Never one to miss an opportunity to play video games, I darted around the show floor during my time at Gamescom LATAM, devouring as many indie games as I possibly could in the three-day event.
And a lot of what I played was pretty raw – publishers without local Brazilian developers pushing their games forward through pure passion and creativity. That's the beauty of not just video games, but art. If your creation connects with even a single person, you've accomplished something very special, even if it's in the middle of a crowded conference space.
There was a wide variety of genres represented throughout the show, many of which leaned towards portraying authentic Brazilian culture and history. There is clearly a lot of cultural pride among developers in the country, and their enthusiasm has been rewarded in recent times with significant investment from local and national governments.
But only local developers were present. There were many indie developers who traveled from Japan, eager to find publishers for their upcoming games. Despite the sheer size of the gaming industry in Japan, few developers risk striking out on their own, preferring to join one of the country's many behemoth developers and publishers.
After trying many games though, these were the best I've ever played. Keep in mind that I deliberately avoided some of the bigger offerings, like LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, as I tried them out at the flagship Gamescom event in Germany last year.
Honorable mention also goes to an unannounced project by Kafenats (Spacelines from Far Out), which was one of the best games I played at the event, but has yet to be officially unveiled by the developer.
of the lake
Talaka is a sort of Dead Cell-esque Roguelite Metroidvania, with fast combat, multiple weapons and stat-based progression. Movement was silky smooth, with a double jump, mid-air dash, dodge and everything in between.
Its story leverages Afro-Brazilian myths and legends – in the vein of Hades, you often speak with these characters as you progress through the levels. Meanwhile the entire game is hand-painted in a watercolor style, giving the environment a fluid feel that matches the pace of the gameplay.
Developer Potato Kid has put a lot of emphasis on accessibility, a rare move in a genre that often prides itself on being difficult. Talaka will have multiple difficulty levels, and it also suggests the level the player should play from the data collected by the game in the first few levels. Talaka is a local take on an established genre and has all the ingredients to succeed.
Rain 98
Rain98 is a visual novel by Shibuya-based indie developer C#4R4CT3R. The story centers around a young man who is sent back in time to 1998, where he meets an apocalyptic angel determined to bring about the end of the world (naturally, she's disguised as a young Japanese woman).
It's 1998, so you can expect CRT televisions, Tamagotchi digital pets and lots of anger. Rain98 has a mood aesthetic, with everything bathed in rain, darkness, and neon light. As tends to be the case in these isekai-style visual novels, the player character is compliant enough despite everything going on around them and is only too happy to help bring about the coming apocalypse.
I'm a big fan of the aesthetic, though Rain98's true identity as a romantic story is thinly veiled. This is evident from the interactions between the 'tsundere' angel and the player character, her framing in some panels and the fetish-bite mini-game where I was forced to put her long socks back on her feet. Still, I appreciate artistry and beauty, and there are certainly people who will be into other stuff as well.
Certainly not me. I hate anime girl legs. Scandalous things!
Moonlight Motel
Moonlight Motel from Black Lantern Collective (no Steam page yet) is an interesting experiment about combining the mundane with horror. Your character is a night porter at a small town motel, responsible for checking in guests, updating records, making coffee and doing laundry. However, there is a conspiracy afoot… and a serial killer is on the loose.
With a constant stream of guests checking in, you need to balance the nitty-gritty of managing the motel with the rather simple task of solving mysteries and not murdering. The 20 minute snippet I played was very tense. Sometimes, I wanted to take off my headphones so that my eventual death would be less terrifying.
There's an element of Meet the Roottrees to Moonlight Motel, where you spend time on the computer researching recent murders and conspiracy theories to try to catch a serial killer. This adds another layer of stress, as you're constantly worried about what's happening off-camera while you're staring at the computer screen. While some properties and writing still need work, Moonlight Motel has a lot of potential.
Evil rule
Rogue Reigns from Venn Studios is a dark fantasy, party-based deckbuilder roguelike. It's probably one of the rawest games I've ever played at a show, but I can see potential as the game gets more assets and animations.
You play as an anthropomorphized party of characters that correspond to common tabletop classes, such as warrior, rogue, paladin and so on. You equip these characters with a deck of cards and then use them in turn-based combat á la Slay the Spire.
Rogue Reigns' dark fantasy aesthetic is its most striking feature, with moody lighting and muted backgrounds making every encounter feel like a gloomy, wet and messy battle to the death.
Ven Studios has a long way to go with Rogue Reigns, but if all goes well, we'll have another deckbuilding roguelike to enjoy for years to come.
- location
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Sao Paulo Expo, Brazil
- Dates
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June 26-30, 2024
