Indie Monthly: October 2024

We're coming to the end of what's been a tough but interesting year for small developers. Between some unexpected mega-hits, the untimely deaths of a number of significant publishers and some truly bizarre trends, there's been no shortage of news from the indie space. For those of you who really want to get into the reeds, my latest State of Indie article will come out in November and there is so much to say about 2024.

For the time being, though, let's keep an eye on the games themselves. October wasn't too scary - it was a good month for colorful, easygoing games with some great nostalgic appeal.

Decline's Drops

Globule is an animate oaken puppet, leading a quiet life in her little garden. One day, a strange cloud appears on the horizon, unleashing a toxic rain that twists and deforms every living thing it touches. The rain is tied to the Hydra, a six-part monster that's started up an industrial concern just over the hill. Slapping on her boxing gloves, Globule heads out to take down the disparate parts of the Hydra and avenge the loss of her garden.

Decline's Drops is a platformer-fighter that, on first brush, bears a lot of mechanical similarity to games like Guacamelee, with a familiar combat system built around normal and power attacks that can be chained into simple combos. However, this game is designed more as a traditional platformer with discrete, linear levels. In particular, it clearly draws a lot of inspiration from the aesthetic and level design principles of Yoshi's Island.

The game is split into six worlds, each one ending with a boss. The standard levels are simple enough in their objectives - reach an endpoint - though there are plenty of secrets for anyone who wants to do some exploring. Most levels also have a theme or gimmick to mix things up. Using a lot of gimmick levels is always a risk, but it works out more often than not in Decline's Drops.

I must make special note of the graphics and music. Decline's Drops features some lush hand-drawn visuals that give the game a subtle cartoony feel and are very charming, even in pollution-scarred levels that aren't so beautiful. Meanwhile, the music is built up from mellow, occasionally moody tracks that compliment those graphics nicely. Combine that with challenging but not extremely technical gameplay, and you have an experience that's just very pleasing to play overall.

Decline's Drops is available for PC via Steam. A copy was provided for this review.

Beloved Rapture

Johan is a young villager suddenly thrust into a conflict beyond his understanding. Shortly before beginning a coming-of-age rite, his father - long assumed to be dead - reappears with a cryptic offer. Suddenly, Johan is caught between the lords of a nearby kingdom and a cult-like army bent on destroying the prevailing order. As he explores beyond his parochial world, he meets and befriends other outcasts, each with their own interests - all of whom he may have to betray one day.

Beloved Rapture is a JRPG in the vein of a fifth- or early sixth-generation turn-based role-playing game. Visually, the game features the kind of high-detail sprites that appeared in pixel-based PlayStation games, while the music is more in line with Square's SNES offerings. Mechanically, it takes after the Final Fantasy titles from this era, featuring an active time system by default though this can be switched to a true turn-based system instead.

Combat and character-building are both fairly conventional, though there are a few twists here and there. The PCs are pretty fragile compared to characters in similar games and their regular attacks don't hit very hard. This encourages the player to rely on two key mechanics: A block with a limited ability to self-heal, and a limit break-like super attack that builds up through attacking or using offensive magic. Even with these abilities, combat can be pretty merciless, and taking advantage of the turn-based setting to slow things down might be wise.

Ultimately, Beloved Rapture is a well-made RPG that is very much on the safe side, without really shaking things up. It's a good choice for anyone looking for JRPGs in that 90s style, but don't expect to see anything new.

Beloved Rapture is available for PC via Steam. A copy was provided for this review.

Europa

The android Zee awakens in a desolate utopia. Generations ago, humans sent machines to terraform the satellite Europa, a project that succeeded beyond all expectations. Zee is supposedly there to clear the way for future colonists, but there's something awry on Europa. There are signs of civilizations far more ancient than Earth's, and all that's left of the terraforming operation is a floating structure dubbed "The Island." Guided by notes left by the last human on Europa, Zee must work his way toward the Island while uncovering the satellite's mysteries.

Europa is an exploration-driven, combat-free adventure game. There are puzzles to be found, and a few areas have hazards that must be circumvented or deactivated. However, the core of the game is exploration - wandering through the landscape for its own sake.

Any exploration-themed game needs to handle movement well, and Europa does this with a system that is intuitive and satisfying to use. Zee has a natural ability to glide and also comes equipped with the Zephyr pack which allows him to gain additional upward momentum. The Zephyr pack is very limited, but the skies are filled with resources to refill it while also providing some direction for the player. Combined, all of this lets Zee take to the air and stay there for long periods, zipping between resources while searching for secrets.

Whether this works depends on the game's visuals, and here Europa succeeds in a big way. The player passes through several biomes, all of them lush and highly detailed. The land is far from empty; natural and biomechanical fauna exist in abundance, and a completionist-minded player can get some extra play time by seeking out unusual animals and capturing them in Zee's sketchbook. All told, it's rare to see a game world that feels this organic.

Since the game's visuals are the main draw, I should leave you by mentioning that Europa features a special photography mechanic that freezes the game while giving the player full control of the camera. You can expect to see some really dynamic screenshots coming from this game.

Europa is available for PC via Steam. A copy was provided for this review.

Tarnished Blood

Tarnished Blood puts the player in charge of a tribe in a strange primordial world during the age of the megafauna hunt. Taking a team of up to four hunters, the player seeks out and takes down monsters in the name of the tribe, with simulation elements filling in the gaps between hunts.

The defining feature of Tarnished Blood is its truly innovative combat system. Combat takes place over turns lasting about ten seconds each. The player can see everything the monster will do over this span and arrange for each hunter to take action at a specific point. Once all the moves are in place, the turn starts and the player witnesses the outcome. The player's control over the timeline means there are no real surprises, though combat can become unpredictable in other ways.

This unusual combat mechanic will be the biggest hurdle for novice players to overcome. Even relatively weak monsters make for highly technical fights - they are stubbornly resilient while the hunters are fragile. Strategic thinking, careful positioning, and exploiting momentary weaknesses are all essential to getting through battles with minimal casualties. The timeline manipulation mechanic is a powerful tool in handling all of this, but don't expect to figure it out on your first go-around.

Overall, Tarnished Blood is a good choice for anyone looking for something outside the usual TRPG norm. One small word of caution for more sensitive people: there is some sexual content in the narrative elements. It isn't particularly explicit, but please take note of that if you're bothered by such things.

Tarnished Blood is available for PC via Steam. A copy was provided for this review.

That wraps up our look at the plethora of games that caught our attention in October, be sure to come back each month for more indie games you want to look out for!