Indie Selects for February: Fill Your Hearts (and Sport Libraries) with Pleasure

This February, let the ID@Xbox crew set the vibe. On this, the month of Valentine’s Day, indie sport builders are competing to be your subsequent love – however don’t stress, as a result of our crew of wingmen and wingwomen have handpicked six Indie Selects that may meet what anybody’s coronary heart wishes.  

In case you’re searching for some tasty meals for the soul, satisfying beats that actually pop, harmful exploits to get the guts pumping, and unbelievable deliveries that actually soar, February Selects had you at hiya. Right here’s what we’ve obtained for you this month (in no specific order):

This sport solutions the query,” What when you needed to earn your meal by participating it in a battle to the loss of life?”.  Cuisineer is the primary food-focused motion roguelite that I’ve ever performed and I’m very a lot obsessed. I’ve spent an embarrassing period of time bashing cute (however hostile) creatures in its dungeons to restock my fridge again in my character’s hometown. The demand for extra wooden, extra forms of stone, and numerous grades of meat by no means ends and the loop of “spend a day cooking for fussy clients, then return to a dungeon, then come again and improve your instruments, and many others.” is fixed. It’s a hustle that I’m hooked on, to be trustworthy, and Cuisineer delivers up this cycle in a approach that’s each cozy and difficult.

These monsters within the numerous dungeons aren’t joking round and also you’ll be battling by a number of flooring and executives to get to the top of every gauntlet (although there are alternatives to exit early). You’ll even be plunking down hard-earned gold (out of your restaurant’s until) to improve your backpack and eatery capability to proceed rising and progressing by the sport. It’s a soothing, dopamine-hit system that Cuisineer does extremely (and adorably) nicely, however it’s not absent of problem and studying curve. So, consider it as equipping cutesy cat ears whereas prepping for a prolonged exercise. Give your self a while to onboard and also you’ll be harvesting fuzzy little fluffballs for “fatty meat” very quickly.

Cuisineer

XSEED Video games

☆☆☆☆☆
25

★★★★★

$29.99

Upon receiving a startling letter from her dad and mom, the impartial adventurer Pom swiftly returns residence to Paell, solely to search out her dad and mom gone and their beloved restaurant deserted. Now left with mounting money owed and a village in dire want of some nice cooking, Pom must delve into the deepest dungeons for the scarcest spices, rarest meats, and essentially the most invaluable greens she will discover to maintain her dad and mom’ dream alive.

Dive into dungeons and prepare dinner up a storm as Pom, an adventurer-turned-restaurateur! Cuisineer‘s food-focused motion challenges you to construct your dinner the arduous approach: by dungeon-diving for supplies and components. Wield your cooking utensils in opposition to big chickens, artillery shrimps, fire-breathing peppers, and different pesky perils, sipping boba tea alongside the best way. Work with native artisans to customise your kitchen, and tailor your eating corridor to the wants of loyal patrons desirous to expertise the uncommon recipes you’ve cooked up.

The Xbox Collection X/S and Home windows Retailer launch of Cuisineer plates its attractive gameplay with contemporary components like new weapons, year-round festivals, a wardrobe function, and extra tasty inclusions which are positive to spice issues up.

A Smorgasbord of Dungeons
Discover procedurally generated biomes such because the Inexperienced Ruins, Frozen Fjord, and Konpeito Swamps that change their measurement, form, and assets each time you go to.

Craft Your Personal Culinary Expertise
Prepare dinner over 100 totally different recipes from around the globe, from crunchy Popiah rolls to wealthy Kaya jam, from double-fried crispy hen with zesty lemon, to candy treats piled excessive with berries. Get the correct dishes to the correct clients and customise your kitchen and eating corridor with the assistance of native artisans.

Grasp the Flavors of Preventing
Knock out monsters and rivals with Salty, Bitter, Candy, Bitter, Umami, Frosty and Toasty powers that unleash flame, poison, chain lightning, and different improbable results. You may as well battle with distinctive utensils and gourmand gear, like Spatula, Smackerel, Swordfish, and the newly added Konpeito Fist weapons!

Take Quests to Go
From Naicha the Bubble Tea vendor to Alder the massive pleasant carpenter, Paell is stuffed with candy and spicy townsfolk to befriend. When you’re dungeon diving, be looking out for gadgets the townsfolk want. You’ll be rewarded with gold, new gadgets, and much more recipes to take your cooking and adventuring to new heights.

Turbo Overkill is an FPS sport that invokes the spirit of ’80s cyberpunk media and basic shooters reminiscent of Quake & Doom. By fashionable definition, you would possibly categorize it as a “boomer shooter” – a sport that both IS a retro FPS or a more recent title that’s designed to create an analogous feeling. Sure, it is a actual factor, and no, we didn’t make it up, however we will agree that it’s becoming! As a lot as I really like fashionable FPS video games, I’m an enormous fan of the classics, and Turbo Overkill does this subgenre justice in as many ways in which it may well.

Happening in a futuristic, cyberpunk metropolis known as Paradise, gamers management a cybernetic bounty hunter by the identify of Johnny Turbo who, paired together with his trusty chainsaw leg and huge arsenal of weapons, is ready to take down rogue AI, Syn, and their augmented minions. The gameplay revolves round preventing numerous enemies and executives, exploration, puzzle fixing, upgrading Johnny and his weapons, and platforming. However what I really like most is its pacing and fight circulate. Gamers can leverage Johnny’s chainsaw leg by crouch sliding (a staple in most fashionable FPS video games) to not solely maneuver but in addition take down most enemies in a single hit. Pairing this motion with jumps, air dashes and biking by the varied acquainted weapons, makes the sport really feel like a basic enviornment shooter on prime of its retro heritage.

In homage to the classics, Turbo Overkill  includes a single participant marketing campaign with a number of difficulties to select from, secret ranges to search out, and unlockables to maintain you busy. There’s additionally two extra modes, Infinite Mode and Arcade Mode, each of which add a medal and scoring system for extra replayability. In case you’re a fan of FPS video games, whether or not fashionable or basic, then you should verify this one out!

Turbo Overkill

Apogee Leisure

☆☆☆☆☆
45

★★★★★

$19.99

Turbo Overkill is essentially the most savage FPS ever launched by Apogee. You play as Johnny Turbo, augmented with hidden arm rockets and a chainsaw that extends out of your decrease leg permitting you to slide-slice enemies extensive open.

Johnny returns to his hometown of Paradise and finds its complete inhabitants possessed by Syn, a rogue AI, and its military of augmented minions. Determined for sufficient cash to outrun his previous errors, Johnny takes on the unattainable job of destroying the best AI ever created. Rival bounty hunters wish to declare the prize first. Nothing is simple in paradise.

TURBO TIME, WALL-RUNNING, DASHING AND GRAPPLING HOOKS, OH MY
Turbo Overkill takes over-the-top to never-before-reached heights. Activate Turbo Time(™), a brand new type of sluggish movement with a twist. Construct unimaginable velocity by wall-running and dashing. Slide in your chainsaw leg, eviscerating foes and opening up bosses for crucial harm, and go car-surfing on the hoods of flying automobiles. Blast away with the Twin Magnums, which lock-on and instagib a number of foes, the Boomer Shotgun and its connected grenade launcher, or the Telefragger sniper rifle, which teleports Johnny inside an enemy earlier than they explode from inside.

Race by two dozen levels filled with secrets and techniques, bonus enviornment levels, and white-knuckle fight puzzles. Discover game-changing collectibles to unlock punishing modifiers like triple-monster-speed and insta-kill. Mix all of Johnny’s weapons and powers to outsmart, outgun and outrun the corrupted legions.

Tails of Iron 2 is a gritty and difficult 2D action-RPG that mixes Soulslike fight with Metroidvania parts. I’ve been on this sequence for the reason that first entry, however I by no means picked it up – my backlog is infinite! After enjoying this one although, I really feel like I owe it to myself to strive it out! It helps that, whereas the brand new story shares the identical world, the sequel includes a new protagonist, Arlo that means you don’t must play its predecessor to catch up. Because the inheritor to the Warden of the Wastes, Arlo should avenge his father’s loss of life, taking up threats just like the cruel Darkish Wing Bats and different creatures as he fights to revive his homeland. Oh… and Arlo’s a rat.

I received’t get too deep into the gore, however all I’ll say is, don’t let this sport’s storybook-like look idiot you – the themes on this sport are grim. The hand-drawn visuals remind me of a hidden gem you’d discover digging by the Xbox Stay Arcade library, in all the perfect methods. It has that nostalgic attraction that makes it really feel acquainted, but in the end contemporary and distinctive. And the world? Completely superior. Viking themes aren’t new, however Viking rats? They’re lovely, and on the similar time, so steel.

After spending hours preventing bosses, I can verify this sport is difficult. You’ll should backtrack, platform, improve your gear, and parry and roll… lots. You’ll want endurance, and when you’re something like me, you’ll in all probability die greater than you survive—except you turn to Fairy Story mode, the place enemies have much less well being and do much less harm.

In case you’re a fan of Metroidvanias, Soulslikes, or simply actually love the thought of rats in Viking armor, I like to recommend giving this a shot. Oh, and so they obtained Doug Cockle (Geralt from The Witcher sport sequence) to relate the story, which solely provides to the attraction.

Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter

United Label

☆☆☆☆☆
74

★★★★★

$24.99

Simply because the Rats of the South begin to piece their lives collectively, following the nice struggle between Rodent and Frog, an outdated and unspeakable evil stirs within the North; wings black as loss of life; fangs sharp as metal; and a thirst for blood rivalled solely by their insatiable starvation… for vengeance.

As Arlo, younger inheritor to the Warden of the Wastes, journey by the huge, snow-ravaged lands of the North in an epic quest to beat the Darkish Wings as soon as and for all. Search out big beasts. Unite disparate clans. Improve your settlement. And uncover a horrible secret of blood and crown…

The time for heroes is over. For the Kingdom wants a warrior; cast of the North and as chilly because the snow that shrouds these lands. A rat… carved from iron.

And so, a brand new tail begins.

Discover a Huge, Wintry Kingdom
Totally narrated by RPG-legend, Doug Cockle, put together to embark on an epic journey throughout the northern realms of the Ratdom; an expansive, frost-bitten land on the point of all-out struggle.

Search out Large Beasts
Observe down and defeat the legendary monsters of this realm, and be rewarded with uncommon assets with which to craft devastating gear. However be warned, these colossal creatures received’t go down with out a battle… after which some.

Grasp Brutal Fight
The lands of the North are a dangerous place, so that you’ll must grasp the quick, difficult fight for any likelihood of survival. Evade assaults with a dodge roll, nail split-second parry bashes, and unleash an array of ugly executions.

Customise your Assault
Craft your personal in depth arsenal of upgradeable weaponry, able to battle as you see match; strike fast with a spear, afar with a bow, or go claw-to-claw with a heavy-hitting mace. Alternativity, acquire a tactical benefit with a spread of latest, lethal traps…

Improve your Settlement
As Warden of the Wastes, defending your lands is just half the battle. Assemble and improve your settlement with hard-earned gold to realize entry to extra highly effective gadgets from the Smithy, tastier meals on the Kitchen, a wider vary of highly effective traps from the shoppe, and extra!

Unleash All-New Sorceries
Unlock the devastating ‘Elementa’ sorceries of Electrical, Poison, Fireplace, and Ice in an all-new magic system. Bestowed upon you by the gods themselves, these arena-devastating powers can shortly flip the tides in battles.

Rhythm video games are again, child! Robobeat is (deep breath) an modern, fast-paced, futuristic, roguelite rhythm boomer shooter.  To say this sport is in a league of its personal is placing it mildly.  There usually are not many video games that mix slick fight mechanics with music-centric gameplay in procedurally generated environments, and I’d say even fewer that do it nicely. You play as Ace, a well-known bounty hunter, chasing after an eccentric cyborg named Frazzer.  Nonetheless, in an effort to cease Frazzer in his tracks, you’ll should make your approach by his distorted techno playground, which is comprised of 5 randomly generated “pathways” the place you will want to shoot, wall-run, slide and bunny hop, all in sync with the beat of the soundtrack. 

Essentially the most distinctive a part of Robobeat, and possibly my favourite half, is the power to vary songs as you play. Switching between energetic steel, jazz-like grooves, and frantic EDM means that you can set the tempo of your run. Generally a slower tempo is required in an effort to get the dangle of the following stage. The enemies change into more durable and the hordes change into extra intense the additional you go, and all through your runs you’ll acquire blueprints that may be unlocked utilizing forex – nonetheless when you die earlier than cashing in your blueprints, you’ll should reacquire them.  As soon as a weapon or potential is unlocked, it may well seem in any future run.

The tunes are nice, the gunplay is manically intense, and roguelite mechanics set Robobeat other than its friends throughout a number of genres. This was a daring guess that paid off.

ROBOBEAT

Kwalee

☆☆☆☆☆
7

★★★★★

$19.99

Beat. The. Bot.

You are Ace – a well-known bounty hunter after your newest goal, the eccentric robot-showman Frazzer. To seek out your approach by his twisted techno-playground, you’ll should grasp the artwork of taking pictures, wall-running, sliding, and bunny hopping, all in sync with the beat! Prepare to bop until you are useless after which go well with up for the remix in rogue-like rhythm shooter ROBOBEAT.

Transfer to the Music
You’ll need some slick strikes to go together with these slick new weapons. Your enemies aren’t going to attend round so that you can take a dance break, so that you’ve obtained to maintain shifting if you wish to survive.

Wall run, slide, double soar, bunny hop, and grapple hook your approach by technicolour ranges to present your enemies the runaround. Maintain it fluid, hold it funky, and hold it shifting.

Rewind, Remix, Replay
ROBOBEAT is a rogue-like remix.

Quick ahead by procedurally generated ranges, equip an arsenal of finely-tuned weapons, and accompany your arsenal with a symphony of modifications. Your playstyle is on steady shuffle, so that you by no means know what every new run goes to convey!

Will you have got what it takes to interrupt the infinite loop and cease Frazzer in his tracks?

Mexico, 1921: A Deep Slumber is a story journey sport impressed by true occasions. You’ll step into the footwear of Juan Aguirre, a photojournalist in post-revolutionary Mexico Metropolis. The sport not solely entertains however educates gamers by involving historians and cultural establishments in its creation. This collaboration transforms the sport into an interactive archive of Mexican historical past. I used to be completely fascinated as the sport transported me to a tumultuous interval in Mexican historical past, permitting me to uncover the reality behind President Álvaro Obregón’s assassination.

You’ll navigate by Mexico Metropolis, interviewing and photographing topics, which I discovered created a deep feeling of involvement within the storyline and historic occasions. It’s a layer of authenticity solely added to by the pictures mechanic, which requires you to grasp early 20^th Century photographic methods. The sport follows a basic point-and-click journey model, the place you look at objects, collect clues, and have interaction in conversations with numerous characters, and I used to be deeply captivated by the connection to the historic occasions and cultural features of post-revolutionary Mexico.   is a compelling and emotionally participating sport.

Mexico,1921: A Deep Slumber

Mácula Interactive

☆☆☆☆☆
4

★★★★★

$19.99

Mexico, 1921. A deep slumber is an intriguing narrative journey the place you attempt to clear up a hundred-year-old thriller: who deliberate the assassination of President Álvaro Obregón? You play as Juan Aguirre, a photojournalist who will interview and {photograph} topics, acquire historic information and report the information that may form Mexican historical past. Be part of Juan in post-revolutionary Mexico Metropolis to find why Mexico ain’t no place for the weak. Developed hand in hand with the Nationwide Newspaper Library and the Fashionable Arts Museum, this sport will likely be an interactive archive of Mexican post-revolutionary historical past.

Mika and the Witch’s Mountain is a captivating E-rated journey sport. You play the position of aspiring younger witch Mika, who’s declined admittance to witch faculty and has to take a job delivering packages to fund her broom repairs. The sport takes place in a small open world, the Island of Winds, asking you to fly from  level to level by the use of broomstick– opening extra of the world as you unlock extra traversal skills to your broom.

With a Studio Ghibli-inspired artwork model, the attraction of this island location and its many inhabitants is infectious. There are dozens of residents that you simply get to know and assist in your journey to ascend the mountain to witch faculty. The primary story doesn’t overstay its welcome, however there are extra puzzles, races, and secrets and techniques to increase your time on the island. The simplified management scheme and cute aesthetic means that is appropriate for all ages and talent ranges of avid gamers. The artwork model, the characters and the music elevate a sport that’s virtually completely a sequence of fetch quests into an endearing, enjoyable and memorable journey.

Mika and The Witch’s Mountain

Chibig

☆☆☆☆☆
10

★★★★★

$19.99

Mika and the Witch’s Mountain is a fantasy journey about an aspiring witch who delivers packages to the townspeople of a small island. Discover each cranny and soar by the sky together with your magic broom.