Chorus Worldwide, a video game publisher specializing in bringing Asian-produced indie games to Western audiences, recently held a showcase demonstrating some of their upcoming titles. The five games shown off included Last Time I Saw You, Paper Ghost Stories: Third Eye Open, Read Only Memories: Neurodiver, KriegsfrontTactics, and Undefeated Genesis. Each crafted with care and style, the games range from point-and-click adventures to tactical RPGs. Check out these five games from the Chorus Worldwide Showcase.
Last Time I Saw You
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Last Time I Saw You is a coming-of-age narrative adventure by developer Maboroshi Artworks. It’s a narrative adventure game about first love in late-80s Japan. Ayumi keeps dreaming about a mysterious girl, so he and his friends go searching for her. The game is filled with whimsical characters and yokai from Japanese folklore. But that doesn’t detract from the serious, heavy topics tackled by the narrative. The whole game is hand-painted each character is animated frame-by-frame in what the developers describe as a Ghibli-esque style. It looks lovely. The eyes especially stand out on each character, big and black to set the darker undertone of the game.
Last Time I Saw You is coming to PC later this year.
Paper Ghost Stories: Third Eye Open
Paper Ghost Stories: Third Eye Open is the second game in an anthology series, by developer Cellar Vault Games. Third Eye Open is about 5-year-old Chinese-Malasian girl Ting who just moved into a new house. She was born with the ability to see and hear ghosts. Her mother loves her unconditionally, but her oddity has strained her relationship with her father. He’s well-intended, but sees her as “troubled.” Other kids find Ting strange too, but at least she has her close ghost friend, Xiu.
One day, Ting gets pressured into the dark part of a forest where she encounters a dangerous, supernatural entity and the true plot begins. The characters are flat, paper cut-outs in a gorgeous 3D world. It stars a kid, but the game delves into creepy territory with elements inspired by Buddhist beliefs. Throughout the game, players will revisit the bittersweet wonder of childhood as Ting encounters gossiping family members and the fears and joys of new experiences.
Paper Ghost Stories: Third Eye Open is coming to Xbox X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
Read Only Memories: Neurodiver
Developed by Midboss, Read Only Memories: Neurodiver is a sci-fi adventure game influenced by Japanese adventure games of the past. Playing like a standard Western point-and-click adventure, it’s a love letter to its visual and story influences. Read Only Memories is a psuedo-sequel to 2064: Read Only Memories with a whole new story and characters set in futuristic Neo San Francisco. In 2070, psychic ES88 works at a secret psychic research institute. She’s tasked with tracking down the rogue psychic Golden who is hiding in people’s memories. ES88 gas to dive into people’s memories just before Halloween to repair memory fragments and stop Golden.
While the game is mostly linear, before entering a person’s memory you’ll get to know them better through conversation. Branching dialogue options can have a small impact on how different characters treat you later, as well as the game’s ending. By poking around their living space before diving in, you can get a sense of what kind of memory you’re trying to hone in on. Each memory plays out as if you are the host going through the scene like it’s the present. Only, small visual glitches indicate portions of the memory that Golden may have tampered with. With a 32-bit style of graphics and a purple, punk aesthetic, Read Only Memories: Neurodiver has a unique visual flair.
Read Only Memories: Neurodiver is releasing soon.
Kriegsfront Tactics
Kriegsfront Tactics by developer Toge Productions is a tactical mech RPG. Set in a place and time similar to the Vietnam War, the game is inspired by classics like XCOM and Front Mission. The game has an early-genre aesthetic but delivers more detailed mech models as you zoom in on their attack animations. Each mech has separate limbs to make tactical combat more intricate. Position, direction, and where you aim at on a mech all impact how much damage you deal or take.
Additionally, every bullet in Kriegsfront Tactics is physically simulated. This means that whether you hit your target or not, those bullets have to land somewhere. They can impact the environment around you, which can play to your advantage as well as your disadvantage. Defoliating the jungles can help reveal enemies. Each pilot also has a mental model that affects their psyche over time. They also may have certain active abilities like shielding up or weapons that you can aim manually.
Kriegsfront Tactics is coming soon.
UNDEFEATED: Genesis
The smallest presentation at the Chorus Worldwide Showcase came from its highest-octane title. UNDEFEATED: Genesis is a superhero experience by Indie-us Games where you fly around the vast alien planet Voltissia using some cool-looking powers against all manner of alien creatures. Little has been shared about the game so far, but it promises big powers and big alien fights.
UNDEFEATED: Genesis is coming soon.
All five games demonstrated at the Chorus Worldwide showcase were built with heart from small indie development teams. Sporting carefully crafted narratives and personally stylized art, surely all five games will be worth keeping an eye on for release throughout 2024.
