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 third preview block, NantenJex turns his attention to all the action packed titles he played at BitSummit. From retro throwbacks to big AAA-looking indie titles, from cartoonish combat to fast-paced flashiness, there were a plethora of action-orientated games on the show floor that were sure to impress him.
.45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND
- Platforms: Steam
- Release Date: TBA
- Steam link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3014650/45_PARABELLUM_BLOODHOUND__Cyberpunk_Active_Time_Action/
.45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND is an ACTIVE TIME ACTION game about a washed out radical looking for paradise.
I played a lot of good games at this show but .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND was by far my favourite of the bunch (and I’m not just saying that because I was one of the few players at the event to beat the demo). The game is described as an Active Time Action game, a phrase that’s attempting to describe the unique combat system in play for this game.
The game is played in real time up until the player’s stamina is full and they are ready to stop dodging and fight back. At the press of a button, a menu appears and the player is given time to sit back and decide their next move, whether that’s attacking with the player’s equipped gun, performing a special psychic attack with effects like big damage or healing or using an item to buff up stats like strength and speed.
Battles don’t happen in the overworld but instead at set locations. Stepping into the trigger zone will warp the player to a specific arena for the fight. This includes big boss fights which, in the demo, were a mix of confusing and satisfying. What I mean by that is for the first boss, a giant metal robot, I didn’t really know what I was doing. I killed it eventually but that was only after continuously hitting it and praying my attacks did something. The boss at the end of the demo, the actual final boss of level 1, was far more interesting with a variety of different attacks and moments of obvious weakness that required the player to have good timing with their attacks.
Outside of combat, the vibe of .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND is immaculate. Aesthetically it is calling upon the PS1-era with low-poly models and fixed camera angles and this is a style that works really well for the grimey and dark setting of the game. This combined with fantastic music and really awesome character designs, as one would expect from Sukeban Games at this point, created a world perfect to just explore and vibe in. I expect to see videos of players just standing in this world appear on ‘relaxing/lo-fi music’ playlists in the future.
I really enjoyed my time with .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND and I can’t wait to hear more about the game. This is definitely one to keep an eye on.
Detained: Too Good for School
- Platforms: Xbox Series S/X, Nintendo Switch, Playstation 5, Steam
- Release Date: 2024
- Steam link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1394650/Detained_Too_Good_for_School/
A 2D action RPG delinquent schoolgirl simulator! Take control of a delinquent schoolgirl freshly liberated after half a year behind bars. Attend classes, fight gangsters, work various part-time jobs, and cause all manner of mischief however you choose in this gorgeous 2D action RPG!
This might sound odd, but if I could describe this game in one sentence it would be: “Anime Bully (or Canis Canim Edit for us in PAL).” The game is an open-world beat-em up game with a hand-drawn (and aggressively horny) art style, with character designs reminiscent of the overexaggerated proportions in old Studio Gainax productions.
Gameplay wise, from what I played in the demo, the game is a beat-em up with an in-depth combat system. I would be tempted to describe it as a character action game with how skills unlock and combos are performed, but the game-feel is a lot more like Double Dragon than it does Devil May Cry.
What really impressed me though is just the amount of content in this game. It’s comparable to the Like a Dragon series in this regard. There is a plethora of side games and extra quests to take part from part-time jobs (each of which acts like a unique mini-game) to an entire social / dating sub-system with a handful of dating options across the gender spectrum (and each of these potential partners are also playable in the games two-player mode).
It’s impressive that a smaller team like this could make a game this packed with content so I only hope that the combat doesn’t get too samey. I only got to play it for about 15-20 minutes and I enjoyed myself but I’m not sure if I’d feel the same after several hours. It’s always difficult to tell sometimes at these events, but the game has promise so I reckon it’s worth keeping an eye on.
UNYIELDER
- Platforms: Steam
- Release Date: 2025
- Steam link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/789940/UNYIELDER/
UNYIELDER is an intense Single-Player Boss-rush Movement FPS with an absurd and exploitable Rogue-Looter. Assemble your Arsenal of Destruction, Smash your way through Antarctica, Face your own Final Boss.
Surprisingly, it was the only first-person game I played during BitSummit, but was one of many rogue-lite titles. Unyielder isn’t unique in its genre but that’s fine, because what makes the game stand-out is its customisation and focus on big boss fights – and how both of these combine together.
Unyielder’s different challenges are all boss fights against giant robots who get progressively more complex and difficult the further in you get. But with each defeat you can climb a piece of the robot and then at the end of a run combine those pieces to make your own custom final boss – an amalgamation of every robot you’ve beaten on that run. It’s pretty novel.
As you make your way through, the player collects perks and new guns that make them grow in strength – your typical rogue-lite affair. I will say however, the game could’ve been clearer in what these all did and even how to pick them up. It may have just been an issue with the demo but I always ended up with the same guns in each run and I wasn’t sure if what I picked up was a perk or some currency or something else.
These clarity issues also extended to the fights. They are big, fast and flashy. So much so that it was hard to track at points, leading me to mess around with the stick sensitivity in the options. It was a bit overwhelming. I am fine with fast-paced shooters but this felt like too much too fast. Hopefully this was all just an issue with the demo as I think there is some fun to be had here, especially for players who like the kinetic combat of modern Doom games.
UNDEFEATED: Genesis
- Platforms: Steam
- Release Date: 2026
- Steam link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2088020/UNDEFEATED_Genesis/
The ultimate superhero experience. Fly freely and unleash your awesome powers as you battle violent mutants to save an alien planet.
This was actually the last game I played at the event and the best way I can describe it is ‘Superman Simulator’. It’s a massive open-world where players have the freedom to just fly at high speeds across several environments and fight enemies with laser-eyes, telekinesis, supers strength and more. It was a lot of fun, especially the giant boss fight that takes place in a huge rocky crater.
That said, you can tell the game is very early. It’s technically impressive but there wasn’t much to do in the way of objectives and for a game that’s simulating the feeling of being superman, the player is too much of a glass cannon. Fighting the big boss was really fun but fighting the smaller demons who would spawn around the map was really frustrating. They were sponging up hits while I died in two attacks.
Still, as a tech demo it was really neat and if this game does well I could see a company like Warner Bros. scooping them up to make a full-fledged Super Man game in 2030.
Luminous Nights
- Platforms: Steam
- Release Date: TBA
- Steam link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1949610/Luminous_Nights/
Embark on a HeartsLike action-RPG inspired by 1001 Arabian Nights. Experience thrilling combat, character progression, and unlock abilities and weapons. Explore vibrant environments, master 3D platforming, and meet memorable characters on your journey to defeat the evil Masked King.
HeartsLike is not a term I had heard before I played this game, but that perfectly sums up Luminous Nights. It’s Kingdom Hearts, specifically the style of gameplay found in the first two number titles and not the fast-paced, extreme movement style the series adopted after Birth by Sleep.
Luminous Nights is very early in development so there’s not a lot I can really say in this preview other than it does exactly what it sets out to. The developer took the Agrabah level from the first two Kingdom Hearts games and has essentially recreated it (in tone, not literally in level design) and added in his own characters and enemies. There’s potential here, but it is still very early in its development cycle.
Hotel Barcelona
- Platforms: Xbox Series S/X, Playstation 5, Steam
- Release Date: TBA
- Steam link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2286600/HOTEL_BARCELONA/
Justine is a novice federal marshal who has an insane serial killer named Dr. Carnival living inside of her. Will she be able to exterminate all the evil serial killers and escape from this cursed hotel?! Find out in this 2.5D slasher film parody action game!
The last game in this bundle of previews is the latest game by SWERY and SUDA51. The two auteurs have collaborated for this new action-roguelite game that looks to have everything you know and love from their previous works. The action and character designs are eccentric and over the top and the whole game is bathed in an exaggerated western media aesthetic.
The game’s setting is a parody of classical horror tropes. While there are some obvious parodies being made here – the titular hotel being a loving homage to The Shining and many of the bosses playing it close to horror monsters like Jaws, Chucky and Jason – the goal for Hotel Barcelona is to replicate the various genres of horror within its worlds, such as the american summer camp horror aesthetic from movies like Friday the 13th or the grimey sci-fi vices from movies like Alien.
It isn’t all just vibes at Hotel Barcelona. Its gameplay is also pretty solid and it comes with a pretty unique gimmick. The developers have taken the concept of dying over and over again that is typical in rogue-lite games and made an entire comeback mechanic where the ghost of your previous runs will play through the level with you. These ghosts can still fight enemies and deal damage to bosses so in effect, every time you day the next run becomes a little easier thanks to the presence of your past self (that is assuming you go the same route as before, as each stage offers multiple pathways to its conclusion).
Hotel Barcelona looks to be an extremely fun roguelite that has all the over the top action of Suda51 combined with the immaculate vibes of SWERY and it has a lot of promise. White Owls and Grasshopper are bringing their A-game with this one and I look forward to playing more.
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I have seen UNDEFEATED before. Its for sure a good looking game and the closest known ‘official’ known thing we may have to a “solo Superman game for the first time in decades”, but like you said its pretty underwhelming. Lets hope it doesn’t go vaporware or something and gets to see the light of the day.
Well this comment of mine sure aged well.😅
https://www.gematsu.com/2024/09/undefeated-coming-to-ps5-on-september-12-undefeated-genesis-adds-ps5-version