Summary
Evil Empire, the studio responsible for the2018 hit indie titleDead Cells, has revealed the Triple-I Initiative showcase ready to go live next month. The new event plans to highlight upcoming games from over 30 indie studios and publishers, many of which are well known for past hits and have dedicated followings.
Showcases held exclusively for AA and indie-sized video games have become ever more prevalent over the past several years. Some longstanding annual events like PC Gamer’s PC Games Show, the Devolver Digital Direct, and Tim Schafer’s Day of the Devs opened the door for newer annual indie showcases like Future Games Show, Wholesome Direct, Guerilla Collective, Annapurna Interactive Showcase, and more to crop up. While many of these yearly shows sufficiently and succinctly highlight their games in a quick manner, many of the largerAAA-centric shows like Summer Game Fest, Opening Night Live, and others still draw criticism for being overtly long and padded out.
Triple-I Interactive Indie Showcase
It seems the Triple-I Interactive showcase will feature a bit of a more AA splash, with appearances from Focus Entertainment, known for publishing Asobo Studios’Plague Talegames and Don’t Nod’sBanishers: Ghosts of New Eden,and Gearbox Software,theBorderlandscompany. Evil Empire’s marketing director, Berenger Dupre, playfully mentioned that the show is looking to have somewhat of a focus on what he calls “Triple-I” games: games from independent studios that feature AA or even AAA production values. In that case, it makes sense for a studio like A44 to appear with its third-person action gameFlintlock: The Siege of Dawn,as it perfectly fits the description of a “Triple-I” game.
Triple-I Interactive Showcase Studios
Many of the studios that’ll show up at the Triple-I Interactive showcase have already announced highly anticipated games on the horizon. Extremely OK Games, the team behind 2018’s Game of the Year-nominated indie darlingCeleste,will likely be showing off some of its next game,Earthblade. Heart Machine, responsible for highly praised titles likeHyper Light DrifterandSolar Ash,will undoubtedly havemore to share about itsHyper Light Breakerfollow-up. With several more months to go until Summer Game Fest, it’ll surely be nice to have a large indie event like this to hold indie fans over.
Dead Cells
WHERE TO PLAY
Dead Cells puts you in control of a failed alchemic experiment trying to figure out what’s happening on a sprawling, ever-changing and seemingly cursed Island. Tough but fair combat, responsive controls, challenging foes, permadeath and of course, the emergency panic roll to get you out of trouble, make for a demanding, visceral and cathartic action game.Experience a Roguevania, mixing an interconnected world, branching paths and unlockable skills with the constant adrenaline-pumping threat of permadeath. No checkpoints. You either vanquish the final boss in one go, or you try again. However, you keep some of your progress for successive runs; new paths you’ve unlocked, access to new levels, mutations, abilities and weapons.Speaking of weapons, Dead Cells features a plethora of ways to slay your enemies. A large variety of swords, bows and of course spells, but also whips, grenades and turrets, each one with its own unique twist. Plus, mutations and scrolls allow you to build and customize your character differently with each and every run.At the end of the day though, it’s YOUR skills as a player that matter most! Roguelites are about constantly sharpening your skills, until what was an insurmountable obstacle becomes a walk in the park. Patience, you’ll get better!… eventually.
