El Paso, Elsewhere
Yet another game from the mind of Xalavier Nelson and his collaborators at Strange Scaffold, El Paso Elsewhere is one of the more esoteric games on this list. A self described “Supernatural neo-noir third person shooter”, you’ll make your way through a motel that shifts reality enough to develop another 46 stories beyond the three they already had.
Oh and they’re full of Vampires and Werewolves, plus both their victims and those of Draculae, Lord of the Vampires.
Who is also your Ex.
And who you’ll be reckoning with all the way down as you resolve your truly awful relationship.
While doing sick slo mo dives and shooting guns.
I’m on board already, and can’t wait for the PC release sometime in 2022.
Dawn of the Monsters
Okay, so most Beat Em Ups/Brawlers take place in City Streets, clearing screens of enemies to advance. Dawn of the Monsters is that, but this time you’re Manga inspired Kaiju rampaging over the city streets altogether in a side scrolling adventure.
That’s a fun twist to a classic formula, but with four playable Kaiju and 2 player co-op, this looks like another entry in the genre that wants to capture classic Beat Em Up fans and offer them something stylish and new.
Rampaging on to Playstation, Xbox, Switch and PC in 2022.
Immortality
The newest title from Sam Barlow’s team at Half Mermaid, Immortality seems just as enigmatic as it’s forebears in Her Story and Telling Lies. We know it’s about the actress Marissa Marcel, and the three movies she starred in that were never released to the public.
And barring some exceptionally striking visuals and the promise of some serious writing talent behind the game, that’s all we know!
So with all of that mystery in place, I can’t wait to see what Immortality will offer us when it releases in 2022 on PC.
Citizen Sleeper
The striking art of Guillaume Singelin might be the first thing you notice about Citizen Sleeper, but the more you dig, the more there is to like.
It’s an RPG utilising modern tabletop techniques like action dice assigning your activities in a given day as well as Ticking Clocks that help guide the narrative and establish ultimate consequences. Playing as an escaped digitised consciousness in an artificial body, you’ll try and survive on a space station abandoned to the worst whims of capitalism.
It’s exactly the kind of grimy sci fi narrative RPG that I love to see, more than enough to earn it a spot on this list of 22 Indie Games to Watch in 2022 and I can’t wait to see the full release on PC.
Mask of the Rose
So here’s the Deal. Fallen London has incredible writing. Sunless Seas and Skies also have incredible writing. And now Failbetter are releasing a new game. Mask of the Rose is a romance based visual novel set in Failbetter’s incredible and slightly offbeat universe, in a new era, just after the fall itself.
In a city where death is an inconvenience and the Fall has completely rewritten the rules of society in a London not quite like the history books, this is a perfect way for new fans to find a way into Failbetter’s universe, or old ones to find new life.
As such, I’m eagerly awaiting the release in 2022 on PC, Mac, Linux, Playstation, Xboz and Switch where I can delve in to meet (and woo) the denizens of the fallen city.
Steelrising
Some developers are worth keeping an eye on regardless of output. For Spiders, that feeling has been earned by the scrappiness and earnest ambition they’ve put into each of their games to date.
In particular, 2019’s Greedfall was an attempt to capture the spirit of the Bioware RPG formula that by all accounts came pretty close, a continual improvement across all their games.
Moving to an alternate reality Paris during the era of King Louis XVI’s reign, you’ll play the clockwork automaton Aegis and attempt to turn the tide of a revolution in yet another action adventure RPG from the studio. With an intriguing setting and the promise of yet another game filled with political intrigue and ambitious RPG plotlines, Steelrising has a lot to offer.
If they can keep working out the kinks from their previous games, Steelrising could be something really special, well worth a place on this list of Indie Games to Watch in 2022.
Whirring up in June 2022 on PC, Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X/S