Indie World April 17, 2024: Information and Reactions

A fun new intro introduced April’s Indie World, one of Nintendo’s smaller but still important presentations. Without larger, dominating blockbuster titles—or, for that matter, dominating indies like Spelunky or The Binding of Isaac—this allows neat, smaller games some extra attention. There were some full reveals, including notable sequels to IPs. There were also timed console exclusives from games that have garnered serious acclaim on Steam. Plenty just look damn fine. Here they are!

Initially revealed last year, Little Kitty, Big City is a game where you play as a game in a city filled with “distractions.” There are sidequests, collectible hats and emotes, and “catchievements.” Releases May 9; pre-orders began today.
Yars Rising, WayForward’s newest Metroidvania and a collaboration with Atari, announced. It reimagines the Atari 2600 classic Yar’s Revenge. Releases “later this year.”
Refined Self: The Personality Test Game, a pixelated narrative adventure game released for Steam last year, is coming to Switch. The main character has 23 personality types based on your choices that, unlike typical RPGs, will only be revealed to you after you finish the game. Releases as a timed console exclusive “this summer.”
Sticky Business, another 2023 game now coming to Switch, is a cozy sim based around running a sticker shop and creating the stickers you sell. There are “over 400 elements,” such as images and visual effects. There’s a life simulator element where helping customers work reveals aspects of their lives. It, the Plan with Me DLC available on Steam, and a bundle of both launch later today!
ANTONBLAST is a pixelated, grungy 2D action game announced at last year’s Guerilla Collective Showcase, based around fast motion, exploration, and action, a bit like a mashup of Wario Land, Sonic the Hedgehog, and the aesthetics of Nineties American cartoons. Launches as a timed exclusive.
Valley Peaks is a first person exploration and climbing game set around a series of mountains. Releases “this year.”
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, a game announced in 2022 from the creators of Year Walk, Device 6, and Sayonara Wild Hearts, is a puzzle adventure game with a harsh, horror and noir aesthetic. After a delay from its original 2023 release date, it’s releasing May 16.
First announced in 2022, Europa is a 3D platformer and exploration game about exploring a lost and ancient world. Coming in 2024, with a demo available later today on the eShop.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate is a newly announced online roguelike brawler with both permanent upgrades and temporary power-ups you get for completed runs. Releases as a timed console exclusive in July.
Cat Quest III was shown off after its initial 2023 announcement. Releases August 8, with a demo coming to the eShop later today.
Stitch [written as “stitch,” with the full lowercase], is a stitching puzzle game in which you have to create hoops. The game offers time-sensitive puzzles and weekly events. Releases today!
Sizzle reel: Bzzzt, SCHiM, Animal Well, Duck Detective: The Secret Salami, Another Crab’s Treasure.
SteamWorld Heist II announced. It features nautical exploration, real time naval combat, and turn-based, squad-based RPG shooting. A new job system allows a level of character customization. Releases August 8.
Additionally, the Japanese stream highlighted nine additional games: Shanghai Summer (which came out February 8 but got a demo today), Bread & Fred, MACHI KORO With Everyone, The Exit 8 (out today!), Undying, Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure, Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus, Sagres (out today!), and A Dance of Fire and Ice.

Wolfman’s Soapbox: Let’s just get this out of the way: it’s good for all these games, and probably this event as a whole, that Hollow Knight: Silksong wasn’t here. Yes, I’m just as excited as you (I have a Knight figurine in my house, hidden next to a plant like they’re in Greenpath), and yes, those international ratings listings feel like smoke if not fire. BUT, that would have taken pretty much all our attention away from games that could use it.

Now, to the pertinent issue, which are the games on offer. A game with art as abrasive as ANTONBLAST is definitely not for me; the same will probably be true for Refined Self, even though I really love the pitch where the game gives you a character class as the result of all the stuff you do, not the thing that directs what you can do. That’s basically an RPG-ified version of those terrible psychological profiles people used to put in their online profiles. WayForward kinda drives me up the wall sometimes because I always feel like they’re games are good but just far enough from incredible that it’s a bit frustrating, so I’ll wait on seeing this next phase in Atari’s weird and very public rebranding efforts. I’m frontloading the negative because all of those are still very interesting in either their art or their mechanics or their context. More broadly, I don’t think there was really anything that came across as boring or uninteresting. The closest would probably be the TMNT game, but that’s not even because of it, just me not being a Ninja Turtles fan (or Steamworld, but only because I know someone who likes that series and is so off-putting that I side eye the entire franchise by proxy).

Image: Nintendo. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes.

The best looking one, at least for me, was Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, which is good enough that it’s making me remember I also need to play Sayonara Wild Hearts. I also quite liked stitch (which seems like a perfect companion to my Picross fixations) and Little Kitty, Big City and Europa. And is Cat’s Quest good, everyone? ‘Cause that trailer for the third one looked pretty neat. Generally speaking, though, I think everything offered a level of polish, quality, and mechanical interest that was strong. I don’t know how it compares to other Indie Worlds, but it probably stacks up well against the big, normal Directs. No real shockers, but no stinkers, either.

Oh dear god, I just realized how many older games these new ones made me think about, like Cat’s Quest or Sayonara or even Stray, the most immediate comparison point for Little Kitty, Big City. Is this Direct going to worsen the gigantic backlog of games I’ve amassed? Maybe that’s not good…