Lots of cool releases this past month, some of which may have flown under your radar. Given that, here are six games that you may have missed in June 2020. Thanks to all of the publishers who sent these games to me in order to make this list possible. So with that intro out of the way, let’s move right into the first game.
Satisfactory
A lot of people have been comparing this one to Factorio, and while that comparison definitely holds some weight, to me Satisfactory felt like the evolution of the heavily-modded Minecraft I used play all the time. Tekkit, FTB, and even the recent OmniFactory pack — it was like the devs were a fan of those and decided to build an entire game based around it, and I’m definitely all for it. Endless automation, complex logistics, and efficiency management are just a few of the things the game has going for it. You’ll find yourself building machines to harvest materials to make even more machines. Then you’ll build machines to make those machines for you and so on.
It’s an addicting cycle for sure and I can definitely see why people have already poured hundreds of hours into the game. And you would think that the performance would suffer from all of the stuff going on in the game, but from my experience it’s actually been pretty good, which was especially surprising given the game’s Early Access status. For fans of games likes Factorio or those modpacks I mentioned before, Satisfactory is 100% worth the look. I’m very excited to see what it will look like upon its full release.
Flying Red Barrel – The Diary of a Little Aviator
From the same group that brought us 100% Orange Juice comes a shoot ’em up done in that same art style. As with most games from the genre, your goal is simply to make it to the end of each level, all while blasting away enemies and dodging the hundreds of bullets flying towards you at any given moment. And just like other games in the genre, it is incredibly difficult, and I found myself struggling even on the game’s lowest difficulty. So while I may not be the most skilled at it, I still had fun with the game.
It’s got that good art style going for it, some nice enemy variety, and even some cool music to match. It doesn’t really bring anything new to the genre outside of its multiple endings, but it’s a fun enough doujin shmup that I would recommend to fans of the genre. You even get a free bonus character to use in 100% Orange Juice if you’re an owner.
3dSen PC
Okay so this one is less a game and rather an actual emulator, one being sold on Steam at that. However, it isn’t just any old emulator, it’s an emulator that turns NES games into 3D in real time. I’ve already played through the entirety of Contra and Castlevania just to give it a test and was surprised with how well it works, it’s honestly a bit of black magic.
The emulator itself does not ship with any games, but instead comes with a set of profiles for you to load up ROMs with. It has 70 of these on launch, with more to be added later. Once you’ve loaded up your ROMs (which you will have to acquire yourself), you simply boot up the game and watch the emulator work its magic. It’s a cool way to breath new life into these classics and I’m looking forward to more profiles being added in the future (personally hoping for Battletoads and Final Fantasy).
Evil Democracy: 1932
Evil Democracy: 1932 puts you in charge of a political party during one of the most turbulent time periods in Western European history: the years leading up to World War II. You play in one of the three scenarios (Germany, France, or England) as one of the many different political parties, whether that be the Labour Party, the Communist Party, or the National People’s Party, pretty much every area is covered there.
Your goal, of course, is to take this party all the way and prevent any of your competitors from winning the election. A variety of tactics are used to get to that point, including newspaper and leaflet prints, rallies, agitators, and even slander. It kinda plays like Democracy 3, with changes only happening gradually, but adding up over time. It’s not too involved as far as political strategy games go, but I had a fun time running my own party and am looking forward to what will be added while the game is in Early Access.
Colt Canyon
I love action roguelikes, and Colt Canyon pretty much ticks all of the boxes there. Fun and impactful combat, cool aesthetic, a bunch of weapons to choose from, and some actually meaningful progression between runs. So right off the bat, it already has a lot going for it. You play as a cowboy (or whatever other character you’ve unlocked) and all you need to to is traverse a canyon and rescue your partner, who has been kidnapped by some baddies. Of course, along the way you will be mowing down hordes of enemies, acquiring new and unique weapons, and maybe even finding some hidden treasure.
It’s fairly standard as far as action roguelikes go, but the game really nails the combat. Melee attack have weight behind them, the guns feel great to use, and the game actually manages to pull off a decent stealth system. I had a blast going through my runs, quietly taking down enemies with a bow and arrow from afar, and then rapid firing my revolver at groups running me down. It’s not the most in-depth roguelike, but is more than worth the look, especially for fans of the genre.
The Innsmouth Case
Now for something completely different. Here we have a choose your own adventure game that is not only inspired by Lovecraft, but manages to mix that style of story with comedy. It’s a bizarre combination for sure, but it makes for a very interesting premise. You play as a detective tasked with finding a missing girl, one that went missing in the mysterious town of Innsmouth.
The gameplay plays much like a visual novel, but with much, much more choices than you would usually find in one, more akin to a choose your own adventure book. These choices will lead you down a number of different routes as you uncover more about the town and the missing person. You’ll eventually arrive at one of the game’s 27 different endings, some earlier than others depending on how bad of a detective you are. The first ending I got had me burned at the stake by the townspeople after only 30 minutes, so I definitely didn’t start off too strong. The writing is interesting enough to carry the game through it’s short runtime though, so it’s worth a look if you’re a fan of Lovecraft.
An interesting selection of games this time around. We had a Lovecraftian choose your own adventure game, a doujin shoot ’em up, and even an NES emulator. Some fun games all around, and I’m hoping that next month can bring us even more quality titles.
cublikefoot 