EGX Rezzed 17 Roundup

3DSBlessed once again had the privilege of attending Eurogamer’s (EGX) indie based brother Rezzed 17 at London’s Tobacco Dock.

There were many developers there from well known giants e.g Team 17 and SEGA, to Indies such as Zoink Games and Image & Form. Nintendo made a welcome return after their absence last year from both Rezzed and EGX16, with 8 indie titles for their latest console, the Nintendo Switch.

 

Steamworld Dig 2 – Image & Form:

Image & Form’s follow up to the well known Steamworld Dig, features Dorothy who was the shopkeep NPC in the original looking for Rusty who went MIA in Dig 1. The demo puts you right in the action with having to use Dorothy to dig as well as collect gems  There are obstacles such as boulders in the dirt and arrows that come from walls if you walk on the triggers.

There was a small boss at the end which is a robot that fires laser-like missiles at us. His projectiles destroy the dirt cubes around us, so you need to dodge them quickly. In order to defeat him we wait for his electric force field barrier to turn off to recharge and then jump on top and dig away at his robot brain with our trusty pick axe.

The demo was short, but had enough to give an idea of what to expect in Dig 2. Also the demo makes a great speedrun with people beating the level in under 3 minutes. Steamworld Dig 2 looks to be starting the action portion alot earlier than it’s predecessor did, yet we are sure that the gem collecting mechanics will be as useful in the sequel.

Steamworld Dig 2 is expected to released at the end of 2017.

Fast RMX – Shin’en:

This game is probably the closest thing (barring Mario Kart 8’s 200cc mode) that fans of the F-Zero series are going to get to it. Shin’en had Fast Racing NEO on the Wii U and Fast RMX is the Switch’s answer to that both of which are futuristic. The full game has 30 different tracks to choose from as well as 15 machines.

There are speed boosts in the form of dots that are found on the track, as well as strips that cover a certain portion of the track, and are either orange or blue and if you match your engine’s colour accordingly (by pressing X), you’ll get a speed boost, otherwise your vehicle will slow down.

I played on the Joy Con which worked OK, but it would be much better suited with the Pro Controller.

Fast RMX is out now on the Switch eShop.

Overcooked – Ghost Town Games:

This multiplayer-only cooking simulator which was released on PC last year, will be making it’s entry into the Nintendo Switch with all the previous DLC included and make use of the HD rumble feature of the Joy-Cons making it a whole new experience.

This was probably the most popular out of all the Switch games at Rezzed and for good reason in that the characters and the levels are amusing. For example you and up to three other players are scrambling around a kitchen having to do several tasks from chopping onions, putting the food onto a conyerer belt and cleaning the dirty dishes to reuse. This can either end up organised or a giant mess with all the characters scrambling around aimlessly.

The release date is stated for this year.

DeMambo – The Dangerous Kitchen:

This 8 bit fighting game has a Super Smash Bros vibe to it, though the fighters are balls with different colours and destructive backgrounds. Unlike most fighting games, DeMambo only uses one button to have three attack moves (by holding then releasing) which are tapping (Poke!), medium release (Spin!) or long release (Fire!). I found myself losing alot due to the fast pace for fighting all the opponents and getting used to the mechanics which feel more like pinball with some fighting especially falling from the breakable edges which is easy to do which getting knocked up by the other players.

If you have lost all your lives you go to the Loser Rail that is on the edge of the screen. If one of the active players goes near you, you can “eat” them and get a second chance in returning to battle.

DeMambo is planning to launch this Summer/Autumn.

Pocket Rumble – Chucklefish Games:

This 2D fighting game takes things back to the retro in both design and mechanics. This game gets people who feel intimidating by fighting games (Street Fighter, Tekken, KOF etc…) to play this light-hearted alternative.

As you can tell the graphics are influenced by handheld fighting games especially from the niche Neo Geo Pocket Color (King of Fighters). Most fighting games have huge or complex combos, but Pocket Rumble has only 2 buttons (standard and strong attack) and the analog stick for play although each character has a super ability. This layout really works and has the benefit of using both Joycons are separate controllers to play with so it is easy to have friends over to play with.

Pocket Rumble will be a Switch exclusive (console wise at least, also getting a PC release) and is expected this calendar year.

Flipping Death – Zoink Games:

Zoink Games latest title features the protagonist Penny who has recently died and lives in the ghost filled Otherside and has the ability to enter the bodies of the townspeople in Flatwood Peaks.

The main mechanism of Flipping Death is flipping between the two worlds, but Penny needs to possess the souls of the living townspeople . By collecting the souls which is seen as currency, she can possess any of the wild living characters.Then Penny can control that character to do various tasks such as one character using their long tongue to lick things lets say some paint into order to paint a boat for both in Flatwood Peaks and Otherside.

The graphics look great and both worlds interact with each other for example in the Otherside you are able to see the silhouettes of the townspeople in Flatwood Peaks.There is plenty of humour in that when Penny goes into a living person’s soul they can mind their thoughts or “Brain Dialogue” as the game calls it.

We will expect to see this released at the end of 2017.

GoNNER – Art in Heart:

GoNNER is a tough as hell procedurally-generated 2D platformer with roguelike elements, following the largely misunderstood and altruistic Ikk on a journey to cheer up his only friend in this world—a giant landbound whale named Sally—by searching for just the right trinket in the deep and dark places nearby.

For each playthrough, you’re given a random weapon, and must make your way through as many randomly-generated kill rooms as possible to kill the numerous enemies that appear on screen and if you run out of ammo you can jump on them. I found this hard as I was dying within the first few rooms, but this game has that accomplishment vibe in just completing a level so it’s great for fans of hardcore platformers similar to VVVVVV and Mutant Mudds: Super Challenge.

This is expected for a Switch release this year and is already out for Steam.

Snipperclips – SFB Games/Nintendo:

One of the Switch’s launch titles was here with Snipperclips making a appearance. The demo started out easier enough with just having to make a heart by combined the two characters, but gets harder with you having to cut out the other character to make shapes, but you have the ability to reset your character’s original shape so you can try as many times as possible.

This has both single and multiplayer and is available on eShop for £16.99 as well as a demo.

Other Highlights:

There were the developer sessions and many indie games from VR games to music rhythm music games for mobiles/tablets.

Wargroove by Chucklefish  was on the Xbox One Booth (also getting a Switch release) which is advance Advance Wars meets medieval warfare with players having to capture bases as well as killing opponents to claim victory. It is easy to pickup yet can be really challenging if you make one wrong move. The developers have stated that there will be local and online multiplayer making it a must have for SRPG fans and competitive players alike.

Blockships by Dr Davient as stated themselves is the illegitimate child of Space Invaders and Tetris, involved getting all the loose parts to build the biggest ships to destroy your opponents and steal their parts as well. There are several parts from guns to engines to power cells and configuring them on how you want to win gives the players loads of options and replay value.

This game was definitely one of the most popular titles at Rezzed, even so that a tournament had to be cancelled by EGX because of crowd control presumably.

Blockshops is on Early Access at Steam for those interested.

EGX17 will be at NEC Birmingham for the third time from 21st September 2017 to 24th September 2017

Visit EGX’s official website https://www.egx.net/egx