Viscera Cleanup Detail in the genre of goop cleaning, so this already wasn't really for me on a few levels. Any maybe it's just the Switch footage but this looks rough, like someone found some fanmade or old PS2-ripped Shrek assets and went "sure, get Dreamworks on the phone, we can do this." Is the rainbow goop a thing? Swamp gunk in greens & browns seems like an obvious choice, so I'm not sure why we've gone for the candy blast here. Well, the Shrekheads will probably enjoy it. 10/10.

Morsels - 0:35:12

This looks weeeeiiiiird. In a good way. In a great way. This looks precision manufactured to appeal to Stephanie Sterling. This looks like the dreams a boglin would have after overdosing on ketamine. Deliciously unique art style, gorgeously gruesome animation, delightfully weird soundtrack... it being a roguelike is the one minor disappointment for me, not being especially huge on those and already a bit worn  out by their prevelance, but I still really want to check this out. 10/10.

Date Everything! - 0:37:22

I often feel that these spoofy dating sims are missing the point a bit when the non-human objects of your attraction are just turned into quirky humans. I don't know, like Coffee Talk, these really aren't my genre, but if a game's going to tell me I can date a hoover then I want to see my protagonist date a hoover, not a dude with a utility belt of vac attachments, no matter how impressive his nozzle. 10/10.

Peglin - 0:38:44

Now we're talking. I got a bit hooked on Peggle back in the day after my mum got fully absorbed into it, and since EA/Popcap have been refusing to make a new one that's not an app store microtransaction mess, it's great to see someone else pick up the mantle. This one's out now, and I'm probably going to pick it up. 10/10

Wobbly Life - 0:40:40

I try not to be cynical on the first look of a trailer, particularly in the indie scene, but it's really hard to not look at games like this and go "oh, another ragdoll physics comedy sandbox thing" and scrub through to the next trailer, never to think about it again. But yeah, I've really got nothing to say on this one. It looks like another one of those. 10/10.

PICO PARK 2 - 0:41:27

 

This looks like great chaotic fun so long as you can actually get a full squad of eight to play with, and rapidly diminishing returns with fewer. Still, the presentation reminds me a lot of BOXBOY - if notably more amateur - and I Wanna Be The Guy, two things I like quite a lot. But I'm just praying this game has a Dark Mode, I can feel my retinas burning already. 10/10.

The Montage Bit - 0:42:51

Let's rattle through these quickly. Shovel Knight on Switch! Can you believe it? 10/10. Europa looks very cool and is high on my wishlist. 10/10. Cuisineer. A cosy Hades-like? Adorable. 10/10. On Your Tail. It looks cool. But I keep getting distracted by... anyway! 10/10. Metal Slug Tactics. I love Metal Slug. I'm terrible at tactics. Hmm. 10/10. The Plucky Squire. Next month? Hell yeah. All over this. 10/10.

Pizza Tower - 0:44:24

 

It's at this point I realise I should have turned HDR off before taking my screenshots. Oops. Anyway, Pizza Tower, finally on Switch. A solid way to end. I've already played it, so I already know it's very good. Enjoy it, new players. 10/10.