News game Hollow Knight Silksong, Sea of Stars… 10 indie games to watch in 2023
Published on 01/10/2023 at 12:20
If very big titles are expected like the sequel to Breath of the Wild or the game in the Harry Potter universe, there are also independent studios which seem ready to publish their work in the coming year like Team Cherry with Silksong or Sabotage Studio with Sea of Stars.
Note release date
The indie games featured here are, today, currently dated for 2023. However, it is not impossible that these games will be pushed back later this year.
Summary
De nouvelles licences à venir en 2023The Last Case of Benedict FoxThe Plucky SquireReplacedPlanet of LanaSEASON : A letter to the futureSea of StarsDes suites très attenduesMetal Slug TacticsSons of the ForestHyper Light BreakerHollow Knight : Silksong
New licenses to come in 2023
The Last Case of Benedict Fox
It was one of the good surprises of Summer Game Fest 2022. The Last Case of Benedict Fox managed to sneak a place among Diablo 4, Redfall and other Starfields with a studio far from the standards of Bethesda or Activision- Blizzard. The title, developed by the young Polish studio Plot Twist, is inspired by the novels of HP Lovecraft. In a metroidvania, the player takes on the role of a self-proclaimed detective accompanied by an evil companion who allows him to access the memories of deceased people.
Expected release on PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series in 2023.
The Plucky Squire
This is the other good surprise presented during the Summer Game Fest. The Plucky Squire is one of this year’s projects from publisher Devolver Digital (Cult of the Lamb, Loop Hero. Jot and his comrades will have to cross 2D worlds born from the different objects and toys present in a room, even doing reference to various cult sagas of the 80s and 90s. In addition, the small team will always be able to take a step back in the literal sense of the term: go into three dimensions and explore Sam’s room, which is also full of dangers.
Expected release in 2023 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series and Nintendo Switch.
Replaced
A Microsoft exclusive announced at E3 2021, Replaced should finally land on Xbox and PC consoles in 2023: evidenced by the trailer released a month ago by the developers of Sad Cat Studios during the Game Awards ceremony. Set in a 2.5-dimensional retro-futuristic science-fiction cyberpunk environment, the platform game makes the player embody an artificial intelligence called REACH. This latter is installed in a human body and tries to adapt to the dystopian universe. which takes place in an alternate version of the city of Arizona in the United States.
Expected release on PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series.
Planet of Lana
Like Replaced, Planet of Lana also caught the attention of gamers. Not for its exclusive side but for its universe since the decorations are painted by hand. They are also inspired by the works of Studio Ghibli, a recognized juggernaut in the field of Japanese animation (The Tomb of the Fireflies, The Voyage of Chiro or The Kingdom of the Cats). The player embodies Lana: she is a little girl, accompanied by a creature named Mui, in search of her sister on an alien planet. Planet of Lana is reminiscent of titles developed by Playdead like Limbo and Inside.
Released Q2 2023 on PC, Xbox Series, and Xbox One.
SEASON : A letter to the future
This is the first PlayStation console exclusive of 2023. Expected at the end of January, Season: A letter to the future promises to be a more than exotic adventure. We embody a young woman who decides to go around the world in order to capturing the essence of the seasons. She records, takes photos and makes new encounters. Enough to keep memories of the passage of time when the seasons no longer exist. Season therefore seems to be an ecological fable. A feeling reinforced by its subtitle: a letter for the future.
Released on January 31 on PC, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.
Sea of Stars
It probably makes some of the most anticipated indie games (non-sequel) of 2023. Sea of Stars is among the most desired games by gamers on the Steam platform. Something probably due to the dazzling success of the fundraiser on Kickstarter and the artistic direction employed by the Sabotage studio. The latter is not at his first attempt since it is to him that we owe the game The Messenger, an indie game nominated twice at the Game Awards: if he did not leave with the title of best indie game (he lost to Celeste), he was able to get his hands on the award for best first indie game. With Sea of Stars, the studio trades the action and platform game for a role-playing game synonymous with a love letter to Chrono Trigger.
Available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch in 2023.
Long-awaited sequels
Metal Slug Tactics
If Metal Slug Tactics is not really a sequel to the cult saga born on arcade and Neo-Geo (including some episodes are available for free right now for Prime Gaming subscribers), it offers him an unexpected revival. It is the French studio Dotemu, specialized in the revival of cult licenses, which takes care of declining Metal Slug with tactical sauce. Already behind the second installment of Windjammer, the resurrection of Streets of Rage and most recently the latest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game, Dotemu has built a solid reputation as a modernizer of antiquities.
Available in 2023 on Nintendo Switch and PC.
Sons of the Forest
It is one of the most desired titles to come, on Steam anyway. Sons of the Forest causes more enthusiasm among players than Forspoken, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor or Resident Evil 4 to approach the genre. It acts as a sequel to the game The Forest, a real hit: more than 350,000 reviews, extremely positive overall, have been submitted while it displays a metacritic score of 83/100 (7.4/10 user score ). It puts players in the shoes of a plane crash survivor, who must survive against waves of infected cannibalists. Sons of the Forest picks up on this gameplay loop with a cycle of seasons and improved graphics.
Released on PC in February 2023.
Hyper Light Breaker
Never two without three for the Heart Machine studio. After becoming popular with the game Hyper Light Drifter (nominated in two categories for the 2016 Game Awards), the Californian studio is developing Solar Ash under the flag of Annapurna Interactive (Stray in particular). Back to basics in 2023 with the sequel to their original opus called Hyper Light Breaker: the studio swaps 2D for 3D, offers an adventure that may be enjoyable for many and published by Gearbox Publishing (Have a Nice Death, Godfall or We Happy Few).
Hollow Knight : Silksong
It is obviously the most anticipated indie game for quite a while. However, Hollow Knight: Silksong seems to be ready to be released this year. After the release of a surprise and express trailer during its Summer Game Fest 2022 conference, Xbox and Microsoft yesterday again confirmed the release this year of the Hollow Knight sequel. The latter, released unpretentious, has become a must-have title. 87/100 and 9.1/10 user score on metacritic, more than 230,000 (extremely positive) reviews left on its Steam page… There is no shortage of proof of the success of the Australian studio Team Cherry, enough to cause excessive expectation for this new album.
Nine Sols – the solid competitor to Hollow KnightBomb Rush Cyberfunk – for figure sports fansRavenlok – the mix between Alice in Wonderland and Tim BurtonDordogne – the narrative game that plays on childhood memoriesThirsty Suitors – Skateboarding, cooking and turn-based in this narrative gameA Space for the Unbound – A pixel-art narrative adventure in 90s Indonesia
