Indie World 8-19-2019: All Games Announced

Indie World, the latest incarnation of Nintendo’s various independent games-themed Direct (and apparently replacement to the “Nindies” brand of previous years), aired early this morning in the U.S. While it had a number of intriguing and good looking games, it’s impossible to ignore the inherent excitement of the simultaneous, sudden announcement and release of both SUPERHOT and a collection of both Hotline Miami games. But those two and another Microsoft release are only three games amongst quite a few, some of which look quite nice! Here they are below:

Risk of Rain 2: a co-op rougelike shooter set on a wasteland planet. Releases “summer 2019.”
Eastward: an adventure/RPG game set in a post apocalyptic world visually and thematically inspired by 1990s dystopian anime. Releases in 2020.
Freedom Finger: a “wacky” SHMUP in which you use enemies and debris as weapons. Starring Nolan North and John DiMaggio. Out “fall 2019.”
Röki: an adventure game about befriending animals. Out this “winter.”
Torchlight II: sequel to the hack ‘n’ slash game, available September 3.
Skater XL: a traditional skateboarding game boasting physics and unique animations for each trick. Releasing in 2020.
Youropa: 3D platformer set in the interconnected, floating debris of real world cities. Out “later this year.”
SUPERHOT: the acclaimed 2016 “time moves when you move” FPS. Out today!
Dungeon Defenders: Awakened: sequel to (slash-reboot of?) Dungeon Defenders. Launches first on Switch as a timed exclusive in February 2020.
The Touryst: blocky adventure game set in in a labyrinth in or around a resort cove. Releases in November.
Skellboy: hack ‘n’ slash game where you swap out body parts. Releases December 3.
Earthnight: platformer set on the backs of gorgeous dragons that have conquered the Earth. Releases “sometime in 2019.”
Hotline Miami Collection: Both games in the beloved surreal, hyper-violent neon-drenched action series. Available today!
Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition: the gorgeous 2015 Metroidvania marks yet another Microsoft title on Switch. Releases September 27.
Also shown in the ending game montage: Blasphemous (September 26), Close to the Sun (“2019”), Cat Quest II (“fall 2019”), Spiritfarer (“spring 2020”), Trine 4: the Nightmare Prince (October 8), Creature in the Well (September 6), One Finger Death Punch 2 (December 2), Best Friend Forever (February 14), PHOGS! (“early 2020”), What the Golf? (“winter”), KINE (“2019”), Hypercharge: Unboxed (“winter”), Northgard (September 26), Sparklite (“fall 2019”), Munchkin: Quaked Quest (“fall 2019”)

In lieu of other members of the site, here are my own thoughts. While I’m more than happy for SUPERHOT, both Hotline Miami games, and Ori, it’s the smaller ones that are more exciting, maybe because they feel more “new.” Youropa, Eastward, Röki, Earthnight, and The Touryst all grabbed me, and they’re all different. They’ve got wildly unique art styles and tones and genres, and that’s cool. Sometimes, it feels like that which used to be called “Nindies” shows were filled with eight and sixteen-bit action-platformer homages, and that wasn’t the case here. Which isn’t to say those are bad at all, just that it’s nice seeing a Direct with such a wider range of outlooks, I guess, of something to that effect.

The other thing here is just in the name: Indie World. For years since Nintendo really started reaching out to smaller studios, every regional branch did basically its own thing, whether that was the “Nindies” label or something else. Now, we’re apparently all operating under the “Indie World” brand, something Nintendo started in Japan earlier this year. And…it’s honestly not important, but I do find it interesting that Nintendo’s branches are all falling under this one roof. The actual public support for indie games is pretty varied within Nintendo’s offices, so maybe (hopefully) having this one united term signifies that Nintendo will be more consistently supportive with their smaller and less powerful partners. It also does mean that some of the regional differences will start to be ironed out, though assuming this works out well for indies, that’s more than enough of a price to pay. We’ve long been at a point where the Switch is inundated with hundreds and hundreds of games, with a level of quality that, while not perfect, is more than respectable. It’s a lot harder for games that don’t have a huge clout or an obvious selling point to make waves than it was when Golf Story first came out of nowhere. Hopefully this’ll help that, because if some of these games are as good as they look, they deserve that chance.