Devolver Digital E3 2021 Showcase
June 12, 2021, 1:30 PM PT
Despite the pandemic last year, Devolver Digital still gave the public its unique take on the "Direct" style of press conference. Everyone expected the Adult Swim style of humor bookended by an actual story mixed in with a very good chunk of game announcements. What people didn't expect was a fully playable game to release immediately after, one with tongue firmly planted in cheek that gave players a chance to go through a fake virtual E3 convention while getting higher-quality videos of their lineup for the year. As per tradition, Devolver is back with its conference, and while we won't go over the comedic bits, we'll talk about the games.
Shadow Warrior 3 starts off things, and the big takeaway was the frantic combat. Large monsters, big guns, and melee combat are all here. A new grappling hook mechanic lets you zip toward enemies while you use a kick or a repulsor glove to knock them down or into spinning blade traps. That same grappling hook is used for traversal and a chance to rip guns from foes, and the trailer showed off just how quick and seamless the transitions are between guns and blades. It looks like the more recent Doom entries but with a demonic Shadow Warrior flavor to it.
Trek to Yomi marks a departure from Flying Wild Hog, as it is a much quieter game compared to Shadow Warrior 3. Done completely in black and white, this is a samurai game with aesthetics that give you the feeling of watching an old samurai film with the usual standbys, like torrents of rain falling on tall grassy fields while villages and castes are engulfed in flames. The combat seems to go for that slow style, where one slash is all you need for a kill, but it remains fascinating since it's done in a 2.5D style. Of all the titles shown, this one is coming in later, as it is penciled in for a 2022 release.
Phantom Abyss is an interesting title, as it is a multiplayer game but only asynchronously. Your job is to go through a procedurally generated temple and avoid all traps to reach the artifact at the end. There is no combat, but you do have a whip to swing across gaps and reach higher ledges, so you're getting a bit of a Seum: Speedrunners from Hell with an Indiana Jones vibe. The asynchronous multiplayer part comes from the fact that you'll always see the ghosts of those who failed at the temple, giving you the chance to analyze their runs and where they failed. Failing the run means you'll never encounter that particular temple layout again, but the devs are promising that those who beat a level will prevent future players from seeing that particular incarnation, too.
Wizard with A Gun already captures your attention with its graphic novel style. Despite the fact that you and your companions are all wizards, this is a twin-stick shooter where you trek through different biomes while finding the artifacts you need to put the fractured world back together. Shown off with an isometric viewpoint, it looks great for those who want something like Magicka with guns, but you'll have to wait until 2022.
Death's Door had the unfortunate luck of being shown off right after Wizard with A Gun, and the similar isometric viewpoint made it seem like another roguelike except for the fact that you're playing solo. Dig deeper, and you'll find that this is a fast action/RPG where you play as a crow trying to get a soul that should have already been reaped. Combat looks snappy, and the bosses look fun to fight in their small arenas. At least it won't be long before we can check this out, as it comes out next month.
Inscryption is rather mysterious at the moment, but the trailer gave us a bit of a glimmer about what we might expect from the horror-themed game from those responsible for The Hex and Pony Island. The game takes place in a cabin, and you're essentially playing a game with a demonic creature that involves a parchment map and a card deck that depicts seemingly normal animals. The card game seems similar to many other card battling titles, but the brief bits where you step away from the table to explore the cabin — and the fact that some of the cards seem to talk to you — provide enough creepiness for those who love the developer's knack for subversion.
Devolver Tumble Time is an odd one out here, as it is a purely mobile, free-to-play title instead of something that's also released on consoles and/or PC. If you're familiar with Disney Tsum Tsum on mobile, then you know exactly what to expect, as you're trying to connect tiny heads of similar characters from a variety of Devolver Digital properties. It looks to be a neat little time waster for those who enjoy mobile puzzle games or want to play Tsum Tsum without Disney characters.
Demon Throttle is one of the more interesting games because it's only on the Nintendo Switch and it's a physical-only title. Coming from the people behind Gato Roboto, this is a throwback auto-scrolling shooter in the same vein as Gun.Smoke, where you're automatically moving forward in a top-down viewpoint, shooting at hordes of enemies until you reach a boss. It has the aesthetic down pat with 8-bit graphics and a very late-stage 8-bit soundtrack, while the co-op will help against the bullet hell patterns of some enemies and almost all of the bosses. Our only hope is that the game isn't going to be limited due to the fact that it's a physical-only title.
As a whole, the Devolver Digital presser for E3 2021 did exactly what fans expected. In between the absurdist humor were gameplay-filled trailers of fresh titles, almost all of which are scheduled to hit this year, and a few titles are hitting in less than a month. We can't wait to see how the final games hold up.