Saturday I got not one, not two, but three games to check out.
Thinking I wouldn’t need the whole hour to take in Axiom Verge, Chasm and Mages of Mystralia, I approached the booth expecting to spend a few minutes on each and then call it a day.
What I found instead were three different but equally immersive experiences.
I started with Axiom Verge, which is out now for PC, PS Vita and PS4 and will be coming to Xbox One and Wii U (which was the platform I played it on at the show). The game, which is referred to as a “metroidvania” action-adventure does definitely resemble its Metroid predecessor. In the game, you emerge from a large egg structure after surviving a horrible science accident.
Well she looks intimidating…
The game is an impressive feat as it was developed by one guy. I failed enough that it was time to move on to my next quest…
Chasm, graphics-wise, is a little bit more grown up than Axiom Verge and will be out later this year. Also along the “metroidvania” vein of gaming, you’re investigating the disappearance of villagers in a game that kind of reminded me a bit of the mechanics of Aladdin for SNES.
Nothing quite like a nap under a creepy tree.
Unlike the games of our youth, the title from Bit Kid, Inc. has a procedurally generated environment, lending itself to many replays as you investigate the environment over and over.
I’m eagerly awaiting its release and look forward to getting my hands on the completed product later this year.
As my private session with these games was drawing to what I believed was the end, I was escorted back into the magical press area where I would be shown Borealys Games‘ Mages of Mystralia. The plot is described as something like Harry Potter, in which a young girl named Zia discovers she has magical powers.
Ice Lizard was no match for my magic missile.
Another highlight is that Ed Greenwood, writer for the Forgotton Realms world for Dungeons and Dragons will be writing the story, which was still in a fledgling state for the sake of gameplay.
The graphics reminded me quite a bit of early Playstation titles and a little bit of Epistory (which you may recall from an episode of the Brewelist podcast…).
One of my favorite aspects of the game was the spell crafting system. I found it to be pretty intuitive and powerful. My favorite cocktail of doom was 5 fire orbs that home in on your enemies and then explode. It was so powerful, in fact, that I broke the build. A couple of times. Not that I was counting. (If you guys are looking for a bug tester, I’m sure I can break a few other things for you before the release…just saying…).
After playing through the demo, there were some pretty sweet areas of the game that have not yet been revealed to the public.
The game was shown for the first time at GDC and is expected to be released in 2017. I can’t wait to get my hands on it again. And, judging by the fact their booth was mobbed, there appear to be a lot of other people who feel the same.
I would like to thank Dan Adelman, my guide and the PR guy for all three of these titles, and Patric J. Mondou who hooked me up with the preview stuffs for Mages of Mystralia.
TL;DR
Title: Axiom Verge
Developer: Tom Happ
Platforms: Windows, MAC, Linux, PS4, Vita with Xbox ONE and Wii U coming soon
Available From: Steam, Digital Distribution
MSRP: $19.99 USD
Title: Chasm
Developer: Bit Kid, Inc.
Platforms: Windows, MAC, Linux, PS4
Available From: Nowhere right now, unless you supported their Kickstarter or Pre-ordered
MSRP: ???
Title: Mages of Mystralia
Developer: Borealys Games
Platforms: PC and Consoles
Available From: Our Dreams (We’ll keep you posted)
MSRP: ???
