While I’m still mourning the loss of an indie game-exclusive show with BIG Festival giving way to gamescom latam and only taking up a portion of the show floor, there’s reason to give props to some of our favorites Brazilian-made games on display after my first – and only – day there. I hope you enjoy this quick list of bangers that I ran into while there!
A.I.L.A
Coming from Pulsatrix Studio, the team behind the extremely well put together Resident Evil 7-inspired Fobia: St Dinfna Hotel from a couple of years ago, is A.I.L.A, which by all means is following its footsteps by providing a very moody demo at the show.
While not particularly feature-heavy in its current state, this first-person horror game impressed me with its ambiance, and the clever trick up its sleeve: a haunted remote control with the power to change the world around me. After picking it up, I got to experience first-person channel surfing, which shifted my stark surroundings, opening up new avenues to explore and breathe in the atmosphere.
Given their track record with Fobia, I’m positively sure that A.I.L.A is bound to be quite the horror game, only with its own unique flavor, if the short demo is anything to go by. With no clue as to when the game is bound to hit digital storefronts across the major consoles and PC, I can only hope it won’t be long before getting my hands on the final version of A.I.L.A.
Corebreaker
Corebreaker from aQuadiun Games caught me straight away with its gorgeous pixel art and flashy lights, but kept me playing thanks to its fun roguelike map progression structure and fun combat. You zip around its world as Nova, a sort of robot that’s awakened when humanity is all but gone, and so you do throughout its demo, which you can play from home if you wish through its Steam page.
The game features a screen-by-screen level progression that initially might feel constrained, but given the breakneck speed of the action, is anything but. It felt great to blast through sections throughout my time playing it. And for as tired as anyone could be at roguelikes this day and age – and I wouldn’t blame you, there’s been plenty of them! – Corebreaker seems to be going for something of its own.
Much like A.I.L.A, there’s no release date for this as of yet. Thankfully, its team is very active online either through the game’s Steam forum or via itch.io, so I’m sure anyone anxious to play will have a good time following along its development cycle with the studio.
E-Lich: Corporate Souls
This game’s got style. So much that it caught my eye among the many, many others on display at gamescom latam. And thankfully there’s more to E-Lich: Corporate Souls than just its hilarious name and cute façade. If you’re familiar with auto-shooter/”bullet heaven” games like Vampires Survivor, you’ll know what to expect to see here, but differently from the rest, E-Lich has more going on than just another ape in the pen set by Poncle.
The premise alone more than makes up for what otherwise would be considered your usual brainless fare: as a member of a corporation focused on exploiting the post-life, it’s your job to see that the dead stay dead and the living, well, they make the transition in pieces. It’s silly and dumb, but hilariously so.
As with other examples in this list, you are welcome to play through the demo yourself and join developer JohnnyR Design’s Discord channel in order to give them feedback in regards to the game. Maybe you will shape how the final version will be as it does not have a firm release date to speak of.
Neve
Coming in from Stratus Studio is Neve, a sci-fi interactive thriller that has you take the role of the captain of a space exploration crew as you are trapped inside your cryogenic pod when your ship crashes onto a mysterious planet. With the help of your mates, you have to find out what the heck is going on, while managing from the most micro to insanely macro aspects of your experience.
The demo at the show which can also be enjoyed from the comfort of your home via their Steam page helped provide quite a chilling experience, as Jasmina is forced to lead her two mates around deceptively simple choices that are meant to carry on grave consequences during your playthrough. From the little that was played, Neve feels like it’ll feature plenty of replayability, given the excellent writing on display, through the interaction with the wildly varied personalities of both Hilas and Atalanta.
Much like a lot of games on display at gamescom latam, Neve doesn’t have a firm release date, but I’ll most definitely keep an eye or two at how it shapes up.
Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo
Here’s one you’ll be able to play very soon. Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo will be coming out May 25th and is a very cute and colorful isometric-scrolling action game in the vein of old NeoGeo Pocket, in so far as to emulate that portable system by providing a screen border shaped like it.
Outside of that gimmick, if the name hasn’t given it away to you already, yeah, you get to use a yo-yo in this and it’s really fun to do so as you take control of Pipistrello, a bat thing with a knack for getting around in unique ways. Not only does their titular yoyo function as a weapon, but also as means to traversing the world, by throwing it and attaching to poles, hitting levers, and whatnot as needed.
As you’ll be able to attest in its demo, which is also available via Steam, Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo isn’t just another attempt at aping a long-gone period in videogaming and I’m positively excited to play more of this self-intitled “yoyovania” once it’s released later this month.
gamescom latam is taking place from May 1st to the 4th at Anhembi District Pavillion in São Paulo, Brazil. You can find more info about the show here.
