Welcome to Digitally Downloaded’s weekly catch-up news feature, the catch-up coffee. I will bring you the best news you may have missed with each issue. Grab the biggest mug you’ve got, fill it with your favourite brew, and catch up with us (and our favourite news anchor, Dee Dee)!
Game Boy Color aesthetic meets modern development
I said earlier this week that Game Boy Advance games are a specific trend I’ve noticed, but retro-styled games have been quite popular too. The developer of Veritus went a bit further back: the colourful adventure RPG that will bring players back to the feel of the Game Boy Color era.
Veritus is the god of shadows, and you’ll journey into his dark chambers and uncover the secrets within the castle walls. Danger lurks around every corner, so your weapons and tools will be necessary to defeat monsters. You can also use these things to decipher puzzles preventing you from moving forward. Set up camps in safe havens within the castle. Prepare for each new adventure by equipping weapons/tools, going on expeditions, and resting between encounters.
Developed and published by Colorgrave. Veritus will be released for PC via Steam on July 22.
Help your loved ones through their grieving process in Closer the Distance
I’ve talked about games about grief several times, if not more. I generally don’t categorize these games as slice-of-life simulations because they don’t usually fall into that genre, but Closer the Distance does. After a fatal accident, players step into the shoes of Angela. She’s a young girl from Yesterby. She often watches her loved ones (friends and family) navigate through their grieving processes. Oh, and Angela has the ability to influence the townspeople she once knew, determining their fate through her choices.
The emotional narrative focuses on empathy, community, friendship, grief, and closure. You will be making decisions affecting how the game progresses. Whether or not Angela has influenced someone, the key citizens in Yesterby are fully simulated and each has their personal feelings, wishes, memories, and complex evolving relationships.
Developed by Osmotic Studios and published by Skybound Games, Closer the Distance will be released for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series on August 2.
Valley Peaks is a first-froggy platformer that sounds ribbiting
(Sorry about the bad joke, I needed to make it.) Valley Peaks is a cozy adventure game like no other. The colourful, whimsical miniature world contains puzzles to solve; still, the game’s heart is its unique climbing mechanic. The game’s description says it is “a unique first-person parkourlite adventure.” You’ll encounter dangers from crumbling rocks to moving minecarts to install radio towers so the mountain’s froggy inhabitants can connect with the outside world.
From early on and as the game progresses, memories of “your” dad come flooding back. He’s the reason you were given this job. There are two modes to choose from: casual Cozy Mode and the more challenging Normal Mode. You’ll meet cute new froggy friends, unlock gadgets that do things like slow time, and play minigames.
Developed by Tub Club and published by Those Awesome Guys, Valley Peaks will be released for PC via Steam on July 24.
I am pretty much Exhausted Man
I feel very much like Exhausted Man might. I don’t sleep more than a few hours daily and I am in moderate to severe pain at all times, so I spend most of my time slumped over the couch—just like Exhausted Man! But unlike him, I’m not about to crawl on the floor to get places. Exhausted Man is an absurd sitcom game about an exhausted man. But a game about someone slumped over on the couch wouldn’t be too fun so he can move around… by crawling on the floor and the walls.
The exhausted man must complete various events to achieve the night’s goal, altering his remaining energy levels. (If you’re familiar with the spoon theory, it’s like that.) Eating gives him energy. Afterwards, he’ll have more speed, extra strength, and a glowing head. But when he fixes a game bug, energy is depleted. His face will look haggard and he will yawn a lot. Something called yawn bubbles can also make him fall asleep. Here is the catch: he can still never stand up and is stuck crawling.
The crawling mechanic is quite interesting. The developer started with a ladybug’s movements because a human’s head could copy how it moves. But the long body attached to the head became a problem. It was just like a caterpillar. So the developer created a caterpillar bones feature that anchors the body based on the head’s position. The exhausted man functions like he is boneless, giving him noodle-like flexibility.
Developed by Candleman Games, Exhausted Man will be released for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series, and Xbox One on July 25.
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