Author: Sally Mettson

Cool title aside, [amazon_textlink asin=’B07895V82W’ text=’Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’geali01-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’bd3b463e-4cb5-11e8-9654-b7e76999e5c3′], a new interactive fiction title for the PS Vita, is out this summer.

Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly

Described as “hauntingly beautiful”, it’s a love story from Otomate (Idea Factory) and is the first in a trio of otome (or interactive fiction) titles.

Each of the titles includes an oversized 3” x 4.5” collectable character card set inside the game case:

Here’s the story:

In Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly, a girl wakes up in a mysterious mansion with no memory of how she got there. Adding to her confusion, she can no longer remember her name or past. Before she can come to grips with her predicament, she is attacked by a grotesque monster and is forced to run for her life.

It’s up to you to follow the black butterflies – the choices you make unlock different story paths in the game:

Each of the three ‘Summer of Mystery’ games features “suspenseful” storylines. What’s more, if you buy all three of the titles, you’ll get a set of exclusive collector pins. You don’t need them? Come on, like me, you know you do…

Described as an “arcade ball acrobatics game”, Acroball, from indie game developer Funcraft Games, will be released on the iOS App Store April 26th for both iPhone and iPad.

Acroball – Flashy Neon Looks

While it looks incredibly simple, it must be said that there’s no telling what will take off on the App Store these days. In fact, the title has that combination of simple, yet addictive gameplay that could prove to be very popular with gamers on the go:

The arcade game features “flashy” neon looks and, according to the developer, ‘deep’ gameplay mechanics. You have to juggle the ball by moving and rotating the level – without dropping it. The ball must, naturally, hit all of the lines to win.

I look forward to trying it out on my tedious morning commute, then! Acroball will set you back $1.99, or in the UK, around £1.40. Although knowing how prices translate over here, that’ll be £2 please.

Indie dev Evocat Games has revealed that Nemesis Realms, the sequel to Nemesis Perspective, is stepping out from Steam Early Access into a full launch for PC and VR.

Nemesis Realms – Forget Being Isolated in VR

Nemesis Realms aims to reinvent the local multiplayer experience by pitting a team of heroes, playing on PC, against a boss, controlled by a player in VR on Oculus Rift, HTC Vive or Windows Mixed Reality. Sounds pretty cool, right?

“It brings out the multiplayer party side of the seemingly isolated VR experience,” said Leevi Pääkkönen, CEO of Evocat Games.

“Coming out of Early Access the game is more optimized and polished, and gives players an additional action-packed stage. Based on community feedback during Early Access, we’ve also added in a pool of custom variables and power-ups so players can scale the scope and length of their battles the way they want.”

Nemesis Realms takes players through different environments, with different gameplay mechanics, where they can use custom variables and power-ups to strategically swing the battle in their favour:

The first environment, for example, transports players to a fantasy mountaintop with a lake and waterfalls. Using straightforward VR mechanics, the boss must punch and smack the heroes swarming around from every angle, while they hack and slash back at it.

You can pick up Nemesis Realms on Steam right now for £7.19.

Supposedly Wonderful Future is a sci-fi narrative game created by one person, in four years, with zero budget. If you believe those sort of constraints are the key to true creativity, read on.

Supposedly Wonderful Future – A Dark Path

Supposedly Wonderful Future was born out of a fascination the developer had with video games as a storytelling medium. It’s a project with a singular focus: to tell a ‘meaningful, thought-provoking, and emotional story’.

A cross between a point and click adventure, a text-heavy RPG, and a visual novel, SWF sees a young man invited to skip his own death by relocating to the year 2048. The catch? He has to complete some work for the world’s biggest corporation first. And we’re guessing they’re corrupt… It wouldn’t be a leap of the imagination now would it:

Here’s everything the game has to offer, with some pretty amusing features from the developer:

• Supposedly Wonderful Future contains a word count of around 125,000. The estimated play time is 4 to 8 hours.
• There are 5 chapters and a prologue.
• It has UI customization options to keep the text as readable as possible.
• Modest system requirements (a decade-old PC should do).
• There are enough jokes to forget about the daily horrors of the human condition. For a bit. Maybe.
• There are some choices, but they don’t really matter. Or do they?

If that sounds like your type of thing, you can pick it up from the 18th April on PC, via Steam, for $9.99 – around £7.

With The Council, indie studio Big Bad Wolf had the ambition to offer something new, something fresh to the narrative adventure genre. That’s something we like to hear at Nitchigamer.

Episode 1 Out Now – PS4, Xbox One And PC

Released earlier this week on March 13th, the first episode of the story-laden game has received a warm welcome:

It begins in 1793, with you taking on the role of secret society member Louis de Richet after his invitation to a private island off the shores of England – from the enigmatic Lord Mortimer.

The Council promises to have a deep and ‘captivating’ story, featuring intricate characters and smart writing. The developer hopes the title will push the narrative adventure genre beyond its boundaries with meaningful choices and impactful consequences. Make a decision and you truly have to live with it, that’s the core idea anyway.

The first episode of The Council, The Mad Ones, is available now on PS4, Xbox One and PC. If you’re as intrigued as I am, then you may just have the weekend plans sorted.

It’s worth noting that the full season comprises five episodes to be released across 2018 – the release dates for these will be announced at a later date.

With so many games being released on a weekly basis these days it can be hard (see impossible) to keep track of them all. On that note, INSIDIA may have been one you missed last week.

The Launch Of INSIDIA

INSIDIA is an online, turn-based strategy game from Italian indie dev Bad Seed and it’s out on Steam now. After six months of development in Early Access, the release rounds off months of dialogue between the team and the INSIDIA community, who provided their feedback and, excitingly, shaped the final game.

Here’s the release ‘trailer’ – if you can call it that:

There are also a few updates to the official release of the game, including:

• A definitive version of Coma, the game’s newest Champion
• An in-game news system
• New skins and poses
• The all-new Wastelander’s Pack

Bad Seed‘s CEO, Jacopo Musso, had this to say:

“INSIDIA is a rare type of strategy game in which we’ve managed to marry tactical depth and extremely fast-paced battles, and provide our players a quick and thrilling experience.

“INSIDIA features a unique combat system based on simultaneous turns and a flexible combo system. With a simple order, given within a handful of seconds, all the heroes on a team can join forces to create spectacular results!”

INSIDIA will feature regular tournaments on FaceIT, a platform for online competitions with over 10 million users – there are even prizes for those who are able to rise to the top. Sweet!