Guacamelee 

Developed by Drinkbox Studios, Guacamelee is a side-scrolling action platformer that puts you in the shoes of a wrestler who must become the man of the hour and embark on an epic adventure to save the president’s daughter. The game takes a lot of inspiration from Mexican culture, which makes the world look and feel rich with details oozing out of every frame. As for the gameplay, Guacamelee employs a simple but enjoyable combat system, but what makes it so special is the excellent understanding of when to dish out new obstacles and enemies – which is the true mark of a great platformer.

Minecraft: PS Vita Edition 

Minecraft might just be one of the most popular games of the last couple of decades, and you can enjoy this sandbox on almost every modern computing platform – which obviously includes the PS Vita as well. Minecraft on PS Vita looks and works about as well as you would expect it to, and it’s a perfect game to be played in short bursts. Minecraft is one of those games that puts player creativity at the forefront of its gameplay mechanics, which makes it a highly replayable and endlessly enjoyable experience. 

Mortal Kombat 

Mortal Kombat is one of the most prestigious fighting franchises of all time, and the long-running series has been through multiple timeline resets as of late. Mortal Kombat on PS Vita is the 2011 reboot of the series that was released in 2012, and it’s one of the best options if you are looking for a fighting game on the console. And that can be credited to the excellent mixture of a compelling setting, a diverse cast of fleshed out characters, and a combat loop that features immense depth in terms of its mechanics. 

Telltale’s: The Walking Dead: Season 1

Telltale is a developer that has proven itself more than capable of delivering compelling narratives that twist and turn depending on player choices, and Telltale’s The Walking Dead is strongly emblematic of those strengths. If you’re new to the series, Season 1 is obviously the perfect starting point – but it’s also one of the more emotionally charged and universally acclaimed narrative games on the PS Vita. The writing, character development, and choice and consequence mechanics are all top-notch – which makes it a consistently enjoyable experience through and through. It’s the perfect game to sit back and enjoy without having to be attentive to enemy attack patterns and the like, and it’s also highly replayable since you could do multiple playthroughs and reach quite different endings every time.

Hotline Miami 

Hotline Miami is all about embarking on a huge murder spree across a wide variety of labyrinthian levels, and it’s one of those games that have a very strong grasp on game design. Developed by Dennaton Games, Hotline Miami presents its world with a simple yet beautiful pixel art style and neon colors that really capture the spirit of Miami and its flamboyant party culture. The gameplay in a similar vein relies heavily on proper audio and visual feedback to make it look appealing, and it all works excellently in conjunction with one another. Hotline Miami can be a brutally violent game at times, but the satisfying gunplay and appealing visual presentation give enough reasons to make that sadistic pleasure of murdering dozens upon dozens of people justifiable.

Axiom Verge

Axiom Verge is yet another Metroidvania that thrusts you into an alien world where you must blast through hordes of aliens as you try to uncover the planet’s deepest and darkest secrets. The Metroid influences are pretty clear here, and the developer doesn’t shy away from revealing those inspirations. Axiom Verge is essentially the developer’s take on Metroid 2, and it’s a really amazing game that nails the sense of flow without compromising on the sense of mystery that comes from exploring an alien world. The visuals hearken back to the NES and SNES days, and it all feels like a rose-tinted nostalgia trip to the past.

Lumines: Electronic Symphony

Lumines: Electronic Symphony might look like yet another Tetris game at first glance, but what makes it so special is the sheer attention to detail in terms of visual and audio presentation. Each stage in Lumines has been crafted with the utmost care, and that results in a breathtaking experience for what is essentially a simple gameplay loop of matching the same colour blocks. In a similar vein, the audio also consistently impresses with the variety of tracks and its ability to match the tempo and themes of the currently playing stage. Of course, it’s a game that’s designed to be played in short bursts – which makes it a match made in heaven for a console like PS Vita.

OlliOlli 2

Roll7’s OlliOlli series features some slick skateboarding action that rarely gets any stale, and OlliOlli 2 is a great choice for lovers of this adventure sport. But even if you are not super involved with skateboarding, OlliOlli 2 will be able to impress you with its creative suite of levels that consistently introduce new kinds of obstacles for you to overcome. Add to that a gorgeous art style, and you have a formula ripe for success.

Fez

Fez was developed by Phil Fish, and it’s a game that’s all about seeing the world from a bunch of different perspectives. These themes are beautifully reflected in Fez’s core gameplay loop that revolves around shifting the level and the perspective to reveal new things and ultimately find the solution to the obstacle. The levels look absolutely gorgeous, and a lot of that can be attributed to the excellent art direction on display. It’s definitely one of the best puzzlers that you can play on the platform, and if you haven’t tried it out – you owe yourself to give this one a shot.

Undertale

Undertale is a game that puts players in the teeny tiny shoes of a child by the name of Frisk who ends up being transported to a magical underground realm inhabited by monsters and talking plants. The story is pretty charming for the most part, but what makes Undertale different from its peers is how the combat is structured. Instead of having to whittle down an enemy’s health bar, players have to participate in a wide variety of minigames and use the power of love to turn the tables in your favor. It’s a fresh spin on the tried and tested formula, and it doesn’t really waste much time with meaningless exposition and dialogue dumps. It knows what it wants to say, and says that in a very brief timespan.

Polytron’s critically acclaimed platformer Fez was revealed for the Nintendo Switch at the recent Indie World Showcase. It’s now available for the platform, allowing Switch players to experience the joy of 2D-meets-3D exploration. Check out the launch trailer below to see how it works.

The story follows Gomez who’s casually living his life. Upon receiving a red fez, the spacetime fabric changes and allows him to view the previously 2D world from a new perspective. The platformer involves rotating environments, which are fully 3D, on a 2D plane in order to uncover secrets, open up new paths and explore new possibilities.

Fez originally launched in 2012 for the Xbox 360 and made its way to the PC, PS3, PS4, PS Vita and iOS over the years. A sequel was announced in 2013 but following creator Phil Fish’s departure from the industry the same year, it was cancelled. Nevertheless, the original still stands the test of time and is worth experiencing.

The latest free games on the Epic Games Store are now available with The Bearded Ladies’ Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden and Heart Machine’s Hyper Light Drifter. Whether you’re interested in tactical stealth strategy or retro-style Zelda-like action, they’re worth checking out. Both titles will be available until August 22nd at no cost.

Next week will see Fez from Polytron Corporation offered for free. The classic platformer first released in 2012 for the Xbox 360 and was a major influence for future platformers like Monument Valley. Fez 2 was in development until controversy erupted and creator Phil Fish cancelled it in 2013.

Fish would subsequently leave the industry, with little hope for the sequel ever being made. Regardless, you can still enjoy the original classic. Fez will be available free from August 22nd to 29th on the Epic Games Store. Stay tuned for more details on other free titles in the meantime.

However, the questions that we’re concerned with today to aren’t nearly as lofty as that. In this feature, we’re going to take a look at fifteen times developers left unanswered mysteries in their video games. Do note that there might be spoilers ahead.

GHOST LADY (RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2)

We’ve spoken a great deal about the swamps in Red Dead Redemption 2 over the last few weeks, and about how freaky they are, and one of the reasons that we’ve brought up for that on a few occasions is the ghost lady in the swamps. Her melancholic cries and wails sound chilling as they drift through the fog and hit your earns, and watching her for a distance and then suddenly just vanishing as you begin to approach her is truly frightening, as is her manic dialog that seems to hold no meaning at first glance. So far, we can’t say we know anyone who’s been able to figure out just who or what the ghost lady in the swamps is, and that just makes her even scarier. Even scarier than those damn alligators.

Oh, also, has anyone seen Gavin?

Dark Souls

The epitome of games that don’t hold your hand. From Software’s challenging hack and slash title provides a few basic instructions and then thrusts you into a world of pain. Forget the Poise debates of Dark Souls 3 or whether Dark Souls 2 was even any good – many players had a tough time just surviving in this age of fire and darkness. Where to go, what to do, whether you should kill that guy praising the sun abd so on and so forth. Of course, thanks to the summoning and message systems, players could actually help each other through tough situations. This ironically resulted in one of the more helpful communities out there.

Fez, the hit indie sensation that made waves on the Xbox 360, is finally coming to PlayStation- and not one, but all three of them. On the Official PlayStation Blog, Sony confirmed that the game would be hitting PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita on March 25.

Describing the PS4 version as ‘the best console version’ (obviously), with full 1080p, 60FPS, some innovative uses of the DualShock 4’s lightbar, and hidden secrets, the PS3 version was nonetheless described as ‘being well worth the wait,’ and the Vita version, described as ‘being the game on the go,’ facilitated by the title’s support for Cross-Save (across all three platforms). No word yet on whether the game will be Cross Buy as well.

Fez was an amazing game, although its creator was a bit of a diva who threw tantrums, and eventually ended up calling off the sequel after he got into an argument with… someone. Whereas we should always mourn the loss of what might have been a great game, we can still at least enjoy the glory of the first one.

Fez 2 may never see the light of day, but at least the original managed to sell more than one million units across all platforms since its launch. Polytron stated on its blog that, “Fez has now sold over a million unit across all platforms. That’s right, a cool mil. And we couldn’t have done it without you.

“Thank you for buying the game. Thank you for stealing it. Thank you for telling your friends about it. Thank you for buying it again when it came out on PC. Thank you for boycotting it so well. Thank you for putting up with the bullshit. Thank you for all your love letters, fan art, cosplays and freakin’ tattoos you got, you crazy bastards.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you. THANKS A MILLION.”

You can check out review for Fez here. As for the reason why Fez 2 won’t be arriving any time soon, you can read here for more information. What are your thoughts on the game’s success after all the controversies? Let us know below.

This was on Twitter, and it only got messier, with Fish demanding a public apology that clearly wasn’t forthcoming. After things went south, Fish protected his Twitter account and stated, “i’m done. FEZ II is canceled. goodbye.”

Polytron echoed this statement on its Twitter account, stating that, “It’s with a heavy heart that we announce that FEZ II has been cancelled and is no longer in development. We apologize for the disappointment.”

Surprisingly, it only gets worse.

Beer called for all media outlets to boycott covering games from Fish and Blow, before inviting Fish to PAX to discuss the issue. “The invite is there. If you want to talk & prove me wrong, happy to do so. I also said you were hugely respected. You don’t help with the way you communicate. You alienate people myself included.”

Fish has not responded yet. Stay tuned for more information.

As expected, many indie developers include Just Add Water (Oddworld: New ‘N’ Tasty) and Polytron (Fez) straight out condemned Microsoft for this action, choosing to bring their games to the PS4 instead. Now, with this about-turn, things would be cool between them and Microsoft, right?

Not quite. Fez creator Phil Fish, who has had his share of problems with the certification process on Xbox Live for the Xbox 360, tweeted his thoughts on the whole, calling it “disingenuous”.

it’s nice to see MS make some efforts but at the same time… what changed? why are indies suddenly so precious to them?

— PHIL FISH (@PHIL_FISH) July 25, 2013

it’s hard to believe their heart is in the right place. everything about it feels disingenuous to me.

— PHIL FISH (@PHIL_FISH) July 25, 2013

all we have to go by right now is their track record and their words. their sweet, sweet words.

— PHIL FISH (@PHIL_FISH) July 25, 2013

HYPOCRISY is the word im looking for.

— PHIL FISH (@PHIL_FISH) July 25, 2013

So we would guess that we wouldn’t be seeing his next game on the Xbox One, even though Microsoft plans to overhaul their certification process to be more like iTunes.

It actually sold 105,000 copies in 48 hours.

To understand the significance, Fish explained via Twitter that, “We sold more copies in the first 24 hours of the sale than we had on Steam in the first three months since release.” Those 48 hours also yielded greater sales than the game’s first month on Xbox Live Arcade (before the whole fiasco with Microsoft that required re-certification).

As the Summer Sale, we’ll see how many other titles benefit from the increased exposure.