#axiom verge 2 spoilers

[v0rpaldarkness]

that part of Axiom Verge 2 where you flip a switch with a drone and find out your body is gone is probably someone's fetish

[sparkylurkdragon]

Axiom Verge 2: An old friend appears!

Hey, Trace! :D

...oh dear. Is this Trace or Athetos? And either way did Indra get murdered for an experiment?

(Possibly she had it coming. I smell a redemption arc.)

[cheesieblr]

The Axiom Verges

(Axioms Verge? I ‘unno. Spoilers)

This metroidvania duology is a neat little couple of games I’m happy to have happened upon. I beat the first game a few years ago and just this week beat the second one. I shall talk about both.

As I understood, Axiom Verge stood out by having some cool, non-traditional MV upgrades. No double or wall jumping, no crawling or balling, and some unconventional weapons. I liked it. My prior MVs were almost entirely Metroid and Castlevania, so the freshness was extremely welcome. Not to mention that AV’s pixel art is INCREDIBLE! I LOVE giant bio-mechanical beings and I LOVE every gross, writhing detail of their bodies. It makes me wanna puke in the best way possible— like Akira. I don’t really remember the story… but the final boss was interesting, unconventional and rather skill-less to fight.

Axiom Verge 2 was much of the same; still fun and still an enjoyable experience. Again I don’t get much of the lore, even if someone explained it to me. All I understood was that the protagonist is a dirty billionaire, but she cares for her daughter— and prevented the Murder of the Universe ;) i guess. Balancing felt good, didn’t feel like I got too OP too fast, and the exploration was really neat! I liked going into the breach as the drone a bunch; great way to discover little secrets here and there. Pixel art is amazing once again! I would say something about the bosses except there really weren’t any :\. They were more optional combat “challenges” than a true obstacle that stood in your way. I am not for that choice too often. I want a boulder in the path; a fucking steel door. Let me bash my head into it for 3 hours trying to figure out the strategy !! (only slightly exaggerating)

It was clearly left open for a third game, and I will certainly play it if/when it comes out!

[crazysodomite]

finished axiom verge. it was okay. just okay. frustrating at times but the frustrating parts were never so long that i wanted to quit. too many weapons that are completely useless and not fun to use for my taste. i liked how in the beginning there was a use for every single weapon but then it just ballooned. i hated some enemies which were just straight up unavoidable damage. how annoying... i liked exploring but would i go for 100%... no... FUCK THE SENTINEL BOSS. IMPOSSIBLE TO AVOID ATTACKS. i had to straight up switch to keyboard so i could mash buttons as fast as possible to cheese the boss. that wasn't fun at all. too many instances where enemies fire too many projectiles too fast and its IMPOSSIBLE to avoid. leave me alone...

great graphics and fantastic music though. i really liked how the low health sound was incorporated into the soundtrack. the environments were okay. honestly the music made it all work. bosses were fine. not super interesting... the last one was just. wtf... i didn't super enjoy the protag tbh. he felt pretty bland and out of place. there were a couple of moments where i was like ooohhh the story is getting really interesting! but it wasn't really elaborated upon in a satisfying way... yeah. basically. it was okay.

spoiler screenshots

yeah shes pretty great. i really liked all the rusalki. definitely a highlight from the game. i wish there was more scenic rooms in the game.

WORST ENEMIES RANKED:

Blue mutants. Stupid, ugly, annoying, pretty much unavoidable damage and the only strategy is to mash the attack button.

Brown mutants. Same as above but at least they die from 2 hits in mid game.

Purple sentry bot. Impossible to avoid. I literally preferred to just stand and attack without bothering to dodge because it's impossible.

Ancient Sentry Bot. LEAVE ME ALONE LEAVE ME ALONE LEAVE ME ALONE LEAVE ME ALONE. Their saving grace is that there wasn't a lot of them and they're only in 1 small area.

Furglot. You little bloodsucker... There's like 6 of them so not THAT bad but they're in areas with a lot of other annoying enemies.

Hoverling. In retrospect they aren't that hard to avoid BUT. For some reason when you hack them and suck up their tail. Their invisible tail still deals damage even though it's not there. So W.T.F.?

Quadropus. Not that annoying because they're usually in areas where I can just stand in a corner and kill them without taking damage. Bonus points because they scare me.

Arachnoptopus. Not that annoying... However this is the scariest enemy in the game for me and I'm really afraid of it for some reason. Really distressing visage.

[atwas-gaming]

Finally finished Axiom Verge 2. Man, that in-an-out of The Breach game mechanic was confusing. Spoilers ahead, and be warned: these are only initial reactions. I could be wrong about everything I'm about to say. I need time to fully analyze all the notes and dialogue.

So, uh... wow. Is Indra who I think she is???

Neither of these is mine.

She's looking for a Patternmind to be able to get back into the Breach, she wanted to change her name, she loves Shakespeare, and the game started with Indra drowning, which Ophelia from Hamlet is famous for (suicide by drowning, that is).

The question I still had was, how did she get so BIG? She was still only as tall as a normal human, but the Rusalki are HUGE. Then I remembered the faceless Rusalka we saw in The Emergence:

So, maybe Drushka or Damu or both of them together put Indra into this thing.

But more importantly, I'm questioning everything that Ophelia told Trace even more (although I was already skeptical). Ophelia said she used a Scry to find Trace so he could stop Athetos. But what they actually did was to build a pre-Athetos version of Trace from the nanogates left behind in the first rebirth chamber that Trace used on his first visit to Sudra.

This is how Ophelia knew about the Scry. But she didn't need to use the Scry to find Trace and use him, they already had him. They built him from the nanogates:

My understanding from all this is that Ophelia was going to go into the Breach with the Scry to get Trace, but Katrahaska stopped her. Ophelia killed Katrashaska, took the nanogates, and used them to build Trace with a rebirth chamber.

So what Ophelia told trace about the Scry and going into the Breach was half the truth. The other half is that it didn't work. Ophelia said they "extracted" Trace from the Breach. Well... they did "extract" him, in a way, but not from The Breach, just from pre-Athetos DNA.

So, even though Ophelia may be the least manipulative of the Rusalki, she's still not to be trusted. Not too surprising, when you know the kind of character that Indra was. But then again, perhaps Ophelia simply can't say too much with the other Rusalki listening. After all, none of them know who or what she really is or where she came from, and it's clear that Veruska thirsts for an opportunity to destroy her.

One thing's for certain: in the AV1 note "The Outsider," they mention "Drushka's obvious interest in her." Indra went to Drushka for help to get into The Breach. I'd thought "The Outsider" was referring to Elsenova, because she's manipulative, and both Veruska and Ophelia don't seem to fully trust her. But... no. "The Outsider" was actually Ophelia.

I'm going to have to analyze the notes in both games and see what's really going on, not just about Ophelia. For instance, Trace left a note in Eridu that he was going to go "upstream, to the Filter or beyond"- well, we found the Filter in AV2, and Hammond and Samara "beyond" the Filter, although we couldn't get to them. Trace went "beyond" that, then?

And I still have no clue how Trace- the original Trace, the one that turned into Athetos- went from wanting to protect the universe, just as Hammond and Indra have tried, to the monster Athetos who mass-murdered an entire race to get to the source. I know the notes say he wanted to find the "root," but to murder an entire world? But if he wanted to go "beyond" the filter, then he was looking for a way to get to that place where Hammond and Samara were locked away. I still see no excuse for mass genocide; but at the same time, I have trouble believing that he was a power- and knowledge-thirsty beast who would kill anyone who got in his way. Athetos himself told Trace that he could only provide a portion of his reasoning, or the Rusalki would kill Trace, too.

I do know this much, tho: I need AV3, stat!

[logicpng]

ahaha ama no why u do these ridiculous things

[athetos]

100% completed axiom verge 2… awesome game, definitely worth the wait

My one complaint is that the bosses were pretty underwhelming. They’re all optional, which is a cool decision that I respect, it feels original and changes the nature of the game away from focusing solely on combat, and more on explanation. But it takes the tension out of the fights, and they all went down pretty easily. Like, worst comes to worst, you could mash buttons and probably be fine. The designs were cool but not as interesting as the first game, and the finale wasn’t as big a gut punch.

But besides that.

Loved the new areas, I thought I would grow bored of more generic “earth” locations as I loved the alien worlds of the first game so much, but they were fun to explore and the pixel art is beautiful. They were also varied enough it didn’t feel repetitive, and I didn’t mind backtracking at all. Which is good, cuz there’s lots of it! I appreciate being able to mark areas on the map to come back to, but having more than one type of marker would be good - maybe different colors to choose from, to symbolize different things, like maybe an item you can’t reach yet, or an entrance that’s barred off.

The weapons aren’t as varied as trace’s were, I loved all the options from the first game, I experimented with them a lot, but the ones here get the job done. One thing that’s way better than the first game is the drone! Moving around as the little guy is fun and never gets old. You have pretty good range of movement, you can hover and slingshot around, and you’re a bit faster too. The Breach was also a really great concept, being able to shift dimensions and figure out how the maps overlaid was always intriguing.

Hacking isn’t quite as cool as trace glitching reality, but being able to hack enemies to do certain things was a treat. They all acted a bit different so you’d always want to test it out. The music is as good as the first game, and when remixes of old tracks came on I immediately recognized - the fact that the finale has a remix of amnesia from the first game was totally a clue that Indra’s body would reappear! Which, also, loved that Indra had a similar scenario to trace, where she has her mind and emotions and personality, the core of who she IS, but has to comprehend the fact that she no longer is her body. Trace being the clone of The Big Bad, Indra being a synthetic form…

The lore was a bit harder for me to follow, personally, but I’m fascinated by all of it - doesn’t quite match up to the intrigue of the Rusalki though. But it was a look at what the technology was capable of, and why athetos knew it could never fall into human hands (before he, well, kind of lost his mind upstream). The Emergence is a small area but made me SO happy to see the prequel’s aesthetics and creatures…. Like THAT was like coming home. And lastly, sooo many things to collect and I had a fantastic time doing so, some were very tricky to puzzle out but never really felt unfair, always super satisfying to find every last percentage point.

Anyways. I had a blast. The first game is still top dog, definitely in a league of its own in my opinion, but this was game was worth the wait, I really enjoyed my time with it, I’m super excited to see where the story goes from here!

[wildragon]

AV2 sprites exploration

So I dig in Axiom Verge 2 files in hope to find unused content. Beware here will be spoilers!

- First, Indra. In the last part of the game her original body dies and her “original self” too, leading to the secret ending where she find her daughter in the after world and take her in her arms. In this scene, Indra is of course in her orginal body, but there’s also sprites of this with “Nano” Indra.

Original:

Nano:

- I don’t know why, but Drushka have 3 different spritesheets

- Drushka’s soldiers are named “EmergenceSoldier“ in the files

- Some E3 demo “Save Labels”

- Few things from AV1 are here like the Axiom Disruptor menu, used as place holder I guess

- Also a cutscene?

- But most interesting AV1 left-over is Elsenova! While few parts are missing (head, body segments and canon) a sprite named “capsule” is here and not in AV1.

And that’s all for now. Sadly I didn’t find Trace in the files :(

[timeclonemike]

Axiom Verge 2: Here We Go Again

So Axiom Verge 2 came out not long ago, but I don’t have a Switch and I don’t trust the Epic Games Store. Rather than wait and possibly get spoiled, I bit the bullet and watched a Let’s Play.

Consequently I can now build on this post. Cutting for length and spoilers right about here.

The Filter: The biggest revelation that AV2 provides is a refinement of the multiverse theory, plus defining some terms from the original game. Trace’s note next to his wheelchair mentions going upstream to the Filter or beyond for answers. As it happens, “upstream” refers literally to the Worldstream, and different universes are connected to each other in a serial fashion. The terminology used to describe the connections is upstream and downstream, with upstream leading towards the Source Worlds that are the progenitors of all other universes. Likewise, the Filter refers to worlds in the worldstream that function as firewalls and safety mechanisms to keep disruptive influences from downstream worlds from traveling too far up, since disrupting one world can damage all of the worlds downstream from that world.

We even get to see the Worldstream or some analog to it when Indra (the protagonist of Axiom Verge 2) travels to the Filter world upstream of Kiengir (which is either upstream of or parallel to Earth) and the background of the rooms is a MASSIVE fractal pattern originating from / coalescing into a singularity off in the distance.

There are also some notes from Trace to Dr. Hammond, his research partner in the cutscene for the first game who took Trace’s revolutionary theory and turned into a way to make Faster Than Light communication and computing technology. Dr. Hammond also finds herself in a unique position to test one of the possibilities implicit in Trace’s theory, namely if the existence of an afterlife is somehow accounted for in the multiverse. One of the notes in the first game says that different instances of a person across the multiverse can survive events that their counterparts do not, but that the survivors have no idea that they even have a counterpart who died.

What happens in the second game is more about what happens to the ones that didn’t make it, because Dr. Hammond is communicating with Indra through the prototype superluminal communicators (called ansibles) scattered here and there, but Indra can also find Hammond’s body and a suicide note in some of Kiengir’s ruins. Dr. Hammond refers to where she is as a sort of “detention center” that she needs Indra’s help to escape from, and this help involves hacking the control computer in the Filter world. An earlier message at an ansible mentions data throttling, which seems to refer to the memory limitations of the ansible prototypes themselves; they can only send so much data over their operational lifetimes.

Except there’s Trace’s original paper and the axioms he starts with, where reality is described as algorithms running a universal / multiversal simulation, and cognition is a sub-algorithm within the parent algorithm. Put it all together and the game all but states that there is an afterlife, but it operates on the same rules as life - it’s an adjacent or related universe to our own and minds / spirits / souls / cognitive algorithms can migrate between those universes under certain conditions even if the material body they used to pilot is no longer functional. At least, that’s what normally happens, but for some reason the transmigration of souls was limited or stopped or throttled. It’s semi-implied but never explicitly stated that there’s a trans-universal system in place to keep the Worldstream stable, and the Lamassu computer network that controls Kiengir is part of that network, and the fact that realities are starting to glitch and break down further implies that this system is damaged or overwhelmed.

Trace’s Motivations: Trace never shows up in the game, and only gets mentioned here and there in a few notes. The game takes place in the 2050s and Trace’s lab accident was in 2005, with Dr. Hammond starting Hammond Corp and making money hand over fist in 2007 by selling the world zero-latency computing technology. Hammond’s suicide note explains that Trace was already exploring the Breach before she started her company, but she hasn’t heard from him in decades and the entire antarctic expedition was just so she could try to find him again. She mentions a few things in passing that come up in the first game, like a device called a Scry that can locate anything in the multiverse, and the term PatternMind which Trace was but Hammond was not.

By itself, this would seem to imply that we don’t know anymore about what Trace saw or experienced that turned him from a pacifist to somebody willing to commit genocide. But there’s another factor in play, one that has nothing to do with Trace at all at first glance.

At a certain point in the game, Indra gets stuck in her alternate drone form until she finds the right upgrade to become human (well, humanoid) again. She can still communicate with people, such as the survivors from Hammond Corp’s expedition and one of the Kazakh members of a Russian expedition that came through the portal and decided to settle a world upstream of Kiengir. However, coming back to revisit those areas and talk to those survivors later may result in them not being in the same spot anymore. Instead, there’s a sort of flying enemy that looks like a miniature version of the first boss of Axiom Verge. People who examined the game’s code found that there is actually an “infection” mechanic involved based on time elapsed since Indra comes in contact with the survivors.

That the survivors turn  into the types of monsters we see in Axiom Verge 1 is significant on its own, but it takes on more importance when we consider the endgame cutscenes. The Kazakhs have settled and colonized an upstream world, while a few of them are staying in an adjacent world where time passes differently; this is explicitly so that they can observe and track the changing of society over long spans of time and direct its evolution. After beating the final boss, Indra decides to team up with Drushka, the leader of the Kazakhs and a name mentioned in one of the notes found in Axiom Verge 1, in order to further her own goals.

Here’s the thing: What we see of the world that Drushka is standing watch in, called The Emergence, looks so similar to what we’ve seen of Sudra as to be almost identical. Given how time is explicitly stated to pass at different rates in different parts of the Breach compared to the worlds in the Worldstream, it isn’t out of the question that the Kazakhs were the ancestors of the Sudrans. The only problem with this theory is that long before anyone from earth showed up in Kiengir, the Lamassu had upstream technology brought in to allow the locals to defend themselves, as part of its broader directive to safeguard the Worldstream from disruption. Some of this technology included Rebirth Chambers - Indra even accesses the Filter through one - which was later destroyed to prevent too much cultural contamination. That technology had to come from somewhere, so either the Kazakhs inhabited a world adjacent to Sudra or downstream from it so there were similarities in art and culture and architecture, or the Rebirth Chambers and other advanced technology were themselves brought to Sudra from upstream worlds and simply shut down rather than completely destroyed after the Sudrans nearly wiped themselves out.

In either case, the important part is how Indra is subtly implied to be some sort of nanotech Typhoid Mary. She might be the actual source of the Pathogen that wipes out Sudra, not Athetos. In hindsight there is a hint to this effect in the first game because after Trace starts getting sick and hallucinating, there is a Rusalki called Ophelia that saves him. He doesn’t have any symptoms for the rest of the game, implying he is cured. If it was something unique to Trace that made him immune, he wouldn’t have gotten sick in the first place and neither would Athetos. Same with him getting better, if Trace could do it so could the original. So it had to be something unique to Ophelia that she couldn’t - or wouldn’t - do for anyone else.

And during Axiom Verge 2′s credits, we see a detailed close up look of Indra’s nanotech-enhanced body. The face and head look a LOT like Ophelia. Not conclusive by itself, but too similar to be completely shrugged off as coincidence.

And that has got me thinking.

I ended my first post pondering what Trace could have found in the Breach or while traveling the multiverse that caused a pacifist scientist to turn to genocide to achieve his ends. It’s possible that nothing could, because he didn’t. Maybe Athetos didn’t release the pathogen on Sudra, the Rusalki did; it’s shown in the notes that they resented the way that the Sudrans crippled them and reduced them basically to talking heads, but still had some influence over what was going on either through manipulating the priests or through exchange of data that the Sudrans were unaware of or incapable of understanding.

Athetos refers to the Rusalki as masters of war just before the final battle of Axiom Verge 1. He might have shown up at Sudra thousands of years prior to the events of the game as Trace, gotten healed, traveled up to the Filter to try to learn more, and then come back after the flow of time had changed to find a civilization on the verge of collapse from a virulent contagion that turned people into monsters. Trace may be a pacifist, but he will still use the Axiom Disrupter and all of its bells and whistles to protect himself in game. It’s entirely possible that the original realized that the Rusalki were trying to escape Sudra and would cause devastation throughout the Worldstream, and he applied his knowledge to create weapons and tools to turn himself into a one man army once he realized he couldn’t cure the pathogen. (Or maybe he did try to come up with a cure, and the Rusalki’s retaliation / interference was what made him realize what was actually going on.)

He doesn’t say any of this before his boss fight because he realizes that Trace and the Rusalki have the advantage now. Trace can keep coming back using the Rebirth Chambers, so Athetos has to come up with contingency plan. The secret ending shows Trace in a Dream Algorithm set up by one of the Rusalki, but Athetos shows up and shoots him, telling him it’s time to wake up. During his boss fight, Athetos shows the ability to manipulate the environment to a certain degree, spawning in new enemies and replacing power cells for the Breach Attractor when Trace destroys them. It’s not clear if this is a result of Sudran tech of being a PatternMind, but whatever the reason, it’s possible that Athetos was doing all of it to buy time.

Time for what?

To hack Trace’s Nanogates so that the Rusalki couldn’t control him anymore.

Trace keels over not long after the final battle, but Athetos showing up with a gun implies that Athetos was able to at least get a Trojan Horse into the nanogates that would wake Trace up when the remote overrides were disabled. Then Trace could wake up, find all his equipment again, and take the fight to the Rusalki before they could cause too much damage to the Worldstream, possibly including Earth.

The only truly glaring flaw in this theory is that it doesn’t account for why Indra would side with a bunch of genocidal robots, one way or another; she refers to the storage bay in Axiom Verge 1 as where “our bodies” are kept, and these are massive war machines, while her humanoid nanotech form is about human sized. The Lamassu refers to some fairly devastating war machines from upstream worlds and the Rusalki might just be those machines; she was heading to the world they were stored in because it might have the technology to restore one of her Apocalypse Arm upgrades - the child Damu that controls her drone body - to a flesh and blood body that can live a normal life.

There is a big gap between trying to help this kid she found and teaming up with sentient weapons platforms to devastate the multiverse. At least as big as the gap between Trace being a pacifist and Athetos committing genocide.

Like so many sequels, Axiom Verge 2 has raised even more questions than it answered.

[the-cooler-snimbusjavy]

XCOM: Chimera Squad Character Trivia Masterpost

So with XCOM: Chimera Squad having been out for a bit of time now, I’ve come to love and appreciate every single member of the squad we got, so I went ahead and decided to take a look at everything possible we have on the gang. Between character bios, in-game dialogue and conversations, lines pulled from the config files, concept art, all coupled with my personal interpretation on the information given, I have tried to give a go at making a post with every detail of each character I found worth mentioning (in absolutely no particular order). So, enjoy! Also fair warning, it’s long, ayy

SPOILERS AHEAD While not too important in the great scheme of things in Chimera Squad’s story, do read at your own risk.

.

Terminal - China, 29 years old

Terminal lost her parents during the invasion of 2015. They were a factory worker and a cook. Afterwards, she escaped with her uncle to a relocation camp, who unfortunately died of disease the following year.

After this event, she was adopted by a doctor who lost her only daughter. It was her who inspired Terminal to become a combat medic. In a cruel turn of events, she was killed during a retaliation attack from ADVENT. It is said Terminal’s personality severely shifted after this.

Terminal keeps a photo of her deceased adopted mother in her locker.

She was originally rejected to join the Reclamation Agency, so she requested the use of psionic probes to prove her worth. She was then admitted in probationary period.

Terminal believes Verge is the only one in the team who truly understands her. Verge “knows” this.

Terminal wants to have a fight between hers and Patchwork’s GREMLINs, for “training purposes”.

Terminal nicknames Patchwork “Patches” on occasion.

Whenever Patchwork “smack talks” Terminal down, she expresses she’s “so proud” of her.

Terminal often eats Whisper’s lunches in the fridge, under the excuse that he doesn’t label them.

Terminal seems to know the Jabberwock, and perhaps other stories surrounding it, as she wished to hear Zephyr pronounce said word, likely out of Terminal’s mocking of her Australian accent.

Terminal claims to be the “biggest fan” of conspiracy theorist Floyd Tesseract’s radio show, You Should Have Believed, and is absolutely delighted to meet him. This is much unlike every other member of the team, who all seem to either disregard him, dislike him, or outright suggest he be captured.

According to Terminal, the restorative mist within her GREMLIN is “minty fresh”. It seems Cherub once sniffed it on accident.

Terminal seems to consider Verge’s singing to be “the second worst thing she’s heard all year”.

Whisper accuses Terminal of sleeping during their briefings. According to Terminal, she’s just “resting her eyes”, as well as her “ears” and “interest”.

According to Godmother, Terminal tenses up whenever she pulls the trigger of her gun. Terminal attempts to deny this, unsuccessfully.

According to herself, Terminal has always wanted a “heavily-armored entourage”.

Terminal doesn’t know what a vertipad is, and upon learning of it, she questions who calls them that way, thinking it “stupid”. Seemingly, everyone else on the squad calls them by their name without issue.

According to Terminal, she’s never gonna retire, she expects to just die some day in the field (five years at most). Afterwards she confesses that she’s no good anywhere else, suggesting that she has an issue in finding direction with her life. Godmother claims that she knows well what she means.

Verge - ~40 years old

Verge originally worked alongside Thin Men in order to infiltrate society and psionically control them to share good word of the Elders’ occupation of Earth. It was due to his constant exposure to human thoughts that gained him empathy.

He worked as a mole during the events of XCOM 2 and provided the Resistance with information, making him the only* known alien to aid XCOM during their war against ADVENT. (*Ethereal Asaru is theorized to have aided XCOM by merging with the Commander, and sometimes even implied, but it still remains devoid of official word about it)

Sectoids can mind-merge with someone in order to “taste” whatever they may be eating. He suggests doing this with Cherub by offering to go to a new restaurant that serves “authentic old world cuisine”, but only with Cherub’s own consent.

Sectoids, and Verge as an extension, seemingly cannot eat terrestrial meat and eggs, or “greasy” food as worded by Cherub.

On that note, it would seem Sectoids are also intolerant to jam, as it’s considered poison for them. It’s possible Godmother was aware of this fact, as she instead replaces “jam“ with “butter“ during a phrase pre-mission.

Verge recognizes his acts during the original invasion were wrong, and there having been worse alternatives don’t excuse his actions still, according to him.

That said, he doesn’t seem to want to talk about his part in it, when asked by Godmother if he regret any of it.

Verge finds butter delicious, though he also believes the consumption of “the churned remains of another lactating mammal” to be slightly disturbing.

Terminal seems to be “creeped out” by Verge’s Battle Madness ability. Blueblood similarly finds it unsettling, yet still appreciates the “breathing room”. Surprisingly, Torque seems to outright love it, and even requests Verge to have the enemy “dance”.

Cats apparently find Sectoids to be adversaries for undisclosed reasons as declared by Verge, yet according to Axiom, he’s seen “a lot of Sectoids with cats”.

Verge keeps a ramen shop sticker, as well as an excerpt of a ramen cooking magazine in his locker, suggesting either or both an interest in cooking and enthusiasm towards this particular dish.

It seems Verge was acquainted with conspiracy theorist Floyd Tesseract during the invasion, claiming that he was “just as insufferable“ throughout it as he is now.

Verge enjoys “messing” with Whisper whenever he makes a comm check, by instead listening to him psionically. Whisper at least appreciates the honesty.

Verge seems to respect and care greatly for the Archons, as he states they will never be slaves again, and that the Progeny will do them no harm. He becomes particularly angry when threatened by the terrorist faction.

Verge claims that he enjoys collecting old watches.

Godmother - France, 48 years old

Godmother lost track of her family during the 2015 invasion. She spent a year looking for them, with no result.

Godmother does not consider herself a leader, but rather a teacher. This is the case in her old job as a police trainer, as a member of the Resistance, and now as provisional member of Chimera Squad.

Godmother plans to retire soon, but has decided to stick around Chimera Squad to aid them until she feels they are truly ready.

Terminal seems to be an example of the above, with Godmother constantly guiding the former.

Godmother witnessed Cherub’s adoption papers under request of Headquarters. She also signed them in addition.

Godmother believes Cherub has a talent to “bring people together”.

Godmother seems to consider the Sacred Coil faction as “re-heated ADVENT propaganda”.

Godmother seems to be good with card games as she claims her hobby to be “bluffing” with them, after being asked by Cherub if she had any.

According to Verge, Godmother still does not trust aliens. However, she’s actively trying to do so, which Verge claims is enough.

On the same note, Godmother is said to not trust the world leaders after surrendering so quickly, suggesting over the years she’s lived with trusting issues around her.

According to Godmother, she was once pinned down in a bank of Paris for three days.

Godmother seems to enjoy crêpes, as she orders Terminal to “stop making her hungry” after the latter desired donuts and crêpes respectively during a mission.

Godmother seems to be proud of her French heritage, as she keeps a touristic poster of the Arc de Triomphe in her locker.

Alongside this, a photo of presumably Godmother herself and a long-haired blonde woman both in police uniform is present. Who this woman is is not disclosed.

Cherub - Estonia, 5 years old

Cherub belonged to a batch of ADVENT clones under the name of the Empty Cohort, who never got to receive the respective indoctrination.

After being discovered there, Cherub was only recently adopted by the two resistance members who originally found him in his ADVENT facility of origin, as they found themselves responsible for him and his safety. They fell in love precisely due to this, having married one year prior to the events of XCOM: Chimera Squad.

On the same topic, Cherub keeps a picture of himself and his parents in his locker.

Alongside the aforementioned picture, Cherub keeps a card celebrating his fifth birthday. It presumably comes from his parents, seeing he put it alongside their picture.

Cherub was originally a clone of Bellus Mar, former ADVENT Officer and leader of the Sacred Coil terrorist faction. Cherub seems to be concerned of his teammates believing something of Mar could potentially be present in himself, which Director Kelly assures is not the case.

Cherub believes that friendship cannot be forced on others, and is content with simply letting others know that they are not alone.

Despite this, his naturally innocent and naive attitude allows Zephyr to use him as a “practice dummy”.

Cherub used to pronounce DJ as “deej” before he actually heard it aloud.

Cherub believes that it would be normal that everyone voiced whatever was exactly in their mind, without having the need to hide anything. Verge reveals to him that rarely do people do so, and that they choose to hide many things for a number of reasons. Cherub believes it to be too much work to think about, so he’d rather say things as he actually means to say.

Cherub believes sunrise, waffles, laughter, and wood smoke to be important things of life.

Cherub doesn’t understand the protection of money. He believes it’s not as rewarding as protecting people.

According to himself, Cherub is “so bad” at riddles.

Cherub enjoys watching wrestling from the old world whenever he gets the chance to find it. Whisper offers to search some for him, however, still forbids him to actually compete in it.

Cherub enjoys making puns and, apparently, he was taught of them by Whisper, who seemingly now regrets his decision.

Patchwork - Mexico, 29 years old

Patchwork lost her legs and left arm during the invasion of 2015. ADVENT provided her with new ones as part of their propaganda plan.

It was Patchwork herself who orchestrated her escape from the ADVENT City Centers, in order to join the Resistance.

Patchwork doesn’t name her GREMLINs anymore, presumably as they usually tend to be destroyed, as per Cherub’s inquiry. She counts at least 25 destroyed GREMLINs, one in particular destroyed by a Muton

Everyone apparently hates the androids they use on reinforcements for undisclosed reasons. Patchwork is the exception, as she considers them “robot friends” who fill in when they cannot.

On that note, it seems Patchwork is very protective of any sort of Android, and even refers to those stolen by Sacred Coil as her “niños” (Spanish for children).

Contrary to common belief within the squad, Patchwork did not choose her callsign due to her own state. In Terminal’s words, it was due to her affinity at “slapping software together”, and that everyone who thinks otherwise is an idiot.

Patchwork sometimes wonders if she and Terminal should switch callsigns, under the reasoning that she “works with computer terminals”, while Terminal “patches people back up”.

On the same note, Patchwork claims Terminal’s mouth moves at “terminal velocity”. The latter finds this very amusing.

Patchwork seems to refer to psionics as some sort of “music”. Stating she enjoys the “tune” of Shelter’s psi abilities, as well as claiming that Progeny’s leader Violet’s own sounds like a “symphony”. Similarly, when failed to be mind-controlled she states she doesn’t enjoy that kind of “music”.

Patchwork believes the ADVENT Gene Therapy clinics should not have been outlawed, as she considers ADVENT themselves to be the ones to blame for what they did to humanity, not the “tool” itself.

Patchwork is seemingly not allowed to enter tech vaults anymore. According to her, it was due to her mistakenly pushing a particular button that started some form of countdown. Seemingly, Director Kelly was “nearly irradiated” due to this mishap.

According to herself, Patchwork doesn’t like to go dancing, though it’s most likely due to the fact she distrusts the people running clubs.

Patchwork seems to be close to both Lily Shen and Richard Tygan, as she keeps a photo of herself alongside them both in her locker (John Bradford and the Commander can be seen in the background, with the latter strategically concealed).

Having worked as an engineer in the Avenger during XCOM 2, coupled with their personal love of robotics, her bond with Shen is easily explained.

As for Tygan, it is presumed by many he was the man in charge of providing a young Patchwork with her first prosthetic arm and legs back during his ADVENT days, explaining their bond now both together as members of XCOM.

Axiom - Born within an invasion ship, 46 years old

Mutons are apparently issued pet cats to demonstrate their capacity for compassion. Axiom did not get one as he proved himself while saving human lives during the Bugtown Massacre under his own initiative.

Despite this fact, Axiom still seems to be greatly fond of cats, as he owns a sticker of one surrounded by hearts in his locker.

According to Axiom, Mutons had a “spiritual connection” with their starships, returning to it signified some form of “pilgrimage”. Axiom’s ship, however, was destroyed back in 2015.

On this topic and true Muton nature, Axiom is fond of the space as well. He keeps a poster of Earth’s solar system in his locker.

Axiom considers Blueblood’s choice of weaponry to be inferior and small. However, after Blueblood explains his strategy of it being so unnoticeable that enemies focus on Axiom instead so then the former can pick up on those distracted, Axiom praises his cunning and respects the strategy.

Axiom believes Claymore fights like a woman, in that he’s fearless, calm under pressure, and is an inspiration to squadmates to give their all. After claiming he learned much from his sister, Axiom praises her as formidable and wishes to meet her, despite her views on the current world.

Axiom is surprised Godmother managed to fight and survive during the invasion of Paris, in her homeland in France. According to Axiom, the mortality rate was extremely high. They soon decide not to continue the conversation.

Apparently, Axiom wishes new boots, as his current footwear seemingly “pinch his ankles”.

Both Axiom and Torque seem to agree that Andromedons are “the worst”.

According to Axiom, Gray Phoenix leaders Custodian Xel and Crew Chief Yarvo’s names are aliases, and starship dialect. Xel meaning “good route” or “safe passage”, whereas Yarvo means “newly forged” or “birthed in flame”.

Claymore - India, 32 years old

Claymore has an older sister that he apparently worked with alongside the Resistance. According to Claymore, she’s the one that taught him many of the things he knows. However, she also seemingly has not come to terms with the current state of the world, presumably the peace between humans and aliens.

Other than her, Claymore also seemed to have an older brother. He, alongside their mother, however, lost their lives during the 2015 invasion.

Claymore worked on the Avenger during the events of XCOM 2, disassembling recovered alien explosives.

Claymore appears to be religious, as he claims that prayer brings him peace of mind. As to what religion he follows, is not disclosed.

When asked by Verge how he attains the aforementioned peace of mind, Claymore also adds that he does exercise and that he allows himself to love the world and the people around him.

On that same note, Claymore states that he “never touches” caffeine.

Claymore seems to enjoy food overall, and also appears to be a good cook, as he brings enough fish curry he made for everyone upon his arrival.

He and Verge enjoy visiting ramen shops together, cataloguing the good and bad places. They plan to go to the recently opened shop U.F.Oodle.

Claymore and Torque seem to have a thing against each other, referring to the other as a “rebel goon” and a “despotic flunkie”, respectively. Whisper facetiously refers to their aversion as “young love”.

Torque - Siberia, 20 years old

Torque was offered to act as “opposing force“ in training of XCOM agents post-war. She accepted as she considered prison to be “boring“.

During these events, Torque formed a bond with then-Colonel Jane Kelly, who seems to be the only person Torque truly respects and appreciates. It was thanks to her Torque was admitted into the Reclamation Agency and Chimera Squad.

Torque is afraid of losing her friends, so she tries hard to push them away with her unwelcoming attitude. This is due to her fear of forming bonds, since they may not come back from a fight the next day. She is incredibly self-aware of this fact. Director Kelly offers to talk with her about it, which Torque accepts.

On that same note, Godmother claims that Torque does in fact care about getting her team’s respect and appreciation, a topic Torque evidently wishes to avoid.

Despite these facts, Torque seems to be keen on improving as a person, as her locker shows she owns a book under the name of Meditation for the Exceptionally Stressed.

Torque sees herself as an earthling, as she was born on Siberia in 2020.

Torque seems to have something against off-worlders, but it’s unknown if this is due to her attitude, guilt about her own actions during the war that she projects against others, or legitimate aversion against them.

Terminal seems to be absolutely thrilled whenever Torque uses her Tongue Pull with the former, with her exclaiming she wants to “go again”.

Torque seems to have a heavy disliking of Whisper for undisclosed reasons, under occasions having suggested him to perform a lobotomy, as well as telling him to “bite his tongue off and bleed to death” after he asks the team to bring him a “souvenir” from a Viper-themed mature bar.

After Whisper reveals himself to be Canadian, Torque claims Canadians taste like maple. Whether it’s her joking with Whisper or not is not confirmed.

Torque believes Codexes to be “insufferable show-offs”. On that note, she’s always believed they judged her with their “creepy glowing eyes”.

Torque seems to enjoy drawing, as she keeps a bunch of sketches in her locker, most notably of terrestrial creatures like dogs and frogs. But most importantly, she has one of Axiom in civilian clothing eating noodles, scribbled in it reads “I’m never eating anything else ever again” in Axiom’s perspective. Axiom himself keeps this sketch on his own locker, demonstrating he values it.

Also present on her locker seems to be a touristic poster of the northern lights, presumably Siberian, suggesting she’s fond of her birthplace.

Blueblood - United States, 34 years old

Blueblood managed to live a peaceful life with his family under City 31 during the ADVENT regime. Despite this, he helped others where he could, even members of the Resistance.

Blueblood seems to love and respect his father dearly, as he decided to continue the family tradition of being policemen. The former also keeps a picture of them both after a fishing trip.

On the same note, Blueblood seems to be a fishing enthusiast, as he keeps a poster of the various fishes near City 31.

Blueblood personally knows City 31’s Police Department’s Commissioner Maloof, and even seems to be on friendly terms with her, calling her by her first name, Halia.

Blueblood is seemingly concerned that Terminal seems to be far too eager to put herself into danger. According to her, it’s just that she understands the concept of ”acceptable risk”. Blueblood fears it’s a “death wish“.

Blueblood states that he would not shoot any of his teammates, not even with training purposes, after being asked by Cherub. He instead suggests him to use the ballistic mannequins they already possess.

Blueblood states that Godmother reminds him of his mother, in that she lead his whole family without ever taking charge herself, always pushing them enough to reach their potential. Godmother claims that Blueblood has exceeded his.

Blueblood’s mother passed away back in 2014 due to cancer, and the former claims that “this time of year” always hits him due to it (presumably somewhere between March and May). That said, he’s glad she never got to live to witness the invasion.

On this note, Shelter feels the need to comfort him after noticing something was wrong. Blueblood appreciates this.

Blueblood states that his father used to love heist movies, and the two of them watched them together.

According to Blueblood, ADVENT’s soldiers helmets are “stupid”.

Shelter - Chile, 36 years old

Shelter lived in a big family, but got separated from them during the 2015 invasion.

He was found and experimented on by ADVENT after discovering he had latent psionic potential, forcing him to kill and torture “criminals“ with his abilities. This affected him to the point of crying. He managed to escape from them afterwards.

Shelter is a proud farmer. He was taken in by the Resistance thanks to these skills, and in his locker he keeps a picture of a younger self standing in front of plentiful crops, as well as posters promoting new “delicious and nutritious” breeds of vegetables.

Shelter seems to enjoy chilli, as he was joyed to have some upon his arrival.

Shelter doesn’t like to read other’s minds, as evidenced by Cherub playfully asking him to read his, with Shelter claiming that he “would never” do so.

Shelter knew to some capacity of the Progeny’s leader, Violet. Upon his escape, he psionically contacted her during the event, but then lost connection. Presumably, she was yet to lose her mind due to ADVENT’s experimentations on her. He refers to this connection of emotions as a sort of “poem”.

Shelter is very fond of his squadmates, complimenting them whenever the chance is available, as well as exclaiming against enemies that he won’t allow them to hurt his friends.

Claymore seems to hate it whenever Shelter switches their positions with Relocate, as it makes him feel “queasy”. Blueblood similarly thinks it’s “freaky”. Cherub, on the other hand, consider it to be “so fun”.

According to himself, Shelter doesn’t like banks.

Shelter doesn’t understand why their enemies, in particular members of the Gray Phoenix faction, would be willing to die for their causes.

According to himself, Shelter’s teeth itch, or otherwise rattle, whenever there’s high spikes of power or energy. It’s unknown if this is normal in other human psions.

It would appear that Shelter has a crush on Zephyr, as the latter noticed his face turned red whenever she was around (which she mistook for anger). After discovering this, Zephyr does not seem to be visibly upset, but perhaps surprised, to which Shelter reacts with embarrassment.

Zephyr - Australia, 33 years old

Zephyr is not a clone unlike many former ADVENT soldiers. She presumably was amongst the first humans to be turned into hybrids and then brainwashed to follow the ADVENT regime, presumably similar to Sacred Coil leader Bellus Mar, off whom Cherub was cloned from. It is not known, however, if Zephyr was cloned at any point.

After being liberated the the Skirmishers faction, she joined their ranks and operated near City 31.

Zephyr seemingly does not want hammocks in HQ as per Patchwork’s desire to improve the place. Apparently, there was a mishap regarding this in the past.

According to herself, it seems Zephyr has “always wished” to go bowling.

At least visibly, Zephyr seems to not be too fond of Cherub, as she’s seen referring to him as “knock-off” on occasion.

According to Zephyr, “punch-a-bastard-in-the-face” day is a “roving holiday”, which she enjoys to celebrate.

Zephyr seems to refer to Patchwork as a “nerd”, as she stood by her words whenever the latter was offended by Zephyr’s accusation towards computer-savvy Gray Phoenix members.

Zephyr believes that she has no place in the Skirmishers (or anywhere)  anymore as it began accepting more clones, and due to the fact of her not knowing of her own past as a human. Claymore expresses his profound disagreement, and even though Zephyr states it’s not as simple, she appreciates the words.

[digitalfime]

'Axiom Verge 2' developer shows off some gameplay ahead of its spring launch | Engadget

‘Axiom Verge 2’ developer shows off some gameplay ahead of its spring launch | Engadget

The hit 2015 side scroller Axiom Verge is getting a sequel, and developer Thomas Happ showed off a bit more of the game during today’s Future Games Show event. Happ said he kept things brief to avoid spoilers (even if saying there are spoilers is a spoiler) but confirmed this game will take place both before and after the events of the first title. One thing that hasn’t changed is that the game…

[jigretro]

JIGRETRO

June 19 Blog

Super Metroid

History

Metroid was first introduced to us from developer Yoshio Sakamoto in 1986, this game was ahead of its time (possibly too far) with a non-linear approach to gameplay. With the capabilities of the system, environments felt very similar and it was soooo easy to get completely lost. With the lack of a map, I feel this game is practically unplayable, although at the time the concept was groundbreaking. The final twist revealed that the protagonist you have been playing has been a woman all along. This is one of many references to the movie Alien (which we will discuss further later). In 1992, Metroid 2 return of Samus was released for the Gameboy and is a continuation of the story, this time with Samus aiming to completely eradicate the Metroid species. I feel the game is a small improvement over the original and introduces elements and abilities that would become a mainstay for the series. The slightly more linear approach also helped with moving through the game. The focus of this blog is one of my favourite games of all time, Super Metroid, which took everything that had come before it and improved every aspect so far as to feel original.

In 1994, Super Metroid was released, yet somehow it completely slipped me by. I owned a Sega Megadrive and the idea of owning more than one console was a lot less prevalent (only for the real spoilt kids, haha). Luckily, a great friend of mine had a SNES and he had some great games, such as Donkey Kong Country, Mario All Stars, Killer Instinct, among many others, but even then, for some reason, Super Metroid completely bypassed us. Moving forward to more recently, I had just began to show an interest in collecting retro video games. I had bought myself a GBA and collected a few of the better games that I remembered. My brother leant me Metroid Fusion. I was hooked in an instant and it was completely not what I imagined. I was expecting a typical 'brutal' platform/action game, such as Contra or Castlevania and, at that time, those sort of games where too frustrating for me (my patients for brutal games has improved a lot over recent years). This was the first 'Metroidvania' I had ever experienced. Anyway, this lead me to Super Metroid, after a little look on the internet. I quickly purchased it on the Wii Virtual Console and loved every aspect of playing it. This game has really been the main influence for my obsession with retro game collecting and playing thus far. Also, it’s everywhere; it has releases on the original SNES, Wii, Wii U and 3ds virtual consoles and SNES Mini and you all owe it to yourselves to play this one for sure.

This game oozes atmosphere and has one rather obvious pop influence... Alien!! I mean, from the protagonist being female, to one of the bad guys being called Ridley (as in Ridley Scott), 'MOTHER' brain, Metroids attach to your face similar to face huggers, the Chozo statues are very reminiscent of the Space Jockey found in Alien, but the biggest is probably the way it makes you feel isolated.

Story

As soon as you select a new game, a creepy robotic voice comes in with 'The last Metroid is in captivity. The galaxy is at peace'. We then proceed to get caught up with the story up to this point from Metroid and Metroid 2 in the upgraded Super Metroid graphics. Samus then receives a distress signal from the research station that she had just left the final Metroid in. She rushes back to aid. In my opinion, this leads to one of the greatest intros to a videogame ever.

Intro

This this is the first time you hear the soundtrack; it’s not full of great songs that are going to be stuck in your head after playing, but it is fantastic. It’s like the most important character in this game: subtle, haunting brilliance. This entire soundtrack ooozes atmosphere - simple yet helps create the character or mood for each area. The first space station section is a brilliantly conceived tutorial stage, giving you the chance to learn the controls without completely taking you out of the experience by holding your hand. This scene is epic. You make your way to the lab, where you find that the chamber that was holding the last Metroid is broken and the scientists are dead on the ground. Moving to the next room, you find the last Metroid, but as you approach you see the eyes of Ridley in the darkness. He grabs the Metroid, attacks and escapes. The space station initiates an emergency self destruct and you have to make it back to your ship in time.

After this intro, Samus tracks Ripley to Zebes where the first game takes place and early parts take you back to areas from the first game for some nostalgic feels. This planet is where you spend the rest of the game.

Not mentioning any spoilers, but the ending set-piece of this game is worth every moment of the time it takes to complete.

The gameplay pretty much invents the Metroidvania genre as we see it today. Gradually open up the map, find jumps you can’t make/doors you can’t yet open, etc, upgrade yourself in order to become more powerful and make progress. I’ve always enjoyed these types of games for starting off so vulnerable but by the end of the game becoming some sort of game-breaking god. This game trusts you to learn as you play.

Being critical, I remember the Meridia stage nearly ruining this game for me, I was getting towards quitting altogether but, utilising a strategy guide, I made it through and now it doesn’t cause me any bother.

The repeat play in this game is out of this world and makes it great value for money. You could spend hours on end collecting every item and exploring every area with a fine tooth comb, and on the other end of the spectrum is speed running. Speed running creating limitless repeat play as you try to beat the game faster and faster, learning and utilising secret moves like wall jump and shine spark is essential in these speed runs and they can also make you able to access areas of the game in a different order, which feels amazing like you create your own path. A first ever run though of Super Metroid will take you about 7-8 hours but the world record speed run for the game is currently 40mins 56second. My personal best is about 2hours 45 mins

The legacy of Super Metroid can be felt ever since and up to this day with games such as Castlevania, Shadow Complex, Axiom Verge, Guacamelee, Cave Story, Xenodrifter and even loosely games such as the Batman Arkham series.

I hope you have enjoyed my latest blog on a game that I am now a huge fan of. It's definitely in my top ten and I hope this inspires you to give it a go. I certainly wish I had played this back in the day. Not to be missed. Anyway, thanks for reading and until next time. 🎮

[entergamingxp]

15 Upcoming Indie Games to Put On Your Radar in 2020

January 16, 2020 12:00 PM EST

2020 looks to be another great year for indie games. Here are 15 of them to keep an eye on as the year rolls on.

Last week, we gave you 10 2020 releases that you absolutely shouldn’t miss. However, that list mostly dealt with the biggest games of 2020. What about all the awesome games being made by smaller studios? Well, here’s the list for them. Below are 15 incredible-looking games coming from the indie scene in 2020.

Before we start, it’s important to note that with the continually growing indie space in games, there are hundreds of games that could easily make this list. I’ve capped the list at 15 mostly for my sanity, but the initial shortlist for this article was a mile long. Here are a few extra honorable mentions you should give a look: TemTem, Boyfriend Dungeon, Griftlands, Minute of Islands, Sable, Roki, Baldo, Garden Story, Ikenfell, Knuckle Sandwich, and She Dreams Elsewhere. I also chose to not include Axiom Verge 2, as that was already covered in last week’s article. Anyways, on to the list.

Lenna’s Inception

This Legend of Zelda-like from Bytten Studio is actually out this week. You play as an unlikely hero in a procedurally generated world that flips from 8- to 32-bit pixel art. It looks to turn the typical conventions of the genre on its head with a wild storyline that features multiple endings. You can also play the game with a friend in local co-op. A Link to the Past is my all-time favorite game, so any game that looks to iterate on that excellent formula is automatically something I’ll be paying attention to.

12 Minutes

Time loops are all the rage these days after the excellent Outer Wilds took the world by storm last year. Interestingly, 12 Minutes is another Annapurna-published game that explores the mind-bending concept. While Outer Wilds had you exploring an entire galaxy, 12 Minutes’ experience is a bit more intimate. As a husband trying to share a romantic evening with his wife, you’ll discover the many secrets taking place inside your apartment. On the surface, it might not sound like the most thrilling concept on this list, but everything I’ve seen has been very impressive.

Cook, Serve, Delicious 3

Before seeing this in action, I wasn’t really sure if the world needed another Cook, Serve, Delicious game. After all, how much more cooking, serving, and delciousing can a person reasonably expect to do? And then I saw that the game takes place in the post-apocalyptic US and you play as the owner of a food truck. As you travel across America, you must both cook food and fight off roving bands of evil cooks. It’s hard to imagine a cooking game with a better elevator pitch than this one.

Eastward

Earthbound-like games are a dime a dozen these days. The SNES classic made a major impact on the developers of today, and we’re seeing that love play out in games like LISA, Citizens of Earth, and, of course, Undertale. However, there’s something about Eastward’s style that really sticks out to me. While other games have done a great job of capturing Earthbound’s charm and gameplay, Eastward also nails the look. If I close my eyes and imagine what Earthbound would look like in 2020, Eastward isn’t far off. Hopefully, the team at Pixpil can nail everything else it’s going for just as well.

Sports Story

Golf Story is my favorite game for Nintendo Switch. Full stop. And now Sidebar Games is adding tennis and dungeons and espionage and buried treasure and a meeting with a queen? I need this game yesterday. If Golf Story wasn’t up your alley, this probably won’t be either, but for us beings of superior intellect, Sports Story is set to be one of the most exciting releases of 2020. I cannot wait.

The Red Lantern

The Red Lantern basically looks like FTL except instead of crossing the galaxy, you’re racing the Iditarod with a team of the best boys. When I was a kid, I was obsessed with the book Stone Fox. So, a game that lets me play out the fantasy of racing Searchlight through the Alaskan wilderness is very much right up my alley. My only worry is how brutal the game looks. The trailer has a scene where a bear attacks one of your dogs and I really hated watching it. Hopefully, that’s a rarity or else this might just become an idea I love and not a game I play.

Spelunky 2

Spelunky remains one of the best rogue-likes on the market. The platforming is tight and the game has so many awesome secrets for you to discover. The sequel looks to be more of the same and I can’t wait to join the community in uncovering all the weirdness that lies within. This spot could also easily go to UFO 50, which is another Derek Yu project I’ve been waiting for with bated breath. Crazy to think both games are likely for 2020.

Spiritfarer

This is a resource management sim that is all about dying. You play as a ferrymaster to the deceased. As you craft your way across the world, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to improve your custom death ferry. Spiritfarer has a unique setting that is well worth a look. However, the thing that really made me pay attention is the game’s visuals. The hand-drawn art quickly catches the eye and seeing it in motion is even better. I’m intrigued to see if the game’s look and premise are matched by its quality.

Carrion

Spoiler alert for 2016’s Inside. Carrion is like that ending sequence where you play as the gigantic amorphous blob except that’s the entire game. Oh, and this blob is straight out of a horror movie and is very interested in eating everything. Publisher Devolver Digital describes it as “a reverse horror game” and I have to agree. The way the blob moves through the levels is both deeply unsettling and incredibly cool.

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Y’all remember how Hollow Knight is one of the best Metroidvania games of the last decade or so? Or how it was a perfect match for Nintendo Switch? Well, how would you feel if I told you Team Cherry was going to do more of that except even more polished? Great news! That’s what happening and it’s going to be great.

Ori and the Will of Wisps

If you are a fan of sequels to tough-as-nails platformers with Metroidvania elements, 2020 is going to be a great year. Getting both Ori and the Will of the Wisps and Hollow Knight: Silksong in the same year seems like an embarrassment of riches. Plus, Axiom Verge 2 is coming, which is a bit different, but still sits in that same realm. Personally, Ori is the one I’m least excited about; however, I can’t deny that this will probably be great.

Mineko’s Night Market

Mineko’s Night Market is maybe the cutest game on this list. The “adventure/merchant simulator” wears its Animal Crossing inspiration on its sleeve. However, developer Meowza Games aims to put a much bigger emphasis on narrative and crafting. You play as a young girl named Mineko who has arrived on an island filled with cats. Your options for what to do are varied, but discovering the game’s secrets and preparing for the weekly Night Market is paramount. Mineko’s Night Market looks like it could fill a similar space to games like Stardew Valley. Great experiences to sit back, relax, and let wash over you.

Cris Tales

Cris Tales is billed as “a love letter to classic JRPGs”, but with a big twist. The game lets you simultaneously see the past, present, and future of your actions, which results in some fascinating situations. Maybe you warp your enemy into the future to make them older and weaker. Or you warp yourself to the past to make you shorter and are able to more easily dodge an attack. It’s an innovative idea that has major gameplay and narrative implications. The best part about Cris Tales is that there is a demo out on Steam right now. So, if you’re interested, you can go check it out and see if this game is up your alley.

Murder by Numbers

Picross is one of the best types of puzzle games in video games. However, outside of Picross 3D, there haven’t been that many innovations in the genre. Murder by Numbers looks to change that by adding a murder mystery narrative to the game. What a perfect marriage! And the whole thing is set to a score from Masakazu Sugimori who counts Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and Viewtiful Joe among their credits. I need this game now.

Emily is Away <3

Both games in the Emily is Away series are incredibly moving experiences, especially for those of us who grew up in the time of MSN Messenger and AIM. The third game takes the series forward to a Facebook analogue. It’s tough to say if this release will hit as hard as the first two, but given the pedigree, I’m pretty confident in saying that Emily is Away <3 will be worth your time.

Obviously, the number of video games releasing in 2020 is vast. It would be a herculean task to try and cover everything. However, this list should be a great reference point for games to put on your radar. Of course, the best indie game of 2020 might not even be announced yet, but you can rest assured that when it is, DualShockers will be there to cover it.

January 16, 2020 12:00 PM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/01/15-upcoming-indie-games-to-put-on-your-radar-in-2020/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=15-upcoming-indie-games-to-put-on-your-radar-in-2020

[athetos]

I just emerged from my axiom verge 2 lore binge and

- okay there’s no way Indra ISNT Ophelia. Ophelia is the only rusalki without a Slavic name, and Ophelia is a hamlet character who drowns… just like Indra did. And indra’s portrait in the end credits mirrors ophelia’s with the same expression. Furthermore, she abandons the name Indra in the finale, and the theme song for the final boss is a remix of “amnesia” from the first game (which plays when trace is trying to reach Ophelia iirc). It makes sense because Ophelia is unique among the rusalki as well; I believed they consider her to be “other” than them and have a mysterious origin, and she is more sympathetic to trace’s plight, probably because she herself has gone through the whole “wait I’m not the original me” ordeal.

- the human survivors turn into tiny xedur’s, the first boss of the prequel and a clone of athetos. They only turn into xedur’s after you touch them as a drone returning from the breach… and over time after being exposed. So. This is really interesting as it implies that athetos might not be the origin of the pathogen! In the first game it’s stated that athetos created the pathogen to wipe out the sudrans, and while he definitely could have manipulated the pathogen, he probably didn’t create it himself. So… the pathogen might be linked to being exposed to the breach (before Indra gets her nanobot body, she takes damage when she touches the portals) OR it’s caused by Damu, the little boy Arm who lets you summon your drone, especially since it’s referenced he has a plague of thoughts according to reddit. If it is the latter, damu has no idea he’s doing it. I think both theories are equally possible, with evidence for both, so it’s impossible to pick one yet.

- the afterlife. I think there’s enough evidence to say for certain that hammond and samara are dead. I mean, you find hammonds body and goodbye note (I don’t think her death was intentional, but who knows) and she definitely avoids saying where she and samara are beyond… really vague terms. And I do think that when Indra’s biological form dies, her soul - because I think it was duplicated, the way I see it her brain/soul was copied and uploaded to the nanobots, but her original brain/soul still exists - reunites with samara and hammond. Interestingly, does this mean every time trace died in the first game, that his essence was also sent to an afterlife? After all, all his deaths are canonical as he’s just cloned again from the last save point. Weird…

- we have GOT to see what’s further upstream. There’s insane shit up there I know it. Like, Edward Elric meeting the Truth level shit.

[athetos]