Every Game From The Wholesome Direct 2022 Coming To Switch

@Deljo A lot of people, myself included. Your opinion isn't the only one on earth.

Me!!!1!!!7!!!

Edit. I appreciate this comment makes no sense after the user deleted their comment.

@Deljo A bunch of these look great for my daughters 5 and 8. It's okay for things to not be made for you (or me). They can still matter.

I like the look of PixelShire

I am all over the Snufkin game

I've been eyeing Frogun since it's kickstarter.

I need a release date.

GAMES! GAMES! GAMES!

These all look alright, some I'm interested to play especially Paper Trail. But the wholesome and cozy tags are really becoming meaningless buzzwords. The same thing is happening with music. It used to be everything is atmospheric, now everything is wholesome and cozy and comfy.

I love how Cassette Beasts is set in New Wirral, as if residents of The Wirral have put their stamp upon a post-apocalyptic world.

Great for this who like indies and 2D games I suppose

There are actually several I am interested in but us pretty groanworthy how s good fourth of this is farm aim games.

@Deljo - This is telling you didn't at least read the highlights. If they were separated your response would be different. I can almost bet on it.

I was expecting some cringe literal kiddy stuff all the way through. But legitimately, there is quite a few games I would sign on to play in a heartbeat.

Literally just skim through that list, my dude.

Many of these look really appealing to me, and even the ones that don't are clearly very polished and had a lot of effort and love put into them. Many of the ideas are pretty original too. The team that put this list together clearly has an eye for quality, its not just any old shovelware and asset flips.

I don't understand why this post and the last one seem to bring out so much anger and indignance in some people? Is it just that labelling things as "wholesome" is a bit overused and cringe in certain sections of social media? Not every videogame has to be violent or edgy. And if you want that, you probably shouldn't be on a Nintendo website. I'm not criticising or flaming, I'm just genuinely surprised at some of the responses I've seen.

Freeride, Fall of Porcupine and Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo stood out to me the most.

It's kind of baffling how some people are surprised that these games have an audience. Were they living under a rock when Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley sold millions of copies?

This single showcase increased my backlog by about 10 games. Wholesome Direct was definitely my favorite of this week.

So glad these shows help me discover games I wouldn't have heard of otherwise.

I'm most excited about the Calico expansion!

that game gets a lot of unfairly destructive criticism. sure it's wonky and flawed, but it's a game filled with so much heart and love for its players, and it shows. charm goes a long way for a games appeal, and Calico has it in spades!

@Deljo Geez, angry over nothing much? There are some real interesting ideas in these games.

Lil Gator Game looks really cute!

WHOAAA...!!
There are a lot of indie games I like from the trailers above. 😃
Let's see the game titles and my hype level.

Hype level B (70 - 79)
Lil Gator Game
Mail Time
Lumbear Jack
Little Bear Chef
Freeride
Here Comes Niko
Frogun
Cassette Beasts
Wholesome Out & About
The Spirit & the Mouse
Gaucho & the Grassland
Paperklay
Hamster on Rails
Lemon Cake

Hype level A (80 - 89)
Mika & the Witch's Mountain
Kitori Academy
Ooblets
Ova Magica
Garden Witch Life

Hype level S (90 - 99)
Puffpals Island Skies
Kokopa's Atlas

Physical release on PS5
Potion Permit, indie game from my country Indonesia 🇮🇩

Thank you so much for the breakdown of indie games from Wholesome Direct 2022 ! 😄

Damn that's a lot of games. I'm loving the witchy crafting trend here.

I'm keeping an an eye on Toroa (looks gorgeous) and Mail Time. Mika and the Witch's Mountain looks fun too. Love the first Coffee Talk so I'll be getting part two.

@Deljo people with working brain cells.

@Purgatorium Would you like a cute cartoony witch game which is a metroidvania but where you can plant and harvest crops to then make potions and spells, collect resources to craft items, and sell your unneeded stuff to build and decorate your home? One that works like a typical 2d open world platformer when inside, but when outside you can ride your broom to new areas and its like a shooter? And it has Lucasarts adventure style fully voice acted interaction with all the npcs? Because I know someone who's making exactly that 😇😅

One of the things that is great about the Nintendo Switch is the variety. You have games like Mario next to games like DOOM next to games like WarioWare and beyond. I'm happy there are good wholesome games for parents looking for things for their kids to enjoy.

We are OFK is a 17+ game with strong language, use of alcohol and suggestive themes. So very wholesome!

I don't think it's possible to have a presentation with more than fifty games and have most of them look good. I get that they're all about inclusion, but I watched the whole thing and can't remember the name of a single game. Even the ones that did look interesting got lost in an endless stream of unpolished, generic nonsense that numbed my brain to the point where none of it made it past my short term memory.

Cassette Beasts is really the only game that jumped out to me just skimming though the list, but they all are very interesting ideas.

Lil Gator Game & Here Comes Niko look like they could be pretty good, though I think we've known about them for a bit.

The Spirit & The Mouse as well, though I'm much more interested in Stray (which wasn't featured here).

@Moistnado Gee, I wonder what it is about that game which is triggering you.

I think I'll wait for the Edgy direct or something. Wholesome games are kinda unexciting for me.

@RR529 Here comes Niko was released the last year on pc. It got middling scores.

So no Eroge? That's a shame 😁

@fenlix
I was impressed by a lot of indie games shown from Wholesome Direct 2022 since I like cute cartoonish games with 3D models. (Look at my post above about my hype level with the indie games mentioned)
Definitely one of the Best Direct for me on this year. 👍

"A musical pixel art farming Sim where you are a witch cat that harvests frogplants, and learn how to process grief"

Some of these look appealing, but there were way too many Stardew Valley clones. Most of them feature original elements like monster battling, but the core gameplay loop is the same. The real outliers here are those that avoided the farming and/or taming loop, and focused on being something different. I like the look of the witch delivery game. Another stand out for me was the Bread and Fred - it reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend about how to go about rebooting Ice Climbers for the modern generation.

Togges looks quite promising.

There is always that guy who saves the comment section when there is an article about 50 unknown indie games. Congrats @Deljo xD

@nessisonett I didn't get past the content warning at the start. But I watched the video to see what you are referring to. I don't see anything triggering. Perhaps, paying rent in LA? A story about a group of musicians, but not one musical instrument in sight? Someone wearing sunglasses indoors while working on a computer, standing up, in a dark room? People looking at phone screens a lot and not knowing what is so interesting on the phones? What is supposed to be triggering?

Nintendo missed a chance! There seems to be enough quality games for a Nintendo Indie World, and I guess almost every developer would prefere showing their game on a Nintendo show. Little effort for Nintendo, big win for both Nintendo and the games.

Lil Gator Game looks the best to me, especially if it can capture that Short Hike vibe in tone at least. I also heard amazing things about Ooblets, which may be something I can enjoy with my kid.

Chicken Journey for me. Looks like. Game I may be able to actually beat for once lol.

I still feel the urge to buy old school (Gamecube and ps2 era) hardcore horror games when I see them, but the truth is, I much rather return to a fun beautiful game, and if it reminds me of GBA graphics even more often. So I imagine I have quite a weird Switch collection, lacking many of the big titles, third or first party, and containing many gruesome somewhat clunky games, as well as some experimental games, indie games ranging from challenging (but with constant progress) to wholesome relaxing.

Let's see, most recently played a LOT of:
Disco Elysium
Captain Toad on 3ds
Etrian Odyssey V
Ace Attorney Trilogy (and going through the series)
The Cruel King and the Great Hero (very flawed as a game, but gorgeous as art otherwise)
Zombie Army 4
Moonlighter (just wrapping it up, replaying the dlc dungeon a couple of times and making more money than I know what to do with, with all maxed out gear and upgrades)

Just started:
The Wild at Heart (not to be mistaken for the amazing Sayonara Wild Hearts, or the fantastic movie Wild at heart, it's a top down Pikmin X Luigi's Mansion X Knights and Bikes or something, if that makes sense)

Looking forward to playing:
-Eastward (just received in the mail)
-the upcoming new Yomawari, cutest AND most unsettling 2d horror
-Wreckfest, I don't like cars, but wrecking them (Wreckfest), struggling getting them through snowy mountains (Snowrunner), or racing them with a neon triceratops or unicorn (Cruis'n Blast), I enjoy more than I reasonably should.
-Endlings Extinction is Forever. Look it up, you'll get it, or won't, but what you see is what I want to experience as a game.
-And a couple of my backlog games, including the Ori ones, Chicken Police, Yoku's Island Express, Tormented Souls...

Plenty to play, plenty to look forward to, and the wishlist ('awaiting deep sale list') and backlog keep getting longer.

I wonder what's up with the all the witch games? New trend?

@TheRealMr_Carpainter I really hope so... I've gotta say its kinda annoying and disconcerting that as soon as we started developing our own, we suddenly saw what felt like hundreds of them all appearing at once, not to mention the Cotton series getting a revival and releasing at least 10 games in the time since we started developing. But if thats a sign that this kind of game or aesthetic is popular, as Kate suggested to me in a previous thread, I'll look on the bright side and take it as a good sign that there is a receptive audience for it

I love games like these generally so it's hard to pick a favorite announcement but I'm very very VERY happy that Coffee Talk 2 will come to Switch.

@Diogmites love me some Kiki but I don’t see that game on this list…?

Will watch this one. Last year's version was quite good. The game industry seems to be in a rut, just trying to churn out bigger and badder grimy shooters. These indies are pretty much what I play these days.

@Diogmites ah! Yes that does look Kikiesque thanks

This is a weird trend

Snufkin? I remember Homestar Runner dressing up as him in "The Homestar Runner Enters the Spooky Woods," like three Halloweens ago. Bubs dressed up as Commander Borf.

Quite a few of these are obviously "inspired by" (read rip-offs of) games like Tearaway, Stardew, Slime Rancher, to name a few. Still, I'm desperate for any games starring bears, so LumbearJack and Little Bear Chef look great to me. I hope Bear & Breakfast will come out soon, been waiting for that one for a while but no one seems to have any details on it.

@ArmenianJedi13 How so? It's nice to have something chill to relax to. Not every game has to be Tekken or Elden Ring. Sometimes tending a veggie garden or cooking a virtual meal is all you need.

Will buy some of these, 😊

These all look lovely, but I simply don't have the time to devote to more than two or three life/farming sims - feels like we've been absolutely spoiled with them the past couple of years! I've had to be really ruthless and picky with the ones I do seek out (I've already shelved Animal Crossing and Stardew), but I suppose it's nice to have the choice

@FishyS That's just called mainstream gaming. The gruesome grisly gory aesthetic has currently taken over AAA games. This direct is warranted as a counterpoint to the current trend in the game industry.

@UltimateOtaku91 You obviously skipped straight to the comments section, because this direct was packed with 3D Indies, which I found fairly impressive!

@samuelvictor Oh, that sounds interesting. Is it wholesome?

@Purgatorium Haha thanks! While it wasn't the direct intention, I guess the game is pretty "wholesome" for a few reasons:

1) While she has a wide range of "attacks" and upgrade systems etc for them, and lots of "enemies" to "kill" with them, within the game lore she's a good witch who is pro nature and loves plants and animals, and would never hurt anyone or anything. All the "enemies" are infact good people, animals, plants and innanimate objects which have had a curse put on them to make them attack good people. All of the spells that she learns to "attack" with are white magic, and are actually healing and curing them. (this mechanic came around partly because I didn't want to amplify negative religious sterotypes about "witches". For a similar reason the bats, rats and spiders in the game are friendly and helpful! But also because as a kid I always felt more happy about Sonic rescuing bunnies and birds from badnik suits, than Mario outright killing goombas and koopas... silly perhaps but it all adds to Hazel's character being a true force for good in the story.)

2) Theres a very wide range of accessibility options (visual, auditary, colours, subtitles, controls), and difficulty levels, ranging from everything from basically holding your hand through the story even if precise platforming is difficult or impossible for you, all the way through to "NES hard" style with permadeath and bonuses for completion with no hits. Balancing the whole thing that way has been a crazy challenge, but fun. It was important to me to make the game fun and challenging for experienced retro players, but also fun and welcoming for kids and complete newcomers who may never have played this type of game before. I'd love it to be some kid's first game that then gets them into side scrolling platformers, shooters and metroidvanias! Theres (completely skippable) ingame tutorials for everything including very basics of how to run, jump, etc which come from a little bat helper who flies around with you, and any time you are stuck, you can turn to him and ask for help and he'll give you clues, or even tell you the answer to stuff. Again, completely able to be turned off for experienced players if they want, but other than at key moments he won't interupt you unless you talk to him.

3) Theres a lot of (optional if you are speedrunning or are good enough to not need the extra items) planting, farming, harvesting mechanics, as well as crafting for things like decorating your room, gardens, building a base in certain areas, customising your look with clothes and accessories... sorta like Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley elements, also feeding, raising and breeding animals a bit like Chao. Its all completely optional for those not into that kind of thing but I can imagine some people will get really into these elements and spend many hours on visiting these areas repeatedly even if they don't like the more challenging platforming, shooting and battling parts (and if they do so, they'll eventually level up to the point they'll be a walkover anyway)

4) Finally, while I shouldn't even have to clarify this, even though she is in school uniform and has a (big Hogwarts castle style) school as the main hub, she's very much a little girl and in no way sexualised, and everything about the cutscenes, dialogue, animations etc is really cute and family friendly, whilst hopefully being written in a witty and engaging way that appeals to everyone.

Theres nothing remotely offensive in it, except for the extreme religious people who ban Harry Potter or Pokemon because they consider any magic/fantasy stuff to be dangerous somehow.

@samuelvictor That does sound fun. I asked because not a lot of Metroidvania's are 'wholesome' just brutal, lol. I like the helpful good witch vibe and the Sonic analogy. I'll definitely keep an eye out for it.

@Purgatorium Thank you! Yes, cute/mascot platformer style metroidvanias are not very common, and games in the genre often have brutal difficulty and a purposeful feeling of isolation/overwhelm to create atmosphere. Ours is far more colourful, friendly, and full of characters with dialogue and plot/world building, many items for inventory like puzzles and ingredients for spells, and a (hopefully) more logical progression in unlocking and exploring areas.

Infact, the key inspiration for the platforming, puzzling and exploring part of the game (which is the basis for most of it and how we started) is an old 8 & 16bit game called Fantastic Dizzy which is a very famous game in the UK and not really known elsewhere. This was a cartoony platformer with inventory puzzles and characters you can talk to and help, with the (for the time) unique features that there are no separate levels, but a huge interconnected world with a really impressively wide variety of locations, not to mention a day/night system, and abilities you learn over time. Also a fun part of that game was it had several minigame challenges with arcade and puzzle style gameplay from multiple genres that you get the first time you visit certain locations, which is another thing we've incorporated into our game - challenges involving variations on 1980s arcade games in certain rooms and areas.

My partner is a voice actress and huge Harry Potter fan, and I'm an animator, so we decided to make a very cartoony little girl witch in a Harry Potter style school and havw lots of animation, cutscenes and voice acting. I'm good friends irl with many of the big retro gaming youtubers so we figured getting voices for other characters would be easy and fun, and they might help promote the game, if they like it. Once we started building the school, I realised that what we had was in many ways similar to a cute Symphony of the Night, so we devised ways to incorporate elements of leveling up, skill trees and the like. We started developing during lockdown, when my partner was Twitch streaming a lot of Minecraft and Stardew Valley, and we soon realised that resource building, crafting, and growing/farming elements would fit the nature/herbology and the world we were building perfectly too!

So basically with all that in mind, you end up with a game thats complicated to explain, and sounds like a lot of elements all thrown together, but actually it all gels perfectly, and I think its pretty unique, whilst also being remeniscent of many of the coolest retro and indie games we love

@DreamlandGem July 28? Yay, thank you! Can't wait, it looks like just the game to play before going to sleep.

How come Fall of Porcupine got removed from the list? Is it not being released on switch?
I’ll be upset if it doesn’t, really looking forward to it 😂

@Dizzard Fall of Porcupine got removed, do you know why?