What we missed – but should be played nonetheless
Here at Virtual SEA, we are working hard to represent the vast diversity of Southeast Asian video game development. While we give our best at covering as many games as possible through in-deep reviewing, there are still a lot more games that just fall under the table due to simple lack of time and resources (not to mention our each of our own piles of shame). Now we want to give credit to all those little gems we played only for too little time for a proper review but still deserve your attention. This time we present to you indie games from Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia. Go and give this games a chance!
NEO Impossible Bosses (x0to1, Singapore)
Some people enjoy boss fights, and this is exactly for whom NEO Impossible bosses is made. The game – which is a remake of the original Warcraft 3 mod – strips away all the leveling, storytelling and other boring stuff from conventional MMORPGs and concentrates solely on boss fights. People other than this author (who doesn’t have the necessary skills and patience) might find joy and fulfillment in battling challenging raid bosses from a top-down perspective. Different attack patters and phases require the intelligent use and micro-managing of the various character skills and reward it with that overwhelming feeling of accomplishment when the boss finally goes down. Neo Impossible bosses can be played sole or in coop-mode. It is available on Steam.
Trianga’s Project: Battle Splash 2.0 (Dranya Studio, Vietnam)
Are you tired of ultra-violence in video games but still enjoy shooting people in their heads? Trianga’s Project: Battle Splash 2.0 might be your thing. This fun little team-based third person shooter puts you in the roles of harmless anime girls that battle each other with water guns. It’s colorful, fast-paced and offers a variety of classic games modes. In its best moments, it feels like a family-friendly version of Quake III Arena or Unreal Tournament. Developed by a single person, this multiplayer shooter offers a great package for old-school shooting enthusiasts. If only there were more people playing it…Luckily, the game offers acceptable AI bots for solo play. Battle Splash is available on Steam’s Early Access program.
Chef Wars (Mindcake, Singapore and Philippines)
There are a lot of cooking games for mobile platforms but none that takes the art of cooking as seriously as Chef Wars. This little gem could be best described as a cooking-exploration game. In order to battle the best chefs, players travel the world to collect ingredients and discover new recipes. Each region has its own specialties and some rare ingredients can only be found in special areas. What makes Chef Wars fascinating is its love for the culinary. The developers tried to represent diverse real-world cuisine and did a great job at it. In the end, his game feels like an encyclopedia of cooking and motivates with a deliberately complex progression system that made us lick our fingers afterwards… Chef Wars is available free-to-play on Android and iOS.
Light A Way (Appxplore, Malaysia)
Light A Way is an idle clicker game. Does that scare you away? It would have done the same with us if we had known this before playing. Yet, we got caught by the beautiful hand-drawn aesthetics and plunged into a magical world where light is the only weapon against darkness. It is highly addictive but don’t expect to do more than just tapping your screen and use occasional spells. Experienced mobile developer Appxplore delivers a motivating character progression and so we want to keep on continuing with our cute little character and its even cuter fairies and friendly animals. Light A Way is probably the best looking idle clicker out there and has a fair free-to-play concept. Still interested? Check it out on Android or iOS.
