Gamescom 2024: Games from Asia
The gaming world doesn’t end with Southeast Asia, and at an international event like Gamescom, we couldn’t help but notice a few more exciting games from around the world. Let’s look at the games of our direct neighbouring countries, the greater Asian continent, including games from Taiwan, China, South Korea, and Japan.
OPUS Prism Peak (Taiwan)
During a private meeting, Publisher Shueisha Games answered our questions about the latest instalment in Sigono’s OPUS series. The newest instalment, OPUS Prism Peak, does a few things differently from its predecessors: firstly, it features authentic 3D graphics for the first time, and secondly, it’s not a sci-fi adventure game.
This time, we play a young photojournalist trapped in a metaphysical parallel world visually reminiscent of Japan in the 90s. With the help of her camera, they now see a connection to the mythical core of this world and can find a way out. The story of the narrative adventure game remains vague, but it is a learning motivation for the game. Different endings should bring the narrative depth we are used to from the series, which, as the trailer shows, has already been excellently dubbed (in Japanese)!
The most significant change is the game’s 3D graphics, which offer a mixture of realism and Ghibli-esque panoramas – it’s certainly pretty to look at! According to the publisher, we can move the character freely in the scenes and use our camera at any time – fans of photo modes should be happy here. Photography will also become an elementary gameplay element in OPUS Prism Peak, deeply linked to the narrative.
The Coma 2B: Catacomb (South Korea)
With The Coma 2B: Catacomb, developer Dvora Studio and publisher Headup are now presenting the next instalment, whose somewhat strange name already hints at it: Catacomb is an extension of Vicious Sisters, which expands the storyline and is intended to form a story bridge to the rest of the series.
As usual for the series, The Coma 2B: Catacomb is a survival horror adventure in 2D, but sometimes it plays more like a dating sim or visual novel. Once again, we take on the role of Youngho, the hero from part 1, and experience eerie adventures in a South Korean school. Not everything is as tranquil as it seems at first, and the classmates with whom we initially chat cheerfully quickly develop into creepy monsters. Hiding, dodging and resource management are the keys to success if Youngho wants to escape this nightmare.Â
Tarisland (China)
Level Infinite’s Tarisland is a classic MMORPG featuring cross-play between mobile and PC set in a fantasy world. At Gamescom, we first saw Season 1, set within the vast Scardino Icefield, nestled within the snowy mountains. It includes the Snow Lion tribe, the mysterious Frost Dragon faction, and challenging new raids for smaller and larger parties.
When playing Tarisland, one can’t help but feel reminded of classic MMORPGs like World of Warcraft or Everquest 2 – too familiar are the controls, the interface, and even the graphics (although much more advanced than the two games mentioned). Tarisland, according to the developer, focuses a lot on questing and raids, including character optimisation with various classes and many different builds.
Season 1 will be released in October this year, as will the Steam version of the games, which you can already wishlist now.Â
Phantom Blade Zero (China)
Phantom Blade Zero is an action-packed souls-like game set in a fantastical Wuxia scenario. It is a remake of both Rainblood games from 2010 and 2013 and, just like back then, we slip into the role of a sword-wielding assassin and slaughter our way through hordes of enemies, either stealthily or in direct confrontation.
In the demo we were shown, we could proceed in secret, quietly take out enemies with a knife or bow, or throw ourselves into the thick of the action. Phantom Blade Zero plays like a classic Souls-like game, only on speed. Everything feels as if Sekiro has been set to maximum.
Thanks to Unreal Engine 5, it also looks damn good, with the combat animations and weather effects in particular catching our eye. There are currently many games in this setting, but if you’re looking for a more action-packed version that isn’t quite as relentless as the competition (enemies don’t respawn!), you should check out Phantom Blade Zero when it’s released for PlayStation 5 and PC.
Popucom (China)
We had a lot of fun with Popucom, a family-friendly co-op puzzle platformer that could have come from Sony or Nintendo. However, the game is being developed by the Chinese company Gryphline. In the demo, which we played together with a member of staff, each player takes on a colour set that they can shoot with their colour gun. Together with a shield, this tool is used for all puzzles in the game. Orange players can stand on orange platforms, purple players on purple ones, or even slip through the correctly colour-coded doors.
In combination, this results in really exciting jumping sequences that require teamwork and timing. We also have to work together in the boss battles to hit the colourful bosses with the right balls. Popucom is light-hearted, fun and played as smoothly in the demo as if it was already finished. It can’t be long now until the release, even if we haven’t received any further news.
DORONKO WANKO (Japan)
Our journey through the gaming world of Asia ends with an inconspicuous but all the more cute game that we found in the Indie Arena Booth: Doronko Wanko. The principle of the game is quite simple: we are a cute Pomerian and have to cause as much chaos as possible in a house.
It’s a lot of fun because of the clever physics and we couldn’t stop laughing at how the little dog darts around on hoovers, spills paint on everything and more or less randomly solves quests and unlocks costumes. Simply adorable! Doronko Wanko, incidentally a game from Bandai Namco, is available for free on Steam!
