New Blade Runner, new Keita Takahashi, a new bike game from the Nidhogg devs and more
Tonight’s Annapurna Interactive Showcase brought us 30 minutes of fresh game announcements, putting a lovely (and hopefully final) full stop on this year’s notE3 / Summer Game Fest period. While most of the announcements were updates on games we already knew about, there are a couple of cool new things in there that I’m personally quite pumped for, including a newBlade Runnergame being developed internally at Annapurna Interactive, a new Keita Takahashi joint about a kid stuck in a T-pose of all things, and a new ghostly biking game from the team behind Nidhogg. I’d highly recommendwatching the showcase in fullif you can, but in case you need a quick refresher of what happened, or are just short on time, we’ve rounded up every announcement in order below.
Lorelei And The Laser Eyes gets another mysterious trailer
Sayonara Wild Heartsand all-round excellent developers Simogo are back with a mysterious new puzzle game calledLorelei And The Laser Eyes, which is the most fabulous name if ever I heard one. Technicallyfirst announced last year, this is a murder mystery game where you appear to be stuck in some kind of maze (do you remember it?). It’s not clear where this maze is, or why you’re there, but it’s related to events in both the past, present and future. One would assume that you’ll be spending most of your time trying to get out of said maze by solving its various puzzles and deciphering its odd patterns, but you’re not alone in this strange prison. There’s also “an international auteur”, “an aristocratic artist” and “a vagabond illusionist” in the mix, and each of them poses a question that needs answering. What do they want? Who killed them? And most importantly, who are they? No release date, alas, but it’s good to get another glimpse of it, you know? Find out more onSteam.
Ed had a lovelygood look at Cocoonat this year’s Summer Geoff Fest, and he came away impressed, naming it his top highlight of the whole show. I’ve been very intrigued by this recursive, insectoid puzzler from formerInsideandLimbodev Jeppe Carlsen ever since it was announced at Xbox’s notE3 show last year, and happily, today’s Annapurna Showcase gave us a release date for it. Mark yourSteamcalendars for September 29th, folks.
A new game by Matt Newell, this aptly named photography sim looks proper lovely, it does. With lots of gorgeous landscapes to explore, you’ll be pointing your camera at the glacial mountains of Lago di Braies in Italy, rows of Japanese torii gates in Kyoto’s Fushimi Inari shrine, the sun-drenched beaches of western Australia’s Castle Rock, snowy wildernesses of Iceland’s Mýrdalssandur, and the misty forests of Japan’s Yamagata region. It’s not clear from the trailer what you’ll be taking pictures for exactly (your own pleasure? National Geographic? Some other kind of travel enterprise?), but it sure does look very zen (and extremely ASMR-friendly). I look forward to just noodling around its landscapes taking nice pictures, flying my camera drone over the water, and paddling in its little canoe. No release date yet, but you can find out more onSteam.
The next game from the creator ofKatamariandWattamis all about a kid who’s forever stuck in a T-pose. Some wry commentary on the nature of video games, or just a daft adventure in which a T-shaped child goes on adventures with their charming dog friend? Who can say at this point, but the jaunty song in the trailer sure is a bit of an earworm. “Never forget - you’re the perfect shapeeeeee!”
A lovely long gander atFlockhere, the next game fromWilmot’s Warehousedevs Hollow Ponds and Richard Hogg. As this latest trailer explains, Flock is about exploring a big wild place on the back of a bird, and here we find out how we’ll be charming its colourful beasts to join our respective flocks - think Pokémon, but with singing instead of battling - as well as get a closer look at the lush forests and fields we’ll be swooping around either alone or with pals. Creatures will vary depending on the time of day in the game, and you’ll also be able to fashion clothes for your bird rider by making friends with some flying sheep. Lovely stuff. I’m also very much looking forward having my own flotilla of Big Henrys noodling behind me, yes sirree. Still no release date, but you can find out more onSteam.
Disclosure: Pip Warr, formerly of this parish, has done some narrative and game design work on Flock. We always knew she was destined for great things, our Pip.
But not Game Pass, alas. Still, a very good trailer. Classic cat behaviour with the controller there. Well played. Remember, it’s also been onSteamsince last year.
Lots of us in the RPS Treehouse have been looking forward to Outer Loop’s rhythm action RPG about outrageous exes for a long time now, and happily, we’ve finally got aSteamrelease date: November 2nd! Very wise, getting all that family trauma out of the way before Christmas hits. Very wise indeed.
When make-your-own-drama gameStorytellercame out back in March, our Alice Bee called it a lovely, charming puzzler that was abit on the novella sideof being a full novel. Clearly, developer Daniel Benmergui heard her plea and set to work on more of it. Because that’s exactly what’s happening. New scenarios and challenges are headed to Storyteller for free on September 26th onPC, as well as a devilish new character. Spoiler. It’s the literal devil. It’s also coming to Netflix that day, too. Coincidence? Shuffle its plot devices around to find out.
