Splitgate Arena Warfare
Splitgate Arena Warfare’s premise is simple and easily digestible — Halo plus Portal. And it really delivers on that idea with fluid gameplay, simple gun mechanics, and level designs that encourage the use of portals to outsmart your enemies. There’s special surfaces portals can adhere to, which makes movement on both offense and defense really interesting. If you’re trying to get at someone using a portal, you can open one up behind them and just shoot through it, pop through and take them down, or even shoot one across the map and use a high fall to launch you through the sky at your target since momentum is preserved. On defense , it’s easy to escape as long as you’re mindful of keeping your portals up at all times. The double edged sword of that is if you’re around portal-able surfaces, your enemies can also sneak up behind you. It’s fast paced, fun, and really does a great job in capturing the same feelings as Halo.
The developer’s targeting a PC release later this year.
Please enter the url to a YouTube video.
World of Horror
Ever read a Junji Ito comic and think “man I’d love to interact with that to be unsettled on a whole new level”? Well, want no more, World of Horror is a point-and-click adventure horror game based in a quiet Japanese town in which the old, eldritch gods are awakening. In the PAX South demo, we take control of a student investigating a friend’s claims about a tall woman carrying scissors with a big smile. You investigate the claims, explore the school and come across even more horrors. Your actions throughout the investigation determine what kind of ending you get, meaning multiple playthroughs may be required to get the ending you want. The interface is just like retro adventure games like Clock Tower and the art style is extremely stark — only having 2-4 colors of fidelity. The soundtrack is also killer, providing great ambiance to the game. If you liked Clock Tower, cosmic horror, or just being unsettled, World of Horror is for you.
World of Horror is coming to PS4, Switch, and PC later this year.
Please enter the url to a YouTube video.
JackQuest
JackQuest is a Metroidvania dungeon crawler about a young couple separated by the villainous orc Korg. As you plumb the depths of the underground caves, you’ll find upgrades for your gear that unlock new areas and help you build your arsenal before fighting your antagonist. The game feels similar to other platforms, but one of the best things is the ability to jump off walls. Not unlike Megaman X, you can jump up the side of one wall to gain height and the game take advantage of this by placing both vertical and horizontal enemies in your path, so you’ve got to be careful or moving too fast may cost you your life.
The game is coming out on Steam this month.
Please enter the url to a YouTube video.
Disjunction
Disjunction describes itself as a cyberpunk stealth-action RPG and that’s quite apt. Top-down cyberpunk Metal Gear Solid meets Hotline Miami is also pretty apt IMO. You play as three different characters with intertwining stories in 2048 New York City. In the demo, you’re sneaking into a building in order to steal a datapad. The tutorial level does a great job showing off your abilities and how to use them effectively. You can either stun baton or shoot enemies with a gun in order to eliminate them as a problem. Guns are loud and draw attention, but enemies can get up after some time with the stun baton. The devs say the game can be completed entirely nonlethally and some can even be completed without stunning a single enemy, which adds interesting complexity if you’re looking to squeeze more difficulty out of the game. Keep this game on your radar especially if you’re a fan of the cyberpunk genre or stealth games like MGS.
You can give the demo a whirl yourself by visiting their site at http://www.disjunction-game.com/. The game is slotted for release on Steam this year.
Please enter the url to a YouTube video.
Check out more of our coverage from PAX South 2019 or find additional convention coverage! Let us know what you think on Facebook or Twitter @SubCultured, and join in the conversation on our Discord channel!
Devil May Cry 5, Young Souls, Magequit
Jump Force, Skellboy, A Fold Apart
Daku Con 2018 Photo Gallery
Daku Con 2018 Convention Recap!
PAX South 2019: Jump Force, Skellboy, A Fold Apart
PAX South 2019: Devil May Cry 5, Young Souls, Magequit
Nan Desu Kan 2018 Photo Gallery
Jump Force
Hey man, who DOESN’T wanna see Naruto get his lil’ whiskers kicked in by my boy Goku? Or see Luffy try to Gum Gum Pistol a shinigami? The premise of Jump Force is simple — let’s watch some of the most iconic characters in Shonen Jump do battle! Each player picks a roster of 3 characters and whoever has a character die first loses. The camera is interesting in that it picks a character to watch over the shoulder for the most part. It’s a really cinematic take on fighting games, but one that also has a bit of confusion, especially when 2 of the same character are on the field. The characters don’t have different outfits, so 2 Gokus are pretty easily confused. That being said, the combos your able to pull of are satisfying and switching characters trying to protect your health pool adds a dynamic to the fights that is really fun. There’s some issues with framerate consistency, though that may be ironed out by the time the full release comes. All in all, this is a really fun fighting game that doesn’t feel like a clone. Keep this game on your radar if you like Shonen Jump or just super want to watch Vegeta final flash the battousai himself.
Jump Force releases February 15th for PS4 and Xbox One.
Please enter the url to a YouTube video.
Skellboy
Ah man, guys. Skellboy’s just s’dang cute. The art style, as described by one of the people behind it, is “sprites that we’ve… chunkified.”
It works to great effect, creating a visual style that’s a mix between Cube World and Paper Mario. The game takes place in/around a castle as an evil warlock who was just rejected by the princess has resurrected the dead to take revenge. The only problem is, he accidentally resurrected you too — an ancient hero. So with your new skeleton body, you’ll set off to right the wrongs of the kingdom and kick that warlock’s tuckus.
A really neat mechanic the game provides is the ability to swap out your body parts for the ones of your enemies, which can provide extra abilities or do more damage, depending on whose body parts you pick. Couple that with the art style, really fitting retro-style sound track, and simple but fun combat mechanics, and you’ve got a recipe for an awesome action adventure game.
Skellboy will be coming out for Switch this summer.
Please enter the url to a YouTube video.
A Fold Apart
A Fold Apart is a papercraft puzzle game centered around an architect and their partner. The couple are in a long distance relationship and when the architect goes to sleep, they imagine having to solve puzzles to get to their partner. You can choose from one of two character models for both the architect and the parter — a more feminine character or a more masculine one. The gameplay is pretty straightforward — you can flip paper over, make folds in 2 different ways, and the goal is to create platforms to walk on to get to your partner. The final game will have more ways to keep the gameplay interesting, but even as it is right now, it’s a deeply endearing, cute little romance puzzler. If you’ve ever been in a long distance relationship, this game sincerely hits home in such a wholesome way. The music provides a relaxed, sincere environment and the characters really convey how much they love each other, which is what ties the whole game together.
A Fold Apart will be available later this year.
Please enter the url to a YouTube video.Check out more of our coverage from PAX South 2019 below or find additional convention coverage! Let us know what you think on Facebook or Twitter @SubCultured, and join in the conversation on our Discord channel!
Devil May Cry 5, Young Souls, Magequit
Splitgate Arena Warfare, World of Horror, JackQuest, and Disjunction
Daku Con 2018 Photo Gallery
Daku Con 2018 Convention Recap!
PAX South 2019: Splitgate Arena Warfare, World of Horror, JackQuest, and Disjunction
PAX South 2019: Devil May Cry 5, Young Souls, Magequit
Nan Desu Kan 2018 Photo Gallery
Sub Cultured stopped by PAX South 2018 to check out all the delightful titles this convention had to offer!
Party Hard 2
Party Hard 2 is the sequel to Party Hard, the 2015 stealth strategy game also showing you being the party pooperest murderer that there ever was. In the sequel, you want your Christmas bonus, don’t get it, and decide it’s time to rage. On everything. Like Hitman, you’ll be trying to kill targets and not raise suspicion on yourself. You can also blow a bunch of stuff up which is always rad. The immediate difference between this game and Party Hard is the 3D environment blended with the pixel graphics of its predecessor which creates a great style and is much easier to read what’s happening on the screen. The baller soundtrack and aforementioned visual style are the icing on this satisfying if grimdark game.
You can expect Party Hard 2 to hit at least PC in 2018.
Due Process
Strategic followed by chaotic 4v4 FPS gameplay is the best way to describe Due Process. A team tries to infiltrate a building and kill another team, and the other team is trying to kill their aggressors. There’s a number of tools each team can use, but none more important than the planning phase. Both teams get time before the match starts to plan out their attack — what walls to blow, doors to kick down, areas to block off, grenades to use. Our experience, however, is that the second something goes wrong with that plan, the team panics and then it’s anyone’s game. The game is incredibly fun to play with strangers, but even more so with friends that way you can say “I TOLD YOU TO COUNT TO 5 BEFORE INGRESS DAVE, WHO TAUGHT YOU TO COUNT?”
There’s no word on when this will be coming out, but definitely keep an eye on it for the future. You can sign up for their mailing list now and maybe get in to the alpha!
The Swords of Ditto
The Swords of Ditto is a cartoony action adventure game in which you’ll take control of the Hero of Legend in a fight against the evil Mormo. Oh, you died? That’s cool, there’s always another Hero of Legend just around the corner with a while new adventure. In fact your successes each life affect the next Hero of Legend The combat is fairly standard 2D action game, but the game’s bread and butter are the environments, art style, and characters you’ll meet along your way. The best part is the game features 2 player couch co-op, perfect for friends or loved ones to start a new adventure together. There’s frisbees, golf clubs, and big ol’ feet as weapons, awesome. Secret quests and dungeons to explore together, rad. Wanna speedrun it and defeat Mormo from the beginning? Go for it, have a blasty blast.
The Swords of Ditto is coming early 2018 to PS4 and PC.
Check out more of our coverage from PAX South 2018!
Aftercharge, Pato Box, Phantom Doctrine
Moonlighter, Tunic, Donut County
Daku Con 2018 Photo Gallery
Daku Con 2018 Convention Recap!
PAX South 2019: Splitgate Arena Warfare, World of Horror, JackQuest, and Disjunction
PAX South 2019: Jump Force, Skellboy, A Fold Apart
PAX South 2019: Devil May Cry 5, Young Souls, Magequit
Nan Desu Kan 2018 Photo Gallery
Sub Cultured stopped by PAX South 2018 to check out all the delightful titles this convention had to offer!
Aftercharge
Aftercharge is a 3v3 asymmetrical FPS game. 3 players play as a group of robots trying to destroy a number of energy extractors on the map. They’re completely invisible unless they’ve just been damaged or are directly in front of an enemy. They have the ability to resurrect their allies and also a number of abilities to help them sneak around the map. The enemy team is invincible and has abilities to either impede the invisible enemies or buff themselves. The resulting combat are a stressful mix of sneaking/seeking and frantically trying to kill/run away before invisibility comes back. It’s a great deal of fun, especially playing with friends.
You can look for Aftercharge coming to Windows, Mac, and Linux in Spring of 2018.
Pato Box
Pato Box sees you take control of a duck boxer doing what he does best — box. Even in situation in which it may not be applicable like opening doors, this guy’s a punching machine. He was betrayed on his way to the top of his boxing career and is ready to punch his way to the truth. The art style is stark black and white, which is a visual treat and so much fun to watch. The combat responds as well as you’d expect of something that looks like a Sin City Punch Out. It’s a unique experience and definitely one worth checking out.
Pato Box will be out this Spring for PC, Mac, Switch, and PS Vita.
Phantom Doctrine
If Donut County was the simplest game at PAX South 2018, Phantom Doctrine is definitely the most complicated, and not in a bad way. If you’ve ever played XCom and wanted it to be deeper on basically every level, this is exactly the game you’ve been looking for. Set during the Cold War, you lead an organization called The Cabal dedicated to fighting global conspiracy. The game takes major events from history that are all true, but where most of the game occurs is in “what if this happened”-type scenarios. Like in XCom, there are missions to go on that you can play through, and a home base to manage. As the base, you can look through evidence you’ve collected to try and piece together your enemies’ plans, recruit new operatives, brainwash captives, acquire more funds, and take the heat off your agents. While in the field, you can choose to operate with stealth or being aggressive, gather intel or rush to the objective. The game is really flexible to how you want to play it and how you want to spend your time. If you want to spend 20 hours in the base making sure everything’s perfect for the next mission, you can. If you want to speed run through the missions, you totally can. Missions also allow you to have special abilities like spotters, snipers, and grenade launchers, which come in handy when in a sticky situation.
If you’re ready to sink your teeth in to the deepest tactical game in quite some time, get hype for Phantom Doctrine coming in 2018 to at least PC.
Check out more of our coverage from PAX South 2018!
Party Hard 2, Due Process, The Swords of Ditto
Moonlighter, Tunic, Donut County
Daku Con 2018 Photo Gallery
Daku Con 2018 Convention Recap!
PAX South 2019: Splitgate Arena Warfare, World of Horror, JackQuest, and Disjunction
PAX South 2019: Jump Force, Skellboy, A Fold Apart
PAX South 2019: Devil May Cry 5, Young Souls, Magequit
Nan Desu Kan 2018 Photo Gallery
Prisma & The Masquerade Menace
Prisma & The Masquerade Menace is in the early stages of development, so early in fact that it’s not even on Kickstarter yet. That didn’t stop the developer from having a fully playable level from the demo at PAX South.
It’s got some rough edges, but it’s already rather polished. At its core, it’s a platformer game in which you take control of Ray, a girl who can switch between different colored dimensions to make objects appear or disappear. Each of these dimensions also gives her abilities like high jumping, fast running, and block destroying. Once you get used to switching between dimensions, it becomes much more like a Sonic game in which you feel compelled to go as fast as possible, switching dimensions quickly and trying to think on your feet.
Prisma is still in its early stages, but give their Kickstarter a look when it goes live later this month!
Sundered
Sundered is a game that leaps out at you from a sea of titles at a gaming convention. It’s art style has a way of pulling you in, making you want more.
Sundered is a Metroidvania style platformer/exploration game in which you take control of Eshe, a wanderer exploring seemingly endless, always changing caverns filled with eldritch horrors. The controls solid and responsive and the game’s difficulty is a little more than Super Metroid (we died 3 times in the demo), making it feel like a substantial single player experience. Details like the hand drawn art and pencil marks when the camera is really zoomed in all combine to make this a visual feast that also delivers on a tight experience.
Sundered is coming out to PS4 and PC in July but you can Kickstart it right now here!
RiME
In RiME, you play a boy exploring a strange island trying to work your way to a pillar in its center. Along the way, you’ll solve puzzles, meet a super cute fox, and try to figure out the mysteries of your surroundings and what could have happened to make it the way it is now.
RiME feels a lot like Zelda mixed with Journey in the best possible way. The art style is stark and gorgeous, varying dramatically for different areas in the game. The world is all laid out in a way that’s easy to understand visually, which is a good thing since the game features no dialog or text, so you’re relying on just trying things out and being observant to solve puzzles.
RiME is due out summer 2017 on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch.
Want more PAX South 2017 coverage? All you had to do was ask!
Monster Boy, Warlock’s Tower, and Has Been Heroes
Minit, Beat Cop, and Strikers Edge
Arms, Splatoon 2, and Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
REVIEW | Salt and Sanctuary
PAX South 2019: Splitgate Arena Warfare, World of Horror, JackQuest, and Disjunction
PAX South 2019: Jump Force, Skellboy, A Fold Apart
REVIEW | Spider-Man PS4
Review | Re-Exploring No Man’s Sky Next
REVIEW | Downward Spiral: Horus Station
PAX South 2016 is this weekend, and Sub Cultured will be there keeping you up to date with the latest news from one of the south’s biggest gaming cons. This, their sophomore year, should be even bigger than last, which saw games like Gigantic and Brawlhalla dominate the show floor.
Beyond the huge expo hall full of games, tabletop and console gaming rooms, there’s also a number of tournaments from console (Smash Brothers, Mario Kart, Goldeneye) to PC (Goat Simulator, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, and Minecraft), handhelds, and tabletop games. Still not quite sure how one plays competitive Goat Simulator, but I definitely want to watch it.
The panels this year also have a lot of really interesting topics. Notable events include Storytime with Cliff Bleszinski, Twitch Town Hall, and Queering up Misconceptions: LGBT Game Industry Life. And of course there’s the PAX staples of the Omegathon, Penny Arcade Q&A, and Penny Arcade Make-A-Strip.
If you see us on the con floor, be sure to stop us and say hi! Also, Colby will also be on the Decision 2016: Vote on Game “War of Awards” panel in which the audience and panel members debate among last year’s award winners to decide which is the best game in each category. Come on out and argue for your favorite game!
Daku Con 2018 Photo Gallery
Daku Con 2018 Convention Recap!
PAX South 2019: Splitgate Arena Warfare, World of Horror, JackQuest, and Disjunction
PAX South 2019: Jump Force, Skellboy, A Fold Apart
PAX South 2019: Devil May Cry 5, Young Souls, Magequit
