Devolver Digital didn’t disappoint when it came to a madcap, off-the-wall showcase at E3 2021 – but alongside the weird narrative, the publisher announced plenty of games, too.
Headlining the announcements, and acting as a sort-of running joke through the whole bizarre experience, was the publisher’s jab at the increasingly popular trend of treating games as a service, and cajoling the player into signing up for costly repeat payments in order to gain access to titles.
The satire is framed as the “Devolver MaxPass+ Showcase | Monetization as a Service,” and you can take a look at teh intro to it below.
Now that we’ve got… whatever that is… out the way, let’s focus on the games. There were a ton of indies in the list that looked great, even by the lofty standards Devolver sets as a publisher.
Trek to Yomi, billed by the publisher as a “cinematic tour-de-force” was the first reveal. It’s apparently inspired by classic samurai films, and comes from the Polish Flying Wild Hog studio (who you may know from the rebooted Shadow Warrior series). If you’d rather go check out new Shadow Warrior 3 footage, by the way, who are we to stop you?
“As a vow to his dying Master, a young swordsman is sworn to protect his town and the people he loves against all threats,” reads the trailer. “Faced with tragedy and bound to duty, the lone samurai must voyage beyond life and death to confront himself and decide his path forward.”
Trek to Yomi launches in 2022 for PC, PS 5, PS4 4, Xbox Series X/ S, and Xbox One.
Up next is Wizard with a Gun: an online cooperative sandbox survival game, where everyone looks a bit like a Black Mage from the Final Fantasy series. Neat.
Per a description of the game from Devolver: “Embark on a journey alone or with friends to collect, craft, and outfit your wizard however you see fit as you explore the unknown. Carefully design weapons, bullets, and furnishings for your tower home but try not to burn it all down as the magic you wield escalates beyond your control.”
The game will launch on ‘PC and consoles’ in 2022.
Inscryption came next in the show with a pretty interesting and weird trailer.
“From the creator of Pony Island and The Hex comes the latest mind melting, self-destructing love letter to video games,” reads the trailer blurb.
Inscryption is an inky black card-based odyssey that blends the deckbuilding roguelike, escape-room style puzzles, and psychological horror into a blood-laced smoothie. If you like your games dark, hard and edgy (look at all those hard, dark edges!) this one is for you.
It’s available in 2021, and you can check out its Steam page at the link.
If you’ve ever wanted to see all your Devolver Digital properties lined up and crammed into one sweet little mobile game package, well, we’ve got good news for you: Devolver Tumble Time is coming.
“Choose characters from a packed roster of your favorite Devolver Digital games and rack up big points matching and clearing their impossibly adorable heads from the tumbler,” reads a description. “Get hyped enough and unleash each character’s special ability to clear huge chunks and earn power-ups to create chaotic chain reactions.”
It’s “the future of physics-based puzzle gameplay, elegant monetisation, and strategic brand integration” and it’s launching for mobile devices – iOS and Android – in 2021.
Next up, there’s Demon Throttle, and this one is interesting. Devolver is saying that it’ll only be released on Nintendo Switch, and only in physical format. That means if you want to play it, you’re going to need to buy a boxed copy. A strange move in 2022, but that’s Devolver for you.
“Introducing Demon Throttle by developer Doinksoft, the creators of Gato Roboto,” said the publisher. “Coming to Nintendo Switch as a physical box set – and *only* a physical box set – through our friends at Special Reserve Games, Demon Throttle tells the story of a beautiful vampiress and dusty gunslinger on a quest for vengeance against a demon that stole her mystical chalices and slept with his estranged wife. Now the two unlikely companions must blast their way through four monstrous generals and their wicked domains in order to lift the demon’s curse and exact their revenge.”
The game launches on Nintendo Switch in 2022.
Death’s Door followed.
A moody noir trailer (with some lovely soft jazz opening up a more action-packed sequence) showed off a stylish action game that takes an isometric view of a mini protagonist surviving in a hostile world.
“Reaping souls of the dead and punching a clock might get monotonous but it’s honest work for a Crow,” says the blurb. “The job gets lively when your assigned soul is stolen and you must track down a desperate thief to a realm untouched by death – where creatures grow far past their expiry and overflow with greed and power.”
The game launches July 20 for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC.
Lastly, there was Phantom Abyss.
“Intrepid adventurers will dodge scores of hidden traps, leap treacherous chasms, and flee relentless guardians through branching paths until one of the relics are claimed or the devices of death overwhelm them,” says the blurb.
“Be warned, you only get one attempt at each temple and failure or settling for a lesser relic means you will never see that temple again.”
It comes to PC on June 22 as an Early Access title.
The post Here’s every game announced at Devolver’s E3 2021 show appeared first on VG247.
About Author
