Top 25 Upcoming Indie Games of 2023 (Second Half)

2023 has been fantastic for Indie Games with a number of standout hits but where the second half of the year looks awesome as well but as always release leads are subject to change and I've included titles with the vague 2023 release window so let's begin with hammer Watch 2 the sequel to an excellent dungeon crawling title sets in the fantasy world it is very classically Dungeons and Dragons in the Euro classes types of enemies that you will encounter and the general medieval fantasy setting but where this developer has excellent pedigree with both the original and the spin-off Heroes of hammer watch Being excellent games the pixel arts in this is gorgeous with what looks to be a compelling gameplay Loop where this releases in less than a month to look forward to this the login development gets Stout Steam and Cinder is also worth a mention mainly because by putting it here I'm manifesting that it will release later this year since this game has been delayed time and again this steampunk pixel art metroidvania title sees you exploring the depths of the City battling against the forces of the corrupt overseers where based on what they have shown does have XP leveling and stats systems making it more akin to Symphony of the Night the pixel art is gorgeous seen in character portraits environmental backgrounds and even the player and enemy models where I'm a sucker for this type of game so here's hoping that it releases but apparently the completionist Gerard as well as YouTubers and streamers Dodger and Jesse Cox are helping to get this out the door so I think that this increases their odds of release a fascinating looking tactical RPG is the Lamb lightest League primarily because of its pedigree and developer but also because of his setting and theme giving off Indiana Jones Vibes but where you control a team from the eponymous League having to chase after an evil cult known as the banished Court to the Far Corners of the world the characters here all have different special abilities where coordinating the attack and planning carefully will lead you to success where the description talks about recruiting new characters as well as a stress and injury system so there seems to be a darkest dungeon DNA in this as well if you didn't catch it this is from the developers of the modern Shadowrun games which are excellent making this one of Interest a title on the list both due to its pixel art and gameplay is The Siege and the sand Fox another long in the villain title which saw somewhat of a Revival recently announcing a new publisher where this game is a self-described stealth veneer type which immediately got my attention as mentioned a couple of videos ago stealth games are not common at all much less one with an interconnected world and gorgeous pixel art so this game is definitely unique but I'm interested in the progression and overall structure since hiding running and using implements like smoke bombs and avoiding combat seems to be key flipping the idea of a metroidvania on its head a newly reviewed title that immediately shuts up my wishlist a Station to Station a voxel minimalist strategy building title where it is all about connecting one train station to the next you have different ways of running the railway tracks by connecting stations does actually allow for trade and transport of goods which in turn allows towns and cities to prosper and grow which you will see happening but this simply looks Pleasant and relaxing one of these standout titles from the steam links festival and summer Gamecast is wizard with a gun a game with a self-explanatory title where you play as such a magic user attempting to survive in the magical Wilderness this self-describes as a co-op survival sandbox so think Don't Starve by the way you have to collect resources and craft upgrades and Equipment having a home base to expand and upgrade as well or to gear you up in order to tackle the next challenge it did impressed in its demo showing and should be fun when it's a devolver published title so there's no fears on the quality of the ski foreign gaps in the market from established Publishers and IP after these companies theme projects commercially unviable to make and that is exactly what bomb Rush cyberfunk is doing a Jet Set Radio like if that makes any sense one with a focus on traversal and tricks as you explore the city of New Amsterdam and fight off the military police having a fantastic look as well assistant one of the games that went absolutely viral and made the developers a lot of money before even releasing its Mika and the Witch's Mountain a cozy open road exploration title where you play as a witch delivering various packages to the residents of the small island this title raised over 1.3 million euros on Kickstarter which is an astounding amount and rightfully so since it knocks it out of the park in terms of the Cozy Vibes and art style often being compared to the Studio Ghibli classic Kiki's Delivery Service and since Studio GB does not make games it does make sense that Indie developers try to make something that evokes those movies apologies for the Whiplash but this title is inspired by a very different kind of Japanese Legend since world of horror is a horror roguelite RPG that draws upon horror manga artist joji Ito where the one bit black and white pixel art thus mimic the black and white look of those famous manga panels it is set in a small town by the end of the world 9 resulting in some of the most horrifying monsters emerging from the dark it will be launching out of Early Access in spooky month where from what I played of this in Early Access it is pretty tough and requires some time to figure out what to do with the disturbing scenarios and enemies will be for horror fans San Walkers is a pixel art Rook like RPG that looks awesome coming to us from the developers of Legend of Keepers with this game mechanically appears to be very similar with the 10 days combat but different enough without the Dungeon Keeper aspect when the pedigree alone makes this one of Interest speaking of pedigrees the next title from the Behemoth is alien hominid Invasion a re-imagination of one of their earliest games named alien hominid which released in 2002 being a run and Gun action platformer that just looks like chaos you're invading Earth with up to three other friends battling the humans as you make your way through the city interestingly the levels are procedurally generated and you are free to take your own path through so it is rook light-ish in nature due to the non-linearity in typical Behemoth style you can clearly see that this game is made by them since this looks visually similar to Castle Crashes and more importantly metal block theater where this simply looks like fun with friends [Music] one of the more recent reviews that immediately turned heads is Europa a beautiful looking 3D exploration title we explore the ruins of a fallen Utopia in order to uncover its Secrets I don't believe there's combat in this so I'm interested to see how the developer will manage to hook our attention with the wondrous Landscapes look absolutely gorgeous it is a goal that I would love to get lost in riding and flying looks Carefree but they mentioned uncovering the story of the last human alive presumably a main character that looks like another relaxing title Mariah [Music] it will be no surprise that devolvers slits of games features heavily on this list but the awesome looking can umbrella gets a spot we are looking at a recently released trailer which might indicate that the release is closed you get a more in-depth look at the gameplay here where the pawn mask umbrella is your primary weapon serving as a gun a shield since it is bulletproof a mini weapon where you can Dash into enemies and a traversal mechanic that allows you to dash in the air as well as to hover and glide for more air control but you will be able to upgrade and tweak the weapon as well I believe the protagonist is searching for answers on who killed their wife where is the world with giant robots monsters and a Sinister Inquisition coming to us from the developer of cartoon Roboto and looks excellent I was so very happy to see Monaco's Night Market appear in a recent showcase where this is one of my most anticipated games having been announced and delayed from one year to next but surprisingly over the past three years or more this game and concept have largely been unchanged from its initial review you play as a little kid who arrived at a new home on an island with mysterious Men In Black types have shown up and you need to figure out why oh did I forget to mention the cats that appears to be the main draw but the cats just look so adorable in this but there's even a large deity like sun cat named Abe who will be Central to the game not to forget the life Sim aspects of being able to sell stuff and play mini games at the night market looking very cozy as well [Music] of course the Contra like pixel art Run and Gun platformer iron heat gets on the list since it is exactly the throwback action that I love but this got a feature during my Summer Games showcase and deserves a spot on the list it is set in an apocalyptic future where the world has been overrun by the meat a ravenous mass of muscle and tissue that mutates everything in its path but you are fighting your way through and in a very throwback kind of way will lead you to the Moon where you will uncover the truth behind the horrifying experiments conducted on it the action looks awesome and definitely has Metal Slug DNA as well and will be out in October the top 10 titles are games in my favorite genres with a couple possibly being in the Game of the Year contenders so let's kick things off with creature keeper a pixel arts action adventure monster theming title which combines the fun of teaming and having monsters fight alongside with you like in Pokemon with the real-time action of a 2d Zelda game I've long had my eye on this game from way back in 2018 when it was still named project releases where I love my monster teaming titles and the whole piece Theory aspect as well as feeding and taming these creatures appeals to me not to mention additional systems like a pocket Garden where you can grow plants as well as cooking and crafting so fingers crossed it releases later this year speaking of monster teamers of course Moonstone island has to get a mansion a cozy Farm Sim trustless monster teaming engine crawling and deck building combat where you play as an alchemist in training spending a year away from home in a series of islands floating in the sky you need to complete your Alchemy training through venturing out to explore and research either of course by your monster companions even having a home base to upgrade as well as grow various crops in the studio Valley light fashion there are times people to get to know and fall in love with so this looks like the complete package alright here we go with the Metroid videos where the first half of the year has not been kind to this genre so let's hope things turn around with games like tevi should certainly help this is the next title from the developer of rebby Ruby a similar anime title where combat is a lot more frantic with the addition of almost bullet hell Style Elements the pixel arts in this is gorgeous as is the combat with a pretty in-depth combo system where a little bird told me that this will be released in Q3 which means that we will get a release date at any moment so be sure to keep an eye on this another devolver digital published title is pepper grinder one with a unique Drilling and digging mechanic used in combat exploration and even puzzle solving I like the look of this game where the handcrafted levels and collectible gems and the sizes The Collector phone aspect with interesting looking bosses and environments as well you are on a quest to reclaim your stolen treasure but what begins as a simple quest for Revenge quickly takes a darker turn with mysterious beings emerging from the shadows and should be an excellent title as well similarly nine Souls looks like an awesome 2D action platformer coming to us from Taiwanese developer red candle games who are best known for two horror titles detention and devotion so this is quite the departure but the people have spoken through their crowdfunding Campaign which has been very successful they stopped shots of calling this a metric Vineyard but do mentioned a seki rule like Perry system that you need to master but this has a Q4 release window so I hope for its sake that it releases in October or at the latest early November welcome to the land of Mojo another title that immediately captured the imaginations of many is the Plucky Squire an action adventure game that sure looks to be inspired by 2D Zelda games but with a Twist since it also has a 3D platforming elements having similar Concepts to Mario Odyssey but is from an indie team I think that this game looks awesome both in the 2D arts and cute 3D environments where our hero is on a quest to save his friends from the villain so it's a fairly vanilla story but just looks like a solid entry all around I was so very happy when the last Thief weird is heard again since this pixel art Grim dark Gothic natural reader is honestly one of my most anticipated titles where I've said it many times before it is essentially what modern Castlevania would be if they continued on in the pixel art Direction based on these three setup and its Kickstarter pitch the story seems to be very similar to bloodborne except in a fallen City where mysterious illness has turned their inhabitants into monsters where our Amnesia protagonists wanders the streets in search of answers this game does have brutal combat and executions where it should feel slightly more classic Gothic horror version of another pixel arts intro classic Blasphemous where for now we only have the release month of October speaking of Blasphemous we have a confirmed release date for Blasphemous 2 as well which is very soon where the penitent one returns in his never-ending battle with the Merkel this is a direct continuation of the story from the first game where here real weekends in a foreign land and is once again thrust into the endless cycle of Life Death and Resurrection where the Catholic faith inspired themes like Penance as well as religious imagery in environments and enemies is accidentally done based on some early previews the game does have weapon variety which results in different builds Dark Souls style being very different from the original where it does borrow a page from The Souls games as well in terms of the cryptic storytelling so expect multi-hour long lore videos for this game as well there'll be no surprise that sea of stars gets a high spot on the list since I have a soft spot for both pixel art games as well as turnbass jrpgs having grown up with the classics like Final Fantasy 6 and Chrono Trigger but this game is certainly paying tribute to the letter the twin protagonists are children of the solstice one powered by the sun and the other the moon having to combine the power to use Eclipse magic to fight back against the forces of the evil flesh answer like Gene Echoes from last year a pixel art jrpg could easily be in the top 5 indie games of the year not to mention that this is from the developer of the messenger but this game is actually set in the same universe and looks to be a mega success as well the sequel to Game of the Year 2020 Hades 2 is supposed to release An Early Access in 2023 according to an interview with supergiant supporting it on the list where the god-like Rook light returns and you play as the sister of sagres now hunting down a Titan in Kronos where supergiant has proven time and again that their games are awesome and watch this video for the best of the year so far too

Channel: Best Indie Games

Views: 33,676

Keywords: Best Indie Games, indie game, best indie games 2023, indie gaming, 2023 indie game releases, Hammerwatch II, Wizard with a Gun, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, WORLD OF HORROR, Sandwalkers, Europa, Gunbrella, Mineko's Night Market, Iron Meat, Creature Keeper, Moonstone Island, TEVI, Pepper Grinder, Nine Sols, The Plucky Squire, The Last Faith, Blasphemous 2, Sea of Stars, Hades II, upcoming xbox x games, upcoming switch games, upcoming ps5 games, upcoming xb1 games, upcoming ps4 games

Id: eu16PdyL9aQ

Length: 16min 30sec (990 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 19 2023