When you’re tired of playing the same type of first-person shooters, “Souls”-like epics or role-playing games, indie titles feel like a breath of fresh air. At the Xbox showcase featuring independent developers this month, I had a chance to check out a few titles and try out the Xbox Adaptive Joystick. The games offered a much-needed take from the typical blockbuster triple-A projects I’ve been playing and had plenty of charm, so that I marked them on my calendar.
The new Microsoft peripheral looks almost like a Wii nunchuk controller or the PlayStation Move Navigational Controller. The big difference is that it was designed in collaboration with the gaming and disability community. It’s lighter than any of those controllers and has a mount for wheelchair users. Microsoft said it’s made to meet the needs of players with limited mobility.
Trying it out myself, the controller had four face buttons that are mappable and a useful analog stick. Although it looks like it would be a motion controller, it doesn’t have that feature, but it can be plugged into other Microsoft devices such as the Xbox Adaptive Controller or the stock one. It’s on sale for $29.99.
‘PROMISE MASCOT AGENCY’The controller worked well with the “Promise Mascot Agency,” an open-world game from Kaizen Game Works Limited. Players take on the role of a former Yakuza who faked his death and decides to help rebuild the titular business, and in the process, he revives a dying Japanese town. It’s a quirky adventure with a lot of innuendo as players recruit down-on-their-luck mascots, rebuild their reputations and send them out on odd jobs to help businesses.
A lot of the game focuses on driving around the quaint Japanese town and exploring locales, but the real goal and depth lies in managing the stable of mascots and pairing them with the right jobs and handlers. Despite some risque characters (the game deals with Yakuza after all), the developers said the game is wholesome as the “Promise Mascot Agency” revitalizes the town and the former gangster builds a new life. (Planned release is April 10, 2025)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZFgEVbuTrU‘HELA’“Hela” was the most promising title I played at the event. Developed by Knight’s Peak, the adventure puts players in the shoes of a witch’s mouse familiar. The older lady has fallen ill, and it’s up to the tiny creature to fulfill some of her big responsibilities. I’m a sucker for games from a lilliputian perspective and I liked the project’s detail and sense of scale.
As a mouse, everything is enormous, but the protagonist has plenty of tools at hand. It has a magic backpack that looks like a frog. With it, players can glide a bit after double jumping. The device also grabs branches and key items almost, acting almost like a grappling hook. When combined, the traversal feels as though I’m playi ng “Spider-Man” or “Just Cause,” and that’s important because the world outside the witch’s home is enormous from a mouse’s perspective
The one mission I played focused on gathering ingredients for a potion that will help an old man relive some fond memories. That sent the mouse gathering sap up a tree, which is a journey that involves climbing the trunk and finding places to rest as the mouse reaches the tree top. It also tasked me with gathering flowers, beads and lastly a totem, which is found in a workshop.
It’s a lot of work, and that’s why “Hela” is built as a couch co-op experience in mind. Having two people makes the job faster and easier. For example, players have to use a Shop-Vac to access the Totem pieces buried in a trash can and in a crate. They have to tell friends to hold the vacuum hose to jar loose a piece. When climbing a tree, players can pull each other up to reach higher places.
Absent a co-op partner, Knight’s Peak came up with a Shade system for solo players. It’s a clever gameplay trick that lets players create a shadow of themselves that acts almost like a second player. With it, players can hold a Shop-Vac hose in place and keep the shade in that position while players flip the ship to get it to work. “Hela” is filled with inventive scenarios and obstacles that take advantage of this clever system. Best of all, the Shade also acts as a waypoint if players ever fall off a branch and hit the ground. Players can instantly warp to where their last Shade was. (The developer’s Steam page said it’s coming soon.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVlOH8uNu2c‘REVENGE OF THE SAVAGE PLANET’The last title I checked out was “Revenge of the Savage Planet,” which is the sequel to “Journey to the Savage Planet” and follows the protagonist who finds himself in dire straits again. After helping Kindred Aerospace become the top interstellar exploration company, the protagonist ends up on another planet after another 100-year mission. That takes players on a journey across four worlds.
Raccoon Logic’s follow-up is different with its third-person perspective that shows the protagonist running around the new world. The player’s main weapon is a blaster that can shoot energy, water or slime, and each ammo has a different effect on the world. Energy blasts defeat enemies while water can help plants grow or enlarge sponges.
They’ll find diverse and alien environments that they’ll have to analyze as they explore and experiment with the gear they have on hand. The developers describe it as a 3-D “Metroidvania” and it does have the feel of a “Metroid Prime” albeit with more satirical humor. In the short time I played “Revenge of the Savage Planet,” I set my mission to retrieve a whip that’s needed to interact with more parts of the world and access new areas. It took a bit of navigation and platforming, but I found the capsule that had the tool.
Interestingly enough, one of the selling points of the game is that it will be couch co-op so that players can join a friend and explore the world online or via split screen. That’s a gameplay trend becoming more common with Hazelight’s work with indie hits “It Takes Two” and now “Split Fiction.” (The planned release date is May 8, 2025)