Our last game preview from PAX East 2017 is a rhythm platformer from developer Tinimations. Like the previous game that I previewed, Klang is a game that came out last year but was available on the show floor for us to try out. The game does some interesting things that I had not seen in a rhythm or platforming game before, so this game was an interesting discovery at the event. (more…)
The second game in our PAX East 2017 Preview coverage mashes two very different genres of games into one. In this instance, we have a mashup of a Dance Dance Revolution style game with the tactical elements of a fantasy RPG. The Metronomicon by Kasedo Games sticks to the roots and controls of a traditional DDR game but adds the strategic complexity and tactics of an old school RPG. Although the game was released back in September of 2016, it had flown under my radar, so I took some time at PAX East to try out this unusual game. (more…)
One of the joys of heading out to PAX East every spring has been seeing how the independent games industry has grown and evolved. Each year there seems to be a greater presence of indie titles being shown off on the PAX East show floor, and this year was no exception. Among the various projects on display, there were a fair number of music and rhythm games. Over the next few days I’ll be highlighting the music games that I tried out at PAX East, starting with the game Just Shapes & Beats. (more…)
During last year’s PAX East I got to preview an action rhythm game from indie studio Drool called Thumper. Since then the game has made the rounds at many other expos, conventions, and festivals. Along the way it’s earned numerous awards and praise for the two man development team of Brian Gibson and Marc Flury. This year the game was back at PAX East with the new feature of VR added to the experience. Since I enjoyed the previous demos of the game, I was excited to test it this latest virtual reality build. (more…)
Our second game preview from PAX East is a new game being developed by Harmonix. Back in May of 2014, the group successfully received backing on their Kickstarter for the game Amplitude. The project received over $800,000, just making past their initial funding goal. Since then the Hamonix team has been working on the game and had an early alpha build available to try out at this year’s PAX East and GDC.
Amplitude is a rhythm action game based off the developer’s earlier titles like FreQuency and the PS2 version of Amplitude. The last Amplitude game was released back in 2003, over a decade ago. This new game is a remake/reboot of the original and hopes to bring the fun of Amplitude to a new generation of consoles and players. (more…)
Every PAX East features a wide array of companies and developers showing off their upcoming or recently released games. Here at Original Sound Version, we like to highlight some of the music related games that we come across during the event. These often end up being rhythm games, but this can also include other game genres where music is a vital element. A good example of this would be the FRACT OSC game that we previewed at last year’s PAX East. This year we will be highlighting two upcoming games that were on display at the PAX East Expo floor.
Our first preview is an action rhythm game called Thumper. This was one of the many titles featured at the PAX East Indie Megabooth. The game is currently being developed by Marc Flury and Brian Gibson, who have both worked on rhythm game titles at Harmonix. Flury acts as the lead programmer, with Gibson providing his music and art talents for the look and sound of the game. (more…)
While there were many games presented on the PAX East 2014 show floor, there were only a handful that featured music as their central gameplay mechanic. Since OSV is a site which focuses on game music, we thought it would be nice to give some previews of games that featured music as their core element. The first of these is a game titled Crypt of the NecroDancer.
For those of you have not heard of it, Crypt of the NecroDancer is a roguelike dungeon crawler, created by Brace Yourself Games, that requires you to time your movements and attacks to the game’s soundtrack. Your movement, attacks, and other abilities are all triggered with the four direction buttons. In order to successfully move, attack, or use an ability, you need to enter the command on the beat. A beat meter on the bottom of the screen helps indicate when you can take action. When I spoke with the developers at the show, they emphasized that they wanted to make a rogelike that relied a little more heavily on player skill, rather than luck of what the dungeon will throw at you on a particular run. Theoretically, if you have good rhythm and timing, you can make it through most situations in one piece. (more…)
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