Last week was the first Guerrilla Collective Showcase of the Summer, and yesterday (12th June) brought another stream - 'Day 2' - full of Indie goodies (the event is part of IGN's Summer of Gaming). As before a lot of projects are currently confirmed just for PC or specific platforms, but we've gone through the announcements and picked out 11 intriguing Switch titles for your viewing pleasure.
Enjoy!
Akatori (2022)
Previously known as Deathstick, this is a rather promising 2D Metroidvania - the name combines the two Japanese words: 赤い “Akai”, meaning 'red' and 鳥 “Tori”, meaning 'bird'. You swap between parallel universes, exploring and fighting as you try to save the world; the footage has certainly got us interested.
Archvale (2021)
This Idoz-developed title is being published by Humble Games, so has a good shot at being quite a high-profile Switch eShop release. This top-down 'Intense Bullet Hell Action' game has a neat fantasy setting and some rather crisp pixel-style visuals.
Arietta of Spirits (Summer 2021)
Another interesting title being published by Red Art Games. It's an adventure game that promises an 'emotion-filled narrative' along with interesting characters. The visuals look rather charming with some combat to keep things moving along; apparently it's not far off, either.
Batora: Lost Haven
A title we caught a glimpse of during the recent Indie Live Expo, Batora: Lost Haven is an intriguing sci-fi tale that plays out through an isometric angle. Its blend of hack 'n slash and bullet hell could be a lot of fun indeed, and it certainly has a distinct sense of style.
BATS the Game
Seemingly a freshly announced title, this is a 2D action title in which you play as Count Bloodvayne, though apparently you pick up more characters as you go. Expect pixelated gore and action.
Black Book
Games can do a wonderful job of introducing new story ideals and cultures to players, and perhaps Black Book will achieve this. Originally planned for 2020, it seems to blend exploration with storytelling and card-based battles; it's based on Slavic myths as humans 'live alongside mythological creatures'.
Death Trash
This is "an action role-playing game with combat, stealth, dialogue, inventory, attributes, skills, item crafting and psi powers" - plenty going on then. We really like the visuals and admittedly grim world of this one, here's hoping they can get this out once the dark winter months have set in.
Firegirl (2021)
Published by Thunderful and developed by Dejima Games, this is immediately eye-catching. A 2D title with gorgeous visuals, you tackle a range of fires will little more than a trusty axe and water hose, albeit there will be upgrade options. The movement looks like a lot of fun, and we're very keen to see how this shapes up on Switch. [NOTE: Plenty have said this is coming to Switch, but both the publisher and developer just say 'consoles' in official press kits etc, so we'll keep an eye out for definitive platform announcements]
Hunt the Night
While the world isn't short of top-down pizel-art action games, we really like the look of Hunt the Night by Moonlight games. It seems to have some puzzles and RPG-style depth, and the visual look and design is fantastic; by the looks of the footage it'll have quite a story and some memorable set pieces.
Kitsune Tails
This rather charming 2D platformer is now confirmed for Nintendo Switch; it's inspired by Japanese mythology and is no doubt going for a heavily cute vibe. The use of different costumes for distinct abilities looks like it could be rather fun.
Trash Sailors (Coming Soon)
This is definitely a YouTube / Twitch-suited game, as it's four player co-op in which you and some buddies chaotically try to sail and navigate various iffy-looking seas. Could definitely be fun if you pass the Joy-Con controllers around with some friends on Switch.
There you have it - let us know which of these games you're most intrigued by down in the comments!
Comments (30)
Not sure why, but none of these are really grabbing me.
Not sure why, but almost all grabbing me.
Not sure why, but some of them are grabbing me.
@Mystique
You might be on to something. I almost want to say it's a quantity over quality thing but that wouldn't be fair seeing as I haven't played any of these games.
I think for me it's how the games are being presented. "Hey we have 35 games coming to switch this year. Let's run through them really quickly "
I think if these games were dispersed over time instead of being information overload they would get an appropriate time to shine.
Hunt the Night looks good. As always I hope for physical release.
I only had a quick glance through them but most of them have potential to be interesting as far as I can tell. I'll definitely have to check them out in more detail once they're close to release.
Firegirl looks kind of intriguing but it's NOT been announced for Switch as yet unfortunately.
Maybe its my age talking, but they all look so samey. Nothing looks interesting anymore as it it seems everything is just a top down pixel art hack n slash or shoot em up. Pass on all for me.
Akatori, Fire Girl and Hunt the Night look good to me.
Trash Sailors looks fun, a local co-op fishing/survival/battler with an appropriate art style. Fire Girl looks pretty great, too. Akatori and Arietta of Spirits have some great pixel art. I like the smooth style of Black Book and a card battler with mood and story. Some stand out stuff from the piles of games that are trying to share the E3 spotlight.
@Mystique Same here, none of these titles are for me.
@BloodNinja Thought Akatori might get "approved".
@aaronsullivan I’ll approve it for you, even though it’s not for me:
NINJA APPROVED
I’ll send you a bill later.
Some of these just not for me. Super morbid and hyper violent silliness doesn't do anything for me.
Fire girl looks good. Lots of depth and variety of levels. I like the rebuild aspect as well.
Akatori and Black Book also look very interesting. Just those three for me.
@BloodNinja Haha. Well, now that it's NA I'll consider it.
None of these were grabbing me either then I watched the Death Trash video… wow 100% on that one def snagging
The color red sells a lot of games.
Not sure why, but all grabbing me.
Lov it
Talk about a lineup almost TAILORED to my priority interests. Even Archvale which certainly looks like another awesome game I'm going to royally suck at. Glad to see Black Book finally on the radar again, too, along with other similar cases like SkateBird and Here Comes Nico.
Few games grabbed me. The rest of them are uninteresting if they contain words such as 2d pixel art, metroidvania, rogue-lite element in their description, they make me not to buy. Perhaps does it have to do with the fact that 2d pixel art is oversaturated or my idea?
akatori and firegirl speak to me...will await more info.
All look like potential good games, but Death Trash and Hunt the Night are the highlights here for me, looking forward for more info
Akatori, Batora, and Fire Girl look great!
Any idea what changed with teh eshop? Its asked me to enter my password a half dozen times today between logging directly in to the store to even starting Civ 6
Akatori is the best thing shown here. Batora looks interesting too. The rest is meh.
wow after the awful square enix show. we need some good games. the square enix show case was the worst. x box was good. but once again it will be Nintendo that saves the E3.
Almost all of these games look like variations of existing titles we've all played. That said, Trash Sailors could be fun, and Death Trash has a cool atmosphere and art style. One man's trash is another man's treasure.
On first look and first read ot descriptions I would say about 4 or 5 grab me and are worth keeping an eye on. I need reviews though, of course.
That's a lot of craziness coming together!
I'm immediately digging the look of Firegirl, but I'll make sure to keep up with these in general.
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