We attended BitSummit Drift this past July, the latest edition of Kyoto’s biggest gaming event. At this event we got to play many upcoming indie titles from across the world, but mostly from Japan. NantenJex will be sharing his thoughts on the games he played from his hands-on experience and providing important information on each of the titles. Trailers and links to each of the games Steam pages (or closest equivalent) will be included (although many are coming to multiple platforms so if you want to get the title on a platform other than Steam then please check your system’s digital store).
In this first preview block, NantenJex will be looking at games in the Adventure and Party genre. We have action-RPGs, puzzle games, Zelda-likes and more to check out so keep reading to hear his thoughts.
Tako no Himitsu: Ocean of Secrets
- Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam
- Release Date: October 2026 (estimate)
- Steam link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2357380/Tako_no_Himitsu_Ocean_of_Secrets/
Wild animals are disappearing, the mysterious Temple of the Order is on the rise, and shadow voids are suddenly populating the land. Gather six heroes and their Octopus companions and work together to save a world consumed by the secrets of its past.
Tako no Himitsu: Ocean of Secrets is the latest game by Deneos, developer of Save Me Mr, Tako! and comes off as a love letter to RPGs and Action games of the Game Boy Advance era. Saying that, I would say the two titles it felt most similar to were Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma, a pair of 16-bit action-rpgs by Quintet and Enix for the Super Nintendo.
The game has you take control of a party of three characters that can be formed out of a total of six (at this moment in time. Based on the success of the recent kickstarter, it looks like the number will now be eight) and each party member falls into one of three classes: Creator, Warrior and Protector. This trinity system, as the game calls it, is the defining feature of the game’s combat (at least from what I played in the demo) as each class can only affect certain enemies so making sure you have one of each type is essential.
In the demo, I had the choice of playing as Clyve or Mylene and I went for the latter. Mylene is a singer and in the creator class, and she also comes alongside the warrior Buuto. In their story the two are forcing their way into a suspicious temple and fighting their way down to the bottom, solving puzzles and taking part in some simple platforming to progress. The game was very smooth and it was a lot of fun to just make my way down the dungeon.
From my understanding, the game will have lots of these sections where the party is split up and players are limited in who they can use. Think of the section of story from Final Fantasy 6 where the party is split into three and you have to pick whose perspective to follow. That’s how the demo starts and I’ve been told this will happen throughout the story. But you don’t need to take my word for it, there is a demo on steam right now which you can play through so if this kind of gameplay looks fun to you then I highly recommend trying it for yourself.
Cassette Boy
- Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Playstation 5, Steam
- Release Date: 2024
- Steam link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2334330/CASSETTE_BOY/
All you see is all there is—Cassette Boy: a Puzzle RPG where what exists depends on you. We’re still in development and plan to add tons of new mechanics, monsters, and puzzles. Stay tuned!.
Cassette Boy is a monochrome Zelda-like with a unique twist to its isometric style: the player can move the camera and change the viewpoint in eight directions. Doing this isn’t just for aesthetics though – it’s a core gameplay mechanic as anything not seen on-screen just no longer exists. Not in the metaphorical sense of ‘If I can’t see it then it can’t affect me’ but in a very literal sense. It’s gone.
To give you an example from one of the game’s earliest puzzles: there is a guy who is blocking the only exit to a room and you have no way of getting past him. But if you turn the camera around until that guy is hidden by the corridor wall then he ceases to be and thus there is no longer anyone blocking the exit. The player can just walk on through. Of course, if you move the camera back to how it was then he will come into existence again. The obstacle isn’t permanently gone, it just won’t affect the player if it can no longer be seen. The way the game uses this core concept is fascinating, like pressing down on switches to open doors, only to then hide the switch behind a tree so that when you step off it won’t deactivate because it doesn’t exist anymore.
The game also uses the shift in perspective for other types of puzzles. Some are simple like hiding objects behind walls that you would only see if you move the camera, but other puzzles require the player to continuously spin the camera in one direction in order to cause a chest to manifest or make a block rise from the ground. And it looks like there will be a lot more creative uses of this ability the further into the game you go.
All of this is supported by Zelda-style combat. A sword to attack slimes and a bow and arrow to shoot enemies from a distance. There are bosses, side-quests and Dark Souls-esque campfires for checkpoints. It was great fun and I always enjoy seeing unique takes on the classic Zelda formula, like we got with Tunic and Anodyne. Cassette Boy has the potential to be the next one of these. Just like the previous game, you don’t have to just take my word for it. There is a demo on Steam right now that you can play and form your own opinion. It’s not too long so if you are interested I would recommend it.
Ogu and the Secret Forest
- Platforms: Steam
- Release Date: July 29th 2024
- Steam link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1985960/Ogu_and_the_Secret_Forest/
Explore the wonderful world with baby Ogu! ‘Ogu and the Secret Forest’ is a 2D adventure game with hand-drawn characters and various types of puzzles. Befriend bouncy characters and defeat strange creatures to unravel the mystery of the charming world.
When I played it back at BitSummit, Ogu and the Secret Forest had yet to be released but now it has (whoops, sorry for taking so long) so some of you may have played it by now. But if you haven’t yet or this is your first time hearing of the game then read on as I have a lot of positives to say about this absolutely charming Zelda x Animal Crossing hybrid.
Ogu has a lot of gameplay components to it. Some sections are more puzzle focused while others rely on combat – both bombastic and simple – and then there are the cosy sim elements of the game. I got to experience a bit of everything with my brief time playing the game and I’m happy to report they were all a lot of fun.
Starting with the puzzles, the demo had a combination of block pushing puzzles and light puzzles for me to solve. While nothing unique, anyone who has played classic Zelda titles after Link’s Awakening will be familiar with the types of puzzles found here, I won’t say they were easy. The puzzles felt familiar but the solution wasn’t immediately obvious. It still took a bit of thought and I’m sure they get more challenging as the game goes on.
Next we have combat and there are two types of battles here. One is the typical Zelda-style of combat where you use your items and weapons to defeat enemies and bosses – the latter of which often require some kind of puzzle or having a weak point you need to focus on. The boss I fought, for example, required me to destroy the minion whose coloured matched the boss’s attack at the moment, which made the boss vulnerable. The other type of combat comes in the form of these big mecha fights where Ogu gets into a giant robot battle. This form of combat was more difficult as it was very timing based, requiring me to know when to dodge/block an attack and when the right time to launch a counterattack was. I actually lost this fight which was a shock.
Lastly, we have the social sim elements of the game. Here, the player cna just relax and build out the town that acts as the games main hub. You can fish and catch bugs and cook meals that provide different effects during the adventure portions, and all of these get recorded in a collectopedia, in a very Animal Crossing-style way. Ogu can also buy and wear different types of hats and these also provide gameplay benefits throughout the adventure, like providing more health or lighting dark caves.
I had a lot of fun with Ogu and its artstyle is super adorable. The game is available now on STEAM so give it a look if you are interested.
As a bonus, at the request of one of our patreons I chatted with the developers and asked them about their main inspirations for the game. Unsurprisingly, they listed classic top-down The Legend of Zelda and Pokemon games as the main inspirations for the gameplay as these were the games the developers grew-up with. For the artstyle though, the developers really liked the 2D art used in Hollow Knight and so wanted to make a game with similar quality graphics and animation.
Rhythm Rabbit
- Platforms: Steam
- Release Date: TBA
- Steam link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2346450/Rhythm_Rabbit/
A fast-paced rhythm action game where you automatically move on the beat of the music, but the amount of steps changes on each move. React fast in order to progress or end up dying repeatedly
Rhythm Rabbit is a puzzle rhythm game that requires a lot of quick thinking and a reliance on RNG to succeed. Originally made for the Game Makers Tool Kit game jam in 2022, the game has since expanded into a full fledged title with new graphics and music, several different worlds to play through, new obstacles and more refinement.
The game’s core concept is simple: around the rabbit will appear a number of notes and this indicates how far the rabbit will move with its next hop. Using this, the player has to navigate the level and reach the carrot at the stage’s end but various obstacles like moles, mushrooms and bats will appear that mess with the player. Moles create new holes to avoid, bats cause the rabbit to hop in reverse and mushrooms cause screen effects that distract the player. These add some real challenge to the game that prevents it from becoming too samey.
And I do mean challenge. Rhythm Rabbit is really quite difficult when you get past the initial levels. I got really stuck at one point after being bombarded with several obstacles all at once – the randomness also being one of those obstacles. I ended up giving up, but it didn’t feel impossible and in a different environment than the showfloor I may have kept going.
A demo for the game can be downloaded on Steam so if you are interested then give it a try.
All You Need is Help
- Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Steam, Xbox Game Pass
- Release Date: Fall 2024
- Steam link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2249590/All_You_Need_is_Help/
Dive into a quirky multiplayer co-op puzzle game where adorable, fluffy cube-shaped creatures jostle against each other to help solve puzzles together.
The latest game from developer Q-Games (Star Fox Command, PixelJunk Monsters) comes All You Need is Help, a fun multiplayer game where you and three others have to work together to get your adorably designed cube-critters to fill all the holes in a stage. It’s a game that has been designed with couch co-op in mind, although it does have online as well (with cross-platform play). Because of this however, there is no single-player mode. No solo puzzle mode. Just a party mode where players get given a random selection of puzzles from over 100 – most of which are co-operative but some are competitive focused.
This decision to focus only on multiplayer will no doubt turn some players away, but I will say that the game is fun. It is a great little party game that’s simple to pick up and play if you have friends or family over, especially young children. I reckon it will make a great Christmas game.
I have heaps of praise for the visuals on display here. The game has gone for a Woolly World aesthetic where everything looks sewn and hand made. It makes me wish these soft creatures existed in real-life so I could pet them. At the very least, I can customise them with unlockables you get from playing the game.
All You Need is Help is a simple party game but it is a fun one so it’s worth keeping an eye on if you want a game to play at family gatherings or with friends casually.
BUTTO BIRD
- Platforms: Nintendo Switch
- Release Date: June 18th 2024 (Japan) / Unannounced World Wide (yet)
- eShop link: https://store-jp.nintendo.com/item/software/D70010000077269
Cute birds are equipped with powerful weapons, flying freely and knocking their rivals out of the sky! The contrast between cute and destructive, and intensity of the battles are irresistible. With simple controls, you can enjoy heated aerial battles together at home or online in this four-player simultaneous action game!
BUTTO BIRD is currently Japan only but the concept is simple enough and the game enjoyable enough that I think it will be released worldwide eventually. I loved the look of it when it was revealed in the June 2024 Nintendo Direct (check out our live reaction on YouTube) and I was right to be: the game is so much fun.
BUTTO BIRD is an aerial combat game where players pick a bird, each with unique stats, and a big gun, with unique abilities, and then just fly around a level shooting at each other and racking up points. It’s not just a matter of shooting opponents down though. When players lose their health they get stunned and are only defeated when an opposing bird rams into them. It doesn’t even need to be the same bird who did most of the shooting damage, meaning kill stealing is a very valid strategy here.
Alongside the different stage options are items that can change the flow of battle. One item will make a Bird massive but able to immediately kill anyone they touch, while another will add a target to a player and whoever kills that player gets bonus points. It can really change things up from a free-for-all to a targeted affair, and this variation keeps games exciting throughout.
I had a ton of fun with BUTTO BIRD and I hope to see a localisation announced soon.
Mina the Hollower
- Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Steam
- Release Date: TBA
- Steam link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1875580/Mina_the_Hollower/
Take control of Mina, a renowned Hollower hurtled into a desperate mission to rescue a cursed island. Whip foes, burrow through the ground, and explore a pixel-perfect world in Mina the Hollower, a brand new game from the developers who brought you Shovel Knight!
Mina the Hollower is probably the most well-known game on this list due to the pedigree of its developer: Yacht Club Games. Shovel Knight was a big hit and I think Mina the Hollower is living up to the expectation fans have based on my 15 minutes of play.
The game is a love letter to the Game Boy Colour Legend of Zelda titles, especially the Oracle duology, but it also has elements of other titles like Castlevania and Bloodbourne mixed in. The visual aesthetic has great gothic charm behind it but in a way that is kind of cute – fitting for the adventures of a little mouse huntress.
Those familiar with Shovel Knight will already have an idea about how some of the upgrades and equipment work but the core weapon can be changed by visiting a hollower nest and this feels more in-line with classic Castlevania. The whip, an obvious callback, is the default but you can also utilise dual blades or a massive hammer and each of these changes the speed, range and strength of Mina’s attacks. Mina can then carry a sub-weapon, like an axe that allows her to attack enemies in the air (as unlike those 2D Zelda games there is in fact a y-axis that needs to be considered), and you can only carry one type of sub-weapon at a time.
The final ability of Mina is her abilities as a Hollower. This grants Mina the power to dig and move through the ground. This can be used to avoid enemy attacks and find secret areas by going under fences or walls. It’s a core part of Mina’s movement capabilities and so I’m pleased to report that using it is seamless. I can imagine a lot of speedruns in this game will rely on making the most of her hollowing abilities.
We don’t have a release date yet but Mina the Hollower is worth the wait in my opinion. I had a ton of fun playing this game, and I look forward to the final release.
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I’m only interested in Mina the Hollower, but the others looks nice. I enjoyed Save Me Mr, Tako! so I will maybe keep an eye out for Tako no Himitsu: Ocean of Secrets.