On May 17th 505 Games presented their spring showcase for upcoming games that they are publishing over the next year or so. In this showcase of about 30 minutes, there were some really cool gameplay segments coupled with developers talking us through their games. Watching it reminded me why I love this time of year too. The passion from development teams talking about their creations, the excitement in their voices as we get closer to release for them. The 505 Games showcase featured 4 upcoming games, and in this piece I’m going to share with you some of the details from these games and rank them in order of how excited I am for them (although that is not to say I’m not hype for all of these). 4 being least excited for 1 being most.
4. Miasma Chronicles
Brought to us by The Bearded Ladies Studio, the team behind Mutant Year Zero. Miasma Chronicles made its world premier in the 505 Games Spring Showcase. Miasma Chronicles is set in a dark and futuristic world that has been consumed by The Miasma. Building on the success that is Mutant Year Zero, Miasma Chronicles is set to build upon successful mechanics from Mutant Year Zero, with a tactical approach to combat as the player becomes Elvis (human) partnered with his brother Diggs (robot) on their quest to reunite Elvis with his mother. This is an exciting looking game. It seems to be jam packed full of narrative and has a wonderfully atmospheric look to it. Another thing to excite fans is that it has only been announced for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles (as far as we can tell), so we should hopefully see some ‘next-gen’ features in this game. On a personal level my one critique that it doesn’t place it higher is the tactical element. As a loose rule, games with tactical combat are not really my bag… baby. See the trailer below and see what you think!
3. Eiyuden Chronicles Rising & Eiyuden Chronicles Hundred Heroes
The companion JRPG games come to us courtesy of the creators of the Suikoden Series. Natsume Atari and Rabbit & Bear Studios. Eiyuden Chronicles Rising is the prequel game to Eiyuden Chronicles Hundred Heroes, setting up essential characters and lore in the world of Allran. Something quite cool that was said was items from the Rising game will be transferrable to the new Hundred Heroes game when it releases (apparently 2023). Whereas Eiyuden Chronicles Rising, which released on May10th on Xbox One and Series consoles, PlayStation 4 and 5, as well as PC and Switch. It also has released directly into Xbox Game Pass, which is great for Xbox Game Pass subscribers. Nothing was shown to us of Eiyuden Chronicles Hundred Heroes, but gameplay was shown for Rising and it looked beautiful. Styled as a side-scrolling action JRPG, the game looked great with charming visuals and lots of effects for the style of the game. It seemed to have plenty of quests with fun gameplay and great world building for it’s sequel, which was the most successful Kickstarter campaign of 2020. Cards on the table, I’m not a JRPG guy, but this definitely looks very satisfying to play; and from an Xbox perspective, it is great to see it in Game Pass and on the system that often gets overlooked by Japanese games. It ranks above Miasma Chronicles for me because of the action based combat. Check out the launch trailer for Eiyuden Chronicles Rising below.
2. Stray Blade
Stray Blade is the upcoming game from Point Blanc Games based in Berlin, Germany. The studio has grown considerably in recent years from 5 in 2020, and is now at 30 members of staff, which is generally a good sign in the gaming industry. The game they showed, Stray Blade is a colourful, self shaded action rpg. The main player character is an anthropologist by the name of Farren, who starts the game off by dyeing… Then being revived by the player companion, a mysterious Xhinnia Wolf named Boji. Together you must travel across the lands of Acrea to return peace to the land. The world is dynamic and will change as time passes. You may clear one camp, only to return and it had been over run by creatures. This is a pretty cool sounding mechanic to have, I’m a massive fan of dynamic worlds, it really makes them feel lived in. This combined with the combat is what made this game stand out to me. The combat is said to be tough and looks a bit Souls-esq, fast and satisfying. Boji plays a support role to you, operating independently to give you opportunities to counter quickly. Boji is upgradeable and levels with Farren. To me personally, this game looks a lot of fun. It gave me Biomutant vibes, let’s hope it doesn’t encounter the same pitfalls that Biomutant fell into though… Check out the trailer for Stray Blade below and see what you think.
1. Among The Trolls
Definitely the main feature piece for this presentation, with by far the most time. Among The Trolls is a fantasy survival game with base building! Those of you who know my writing will understand why I have ranked this number 1 from this presentation. Developed by Forbidden Studio, Among The Trolls looks like it is going to be exclusive to PC. The Finnish developers want to make full use of technology ‘maxing out cores’. The game itself too, is ambitious. What looks to be a rich and beautiful world, influenced by Finnish folklore. What I really loved about the sound of this survival game though, was that you have to give something back. You can’t just strip the natural resources, or you will anger the gods and get attacked. It is a very interesting take on a survival game and does not just go by modern survival games or primitive ones either, the fusion with fantasy elements such as magic is such a cool idea. The base building looks pretty cool too, I’m curious to see how far they take it though… Anyway, check out the trailer below as it will be launching soon via Steam’s Early Access.
It was a good showing from 505 Games. They seem to have teamed up with some really talented studios and it was nice to give them some breathing space ahead of some of the summer showcases coming up. I would love to see Among The Trolls make its way to Xbox Series and PS5 at some point, but am not optimistic based on what they said.
