Lost Soul Aside

Taking inspiration from the likes of action games, developer UtilZeroGames’ upcoming Lost Soul Aside is looking like a promising hack and slash game. Players take control of a warrior and a shapeshifting companion as they make their way through a world where technology and fantasy coalesce together in a beautiful way. The combat is fast and frenetic, and the visuals are absolutely stunning – which is why you should definitely keep an eye out for Lost Soul Aside when it releases in the near future.

Project: The Perceiver

One of the more recent announcements in the list, Project: The Perceiver can best be described as Ghost of Tsushima meets Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Set against the backdrop of ancient China, the game follows an artist who dies moments before completing his masterpiece – but is brought back to life by a mysterious force following which he embarks on a quest to save his land from intruders. The combat is stylish yet retains a methodical flair to it, and the open world looks gorgeous with stunning vistas and a grand sense of scale.

Project GRAY

Currently in development at In-D, Project Gray puts you in the shoes of a native who has gained some special abilities thanks to an advanced civilization that has landed on its shores. Now, it’s up to him to stand up to the aliens and drive them away from this planet. Project GRAY started life as a one-man project and it’s still some ways from release, but it looks gorgeous with some dynamic gameplay that revolves between traversal and combat flawlessly.

Mumbai Gullies

Mumbai Gullies is a story about the protagonist rising through the ranks of Mumbai’s underworld throughout different time periods. The game is open-world, so it seems fair to expect a number of surprises while exploring every nook and cranny of this faithfully recreated rendition of the Indian city of dreams. Mumbai Gullies has the potential to morph into a grand hit, and we really hope that it does exactly that.

Airtight City 2.0

Airtight City 2.0 sees players assuming the role of a soldier who is powered by millions of souls, and if you think that premise is interesting – wait until you see the game in action. The combat looks absolutely brutal with our armored protagonist seamlessly switching between weapons and abilities to get through hordes of enemies. Airtight City 2.0 doesn’t have a release date at this point, but stay tuned to learn more.

IGI Origins

Toadman Interactive is bringing back a beloved franchise with IGI Origins, which looks like everything we would want from a modern entry in the series. IGI Origins presents itself with a fresh coat of paint thanks to updated visuals, and the hybrid gameplay loop of action and stealth is sure to captivate gamers once again when it releases for all major platforms sometime in the future.

Moon Mystery

Moon Mystery – at its core – is a game about uncovering the many secrets that lie undiscovered on its surface. Cosmonauts ask some pretty intriguing questions about our race to the moon, such as what was the real reason behind the mad race to reach the moon. It’s pretty rooted in alternate history and sci-fi fiction, and the gameplay seems to put equal amounts of attention to combat and exploration – which has us salivating for the final release.

Bramble: The Mountain King

Bramble: The Mountain King might seem like an ordinary adventure game at first glance, but upon further inspection – you will soon realize that it’s so much more than just that. The story (which is inspired by dark Nordic fables) sees you embarking on a grand adventure to rescue your sister from dark threats that haunt these lands. The journey will be punctuated by interesting set-pieces, gargantuan threats, and emotional story beats that should make Bramble: The Mountain King a game worth looking into.

Little Devil Inside

Neostream Interactive’s Little Devil Inside has been a long time coming, and suffice to say – it looks really promising. The trailers showcase our explorer characters going through a mundane personal life as well as an adventurous professional life as they search for monsters. The game will be open-world, and the minimalist cartoony art style really draws you in.

Aftermath

Aftermath puts you in the shoes of Charlie as he trudges through a city in vain hopes of finding his daughter, all while dealing with perils of an inhuman invasion. Apart from that, Aftermath will also put a lot of focus on Charlie’s own mental health issues such as PTSD which will have huge ramifications on gameplay as well. Aftermath looks really intriguing, and while it doesn’t have a release date just yet – we are really looking forward to playing it.

Vigilancer 2099

Vigilancer 2099 is all about your player character taking up on bounties to pay off some huge debt. Envoidant Studios’ upcoming action adventure is steeped in references to famous works of cyberpunk art, but it also has enough flavour of its own to help distinguish it from the rest of the pack. The visuals look gorgeous, and while gameplay details remain scant for now – Vigilancer 2099 certainly has our attention.

ILL NESS

Not to be confused with Project ILL from Clout Games, ILL NESS is another upcoming different survival horror experience from publisher ASDStudio. ILL NESS is inspired by a classic horror fiction novel Dreamcatcher, and it paints a bleak and dim world where survival seems unlikely – but you must trudge through all odds to remain alive. It looks absolutely brutal, and it’s currently set for a 2022 release date – though that would be updated soon.

Where Winds Meet

Much like Project: The Perceiver that we discussed before, Where Winds Meet is an open-world action RPG that’s set against the backdrop of ancient China. And it also tells a story that’s deeply personal to the protagonist, as he faces a moral dilemma between upholding his code of conduct or use everything in his power to defeat his enemies. The combat and traversal are looking pretty fast paced, and they all culminate to form a dynamic gameplay proceeding that looks really enchanting.

Pioner

In so many ways, Pioner looks like a true next-gen survival game. GFA Games’ paints a bleak world on the brink of destruction, and that gives way to interesting gameplay elements like well-designed first person combat, PvP elements, and base building among others. Pioner will be coming to PC sometime in the near future, and more details will be revealed soon.

Paranormal Tales

Digital Cybercherries’ upcoming Paranormal Tales is a collection of stories about people who went missing in a dark forest, and players must play through footage of those recordings to find out the mystery behind those disappearances. Paranormal Tales utilizes a rather unique bodycam perspective, and the developers are teasing some disturbing horror elements that are likely to get under your nerves. And that has us excited to know more about it, and hopefully we will get to play it soon.

One such game is a little game called Moon Mystery, which seems like a perfect blend of thoughtful storytelling and engaging gameplay. This game takes inspiration from a variety of sources to craft an experience that’s reminiscent of games like Prey while also being its own thing. To that end, we ask the question – what the hell is exactly Moon Mystery?

Moon Mystery is a story-driven adventure game that’s currently in development at Cosmoscouts. This game is the studio’s debut title, and is being published by Freedom Games which has a strong catalog of indie and AA games such as the likes of Neon Blight and Broken Pieces among many others. Moon Mystery is set against the backdrop of the moon and other planets, and Cosmoscouts is promising a story that’s going to be filled with intrigue and mystery.

While the narrative setup is mostly shrouded in mystery at this point, the developer has said that it will involve the first human landing on the moon that happened in 1969. According to the game’s description, there’s a larger mystery as to why astronauts keep returning to the moon time and time again. Players assume the role of an astronaut who is well, sent on yet another expedition to the moon. But as fate would have it, he gets wrapped up in a complex web of mysteries and surprise revelations that coalesce to form the entire plot of the game. Cosmoscouts promises over 200+ lines of dialogue, and while that metric doesn’t relate to the quality of the experience in any meaningful way – but we can definitely assume that the storytelling will be rich in dialogue and conversations. Furthermore, Moon Mystery’s world-building also looks superb, and we really hope that the actual plot ends up doing justice to this intriguing premise.

A great narrative wouldn’t amount to much if the supporting gameplay elements aren’t strong enough, and thankfully – Moon Mystery seems primed to deliver a compelling experience in that regard as well. An important thing to understand here is that Moon Mystery is a story-driven adventure, and the actual variety in gameplay types and pacing would always take preference before having an incredibly deep gameplay system based around one simple hook. To that end, Moon Mystery’s moment-to-moment gameplay would involve taking in scenic vistas and exploring the moon station as you uncover the ultimate mystery.

Of course, the player’s journey wouldn’t be without its roadblocks – and opposing forces will try to stop you in your tracks. We don’t know what form these threats will take apart from robots, but you will have some firepower by your side to help you to fight back. We saw the player character wielding a pistol and a submachine gun in the available footage for the game, but it seems fair to expect that the full release will have more types of weapons and enemies. And on that note, we’d also like to see how a typical combat scenario would play out in Moon Mystery and whether outdoor sequences would incorporate elements like zero-gravity into the mix or not.

In addition to action elements, Moon Mystery will also feature mind-bending puzzles that players will need to solve in order to progress through the story. The gameplay trailer showcased a seemingly complex puzzle that requires aligning multiple cube-like objects to direct a beam of light towards its goal. If we were to gauge the quality of puzzles through this one instance, the game is certainly going to be a treat for fans of games like System Shock or Deus Ex.

Moon Mystery will also be a fairly lengthy experience, and the game will contain a total of 15 different levels as per the game’s website. The story will span a total of 7 planets – so we can expect a great deal of variety within the environments as well. Many of these environments are going to be large, and players will have many ways of traversing through these areas. In addition to exploring on foot, some sections will allow players to hop onto Rover trucks or drive RC cars. If that wasn’t enough, you will have the option to control submarines and commandeer a spaceship as well. Of course, most of these sections would most likely be scripted since the game isn’t open-world or a sandbox, but it should make for some interesting variety within the gameplay nevertheless.

Coming over to the visual presentation, Moon Mystery has some interesting things going for it – but there seems to be a visible lack of polish with regard to the visuals. Some elements of the presentation such as the color presentation and the art style look really great with an element of spookiness to the whole affair – but the actual asset quality and the environments don’t seem up to the mark. There’s a strong element of shimmering alongside a mushy effect to the actual assets, and while that might be an artistic choice or a direct result of compressed footage – we think that Cosmoscout might need to work on the visual elements of Moon Mystery before its release.

And this leads us nicely to the topic of the release. Moon Mystery is currently slated for a 2023 release. A quick look through the SteamDB listing for the same reveals a planned release date for 15 March, 2023 but that could end up being a placeholder date for all it’s worth. That said, a 2023 release date seems an achievable one considering the current state of the project and the scope – but it’s always advisable to keep expectations in check in cases like these. Moon Mystery will only be releasing for PC, although console versions would surely be in the cards if the initial launch garners the success it needs to cover up development costs for console releases further down the line.

In conclusion, Moon Mystery seems to be a potent mix of varied gameplay and thoughtful storytelling – and it has the potential to become something really amazing. Given that this is developer Cosmoscouts’ debut project, it makes complete sense to really polish the gameplay and story elements prior to release. We really hope that the game ends up doing justice to its promises, and eventually ends up being one of the biggest surprise hits of 2023 – or whenever it ends up releasing.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.