Author: Rich Meister
It feels like we’ve been in a pandemic forever, so when PAX East finally returned this year, I was eager to Vax up, mask up, and hit the show floor. After the time off, the show was understandably smaller than previous years, but with no gaming giants like Sony, Nintendo, and Blizzard present, this year's PAX was a place for the indie scene to shine.
So, in no particular order, here are my five favorite things I saw at PAX East 2022:
Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising
Okay, so this one is kind of cheating because I backed Eiyuden Chronicle: 100 Heroes, the spiritual successor to the Suikoden series that this game is a prequel to a while back, but Rising looks phenomenal and is a beast all its own.
This action RPG takes place in the same world as 100 Heroes and while it serves as a prequel Zach from 505 Games, who was walking me through the demo, assured me it isn’t story essential but a fun contained story for fans looking for as much of this world as they can get. You control three different characters in my demo. I got to try out CJ, a ruin-delving teenage girl who wields two climbing axes for fast combos, and Karoo, a kangaroo wielding a massive sword. Each character felt wholly unique, which adds a lot to diversifying both movement and combat.
Rising’s HD 2D graphic style is the real spectacle reminiscent of games like Octopath Traveler. The things this game does by playing some hand-drawn art and gorgeous character models with 3D lighting effects are downright breathtaking. Luckily you won’t have to wait long for this one as it's out on May 10th and will be a part of Gamepass.
2. Uragun
Uragun is the first game from developer Kool2Play. This bullet-hell twin-stick shooter has you playing as an autonomous mech searching for its pilot guided by an AI in a world where most machines have turned against humans.
Uragun features a ton of customization for weapons, from railguns to plasma throwers and even cyber swords. Like in any bullet-hell, the key to victory is dashing, dodging, and never taking your finger off the trigger. This one was an awesome surprise for me, and the great news is it's in early access on steam now, aiming for a full launch in about six months.
3. Power Chord
From developer, Big Blue Bubble Power Chord is the best of deckbuilding roguelikes like Slay the Spire and Darkest Dungeon. You build a deck as you play gigs with your band comprised of four members. Singers serve as your healer, guitarists are DPS, bassists attack mostly with AOE status effect-based abilities, and drummers serve as your tank.
Every turn, you’ll spend action points to play cards to either attack enemy combatants and buff or heal your band members. I could sit here and explain the mechanics but trust me when I say it's better to see how intricate and addictive this one is yourself. There’s a steam demo out now, and the team is targeting a release for later this year and plans to add content as the year goes on in the form of new playable band members.
4. Diluvian Winds
From Alambik Studio, this game pitched as “Family-friendly survival” has a super easy elevator pitch. It’s basically Spirit Farer. You’re controlling a lighthouse and a safe haven for humanoid animals traveling this world. You need to survive for as many days as possible while keeping the lighthouse burning.
In order to achieve this goal, you’ll need to put the traveling animals to work. Every animal has different skill sets, from what they can build for you like sawmills or greenhouses to where they can work efficiently. A frog makes for a better fisher than a farmer, for example.
While the devs have no true endgame set currently, surviving day-to-day is deceptively complex and a ton of fun. The gorgeous art and atmospheric soundtrack add a lot to the overall package as well. This one has no set release date yet, but it's looking pretty damn good, and you can wishlist it on steam now.
5. Wrestle Quest
Some of you probably saw some footage floating around of this game from Mega Cat Studios recently, and it had my attention since then, but after going hands-on for about an hour, I can say I cannot wait for Wrestle Quest. This game is a love letter to two things, old JRPGs, notably the Mario RPG series of yore, and late 80s to early 90s Wrestling. The complete package is phenomenal combat that takes a lot of ideas from both wrestling, and the timing-based button prompts of RPGs like Super Mario RPG.
The result is a wholly unique and fun old-school RPG featuring Macho Man Randy Savage. At the same time, no release date is set; you can wishlist this one now.
I enjoyed everything I played this year at PAX, but these five were a few of the ones I was most excited about. Shoutout to Techtonica, a game that would’ve been here if I were doing six games. I couldn’t leave without at least a name drop.