Dinoblade
Developer: Team Spino
Publishers: Team Spino, Boltray Games
Platform: Steam (Windows; playable on Steam Deck)
Price: Usually $20, with a 10 percent discount until July 30
A pair of comments on a Reddit thread for this trailer sums up just why video games are the best. “This looks stupid as all f***,” one user said. In a reply, another wrote “Dude I know right, it’s awesome.” Love that.
Dinoblade began life as a meme. It has its roots in a short animation that Jean Nguyen, a senior animator for Sucker Punch, created of a Spinosaurus delivering a devastating combo with a sword that’s not unlike the one Cloud uses in Final Fantasy VII. Nguyen shared the clip on Twitter/X in 2022. It blew up, and Nguyen decided to make a full game.
Spinosaurus full combo attack animation pic.twitter.com/i1KmyAmtIZ
— Jean Nguyen (@JeanAnimate) August 11, 2022
Dinoblade is an action RPG that casts you in the role of said Spinosaurus with a sword in its gob. It sets out to prevent the extinction of its species (I wonder how that’ll ultimately pan out?). Enemy dinosaurs wield weapons, and you can summon the souls of vanquished bosses to help you out in combat.
The general consensus seems to be that Dinoblade is both janky and fun, and that it has slick combat. At a time when the market is flooded with Soulslikes, it’s refreshing to see one with such a bizarre concept, especially given that it seems to sort of work. My only complaint, without actually having played the game yet, is that I cannot really fathom why it isn’t called Dinosword.
Offbeat (early access)
Developer: Whetstone Games
Publisher: Pantaloon
Platform: Steam (Windows)
Price: Usually $12, with a 10 percent discount until August 1
While playing Offbeat, I quickly realized I’d forgotten how to actually make music outside of fiddling around with a guitar. I took keyboard lessons as a kid but didn’t stick with it. I don’t remember scales or anything like that. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a technically great composer to enjoy this music creation game, as long as you meet your clients’ briefs. (That said, one of the goals the game sets you is to “get good at writing music.”)
After you receive a four-track sequencer from your uncle, you start making music using a toy keyboard that can make cat sounds. As you make jingles and songs for clients, you’ll receive cash that you can use to buy more funky instruments, such as a singing gnome, and upgrade them.
I feel like I’m learning a little about music production and programming while playing Offbeat, even if the most accomplished thing I’ve done so far is peck out a version of the intro to “Welcome to the Black Parade.” My favorite aspect of Offbeat is that you’re making actual music. Your creations are saved as WAV files and you can do whatever you like with them (as long as they’re original tunes, I wager).
Offbeat is expected to be in early access for between six and eight months. The current version has two chapters and seven items with which you can make music. The three-person team at Whetstone Games plans to add more tasks, instruments and other features each month during the early access period.
Fading Echo
Developer: Emeteria
Publisher: New Tales
Platforms: Steam (Windows), Epic Games Store. Coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S later this year
Price: Usually $20, with a 10 percent discount until August 2
At first glance, Fading Echo reminds me a bit of last year’s Eternal Strands, since both lean heavily on elemental abilities. You play as a young hero named One, who is on a mission to stop something called the Paradox corruption from destroying a desert planet.
One can manipulate water and transition between liquid, gas and solid states. She can use this power to navigate environments and set off chain reactions that can involve lava, toxic waste and the corruption itself.
I’m into the art style of Fading Echo. The game is fully voiced in English and there’s support for subtitles in nine languages. The cast is pretty strong here. Samantha Béart (who played Karlach in Baldur’s Gate 3) voices One. Well-known performers such as Laura Bailey and Matt Mercer have roles too.
Scarlet Deer Inn
Developer: Attu Games
Publishers: Attu Games, Aurakenn Games
Platform: Steam (Windows). Coming to consoles “as soon as possible.”
Price: Usually $20, with a 10 percent discount until July 28
Speaking of games with pretty art, Scarlet Deer Inn absolutely fits into that category. Attu Games (a husband-and-wife team) used physical embroidery and hand-painted backgrounds to create the visuals of this adventure platformer. It describes the game as a “dark medieval folk tale” set in a village with hidden secrets. As with many great stories, Scarlet Deer Inn sends a normal person on an extraordinary adventure.
It seems to be a fairly short game, which I always appreciate. While looking for a trailer, I saw playthrough videos pop up with runtimes of between 1.5 and 2.5 hours. Also, Attu says that while Valve has not yet officially verified Scarlet Deer Inn for its handheld system, the game “works great on Steam Deck.”
Lifted
Developer/publisher: Adventure Works
Platform: Steam (Windows, Mac, SteamOS/Linux). Coming to PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2 later
Price: Usually $20, with a 10 percent discount until July 29
I’m a sucker for a sprawling adventure, and what could possibly be a grander adventure than one that takes you through time and space. Those are, like, all of the dimensions!
It’s not exactly hard to imagine what might have inspired Lifted, in which you play as a reluctant adventurer whose companion is an older man with white hair and a time machine. Said professor is on a mission to woo a history teacher, and he recruits the younger Ari to do much of the running, platforming and puzzle solving.
Again, Lifted seems to be a fairly short game. It clocks in at three hours or so, according to reviewers. I’m not complaining about that. This might be as close as we get to another Back to the Future project anytime soon and I look forward to playing it.
Tears of Metal (early access)
Developer/publisher: Paper Cult
Platforms: Steam (Windows; playable on Steam Deck), Xbox on PC. Coming to Xbox Series X/S later this year
Price: Usually $25, with a 10 percent discount on Steam until August 5. Also on PC Game Pass and Game Pass Ultimate
Tears of Metal looks like a delicious soup of chaos. This is a hack-and-slash roguelite from the team behind the enjoyable Bloodroots. Even better, it’s set in a medieval version of my homeland, Scotland.
You can choose to take on hordes of enemies yourself or team up with friends for online co-op carnage. Between runs, you can buy permanent upgrades. These can help with tougher challenges, and conquering those will unlock more heroes, combos and powers.
Tears of Metal is slated to be in early access for up to a year. More heroes and upgrades are in the pipeline along with support for additional languages, extra voice acting and quality-of-life tweaks. As long as I can slice through countless baddies, though, I’m happy.
Life’s Too Short
Developer/publisher: Pixel Ghost
Platform: Steam (Windows, Mac, SteamOS/Linux), Itch. Already available for Playdate and Game Boy
Price: Usually $6, with a 10 percent discount until July 29
In the previous edition of this roundup, I included a game that started as a Game Boy title before landing on PC. Life’s Too Short took an even more interesting path to get to that point. It was first a Playdate game before making its way to Nintendo’s classic handheld and now Steam and Itch. As such, Pixel Ghost has remade the game twice.
“Life’s Too Short was my first ever game launch and has since become a great template for learning and exploring new platforms,” Ollie Coe, director at Pixel Ghost, said in a statement.”We’re all super excited to launch the first Pixel Ghost game on Steam and have already started work to bring the 3 sequels to the platform in full colour.”
Oh, and about the game: This is a short adventure title in which you play as a ghost that attempts to settle a feud between two vampires. Cute!
