Crow Country

In May, tons of video games are coming out: these are the ones you might have missed

May has been a particularly intense month for video games, so it’s likely you missed some, and we are here to present them to you.

May is turning out to be a crazy month. We can hardly recall any other month in the history of video games that has seen the release of so many great games. However, this also means that many games have gone unnoticed, as it is impossible to keep up with everything. But don’t worry, we’re here to help. We will guide you through all those games that you may have missed and that you should definitely check out. Because some of them are the best of the year.

INDIKA

On May 2nd, the first game from Odd Meter was released: INDIKA. A third-person game set in 19th century Russia. Putting ourselves in the shoes of Indika, a young nun with no family or anyone who loves her, she is accompanied on her journey to a nearby church by the voices in her head. Which belong to the devil. All resulting in an excellent narrative game, spectacular graphics, and simple but well-designed puzzles.

If you miss the classic Resident Evil games, you should try Crow Country. A game that visually resembles a refined version of the original Final Fantasy 7 while following the structure of classic survival horror games. Its greatest achievement is that it has managed to reinvent the ideas of these games, while still feeling like a completely contemporary game. Not just a tribute to the classics: an excellent survival game in its own right.

Braid Anniversary Edition

Perhaps we are no longer in 2008, but Braid is still Jonathan Blow’s masterpiece. A spectacularly beautiful and mechanically excellent game, which may not have aged as well narratively, but is still a cult game for good reasons. Now with improved graphics and a commentary by Blow himself, this is the definitive version of a game that has made its mark on the history of the medium.

Mullet MadJack

Frenetic, crazy, and aesthetically incredible, Mullet MadJack is a game that aims to do one thing and it does it excellently: be an arcade game that draws inspiration from roguelikes to create the best shooter of the year. Based on 90s anime, with dry humor and a narrative deeper than it appears, Mullet MadJack is a showcase of how it is still possible to create games with a clear classic flavor. Just modern.

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes

Everyone has fallen in love with Animal Well, but this month another puzzle game has been released that is a candidate to be the best of recent years. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is a game by Simogo, creators of Sayonara Wild Hearts, who completely change their style with this game. Having to investigate a hotel full of puzzles, its impressive aesthetics and narrative accompany brilliant puzzles that require us to deeply engage with a game excellently designed down to the last detail.

System Shock

Sometimes a game from 1994 needs a remake that manages to convey what it did for the gaming industry thirty years ago. That’s the case with System Shock. A game that not only defined video games and without which games like Deus Ex, Dishonored, and Prey wouldn’t exist, but is also absolutely excellent in terms of design and art even today. Something that the remake polishes to the point of making it enjoyable as if it were 1994, but accessible as it is in 2024.

Sonar Shock

Inspired by System Shock, this game takes us from space to an equally terrible place: the ocean floor. Instead of a spaceship, a submarine. With aesthetics inspired by the final years of the Soviet Union in a mix of shooter, dungeon crawler, and immersive sim, this game offers us a crazy, intense, and brief but very tasty experience. Sonar Shock is a game from the 90s, but as it could only be made today.

Nine Suns

It hasn’t been released yet, but the demo promises that this platformer, which seems like a mix of Hollow Knight and Sekiro, can easily be one of the games of the year. Challenging combat, incredibly fun platforming, and an aesthetic with Asian inspiration, in the Tao, the game could very well be the big surprise of the year. And that’s why you should have Nine Sols on your list.

Algunos de los enlaces agregados en el artículo son parte de campañas de afiliados y pueden representar beneficios para Softonic.

If you are a fan of Resident Evil, SFB Games has released the game of your dreams.

If you like classic Resident Evil games, this newly released game will be your new obsession, as it takes its formula and reformulates it for the present.

Resident Evil is no longer the franchise we knew back in the day. For better or worse, it has evolved over time. Resident Evil 4 was a very evident and abrupt shift towards action. Resident Evil 7 was a return to the origins of horror, but it doesn’t feel the same as the old games. Something that has value in itself, but doesn’t take away that particular itch.

Because in this house we are big fans of the first three Resident Evil games. The ones from the original PlayStation. And not just out of nostalgia. We can replay them today and they are still as fantastic and original as their equally excellent remakes. But it’s true that these games are showing their age in terms of graphics. This makes us wish that someone would make a classic Resident Evil game with today’s tools. Prayers that have been answered, even when we thought it was impossible.

Those who have heard our prayers are not Capcom, but SFB Games. A studio known for their puzzle games that has decided to venture into the classic survival horror genre with a game called Crow Country.

Very inspired by the survival horror games of the first PlayStation, both in graphics and gameplay. In this game, we play as Mara Forest, who must investigate an abandoned amusement park, Crow Country, to find its missing founder, Edward Crow. As it is evident, we will not take long to discover that there is more than meets the eye. And we will find ourselves searching for keys and mechanisms while fighting and dodging terrible creatures that seek to end our lives.

Part of the appeal of Crow Country is that, while it is inspired by Resident Evil and survival horrors from the original PlayStation era, it does not fully imitate them. In Crow Country, we can move the camera, disable tank controls, and there is no inventory management. The game focuses more on exploration with excellent level design, a clue system that forces us to take notes or remember them if we don’t want to go back to a safe point to remember them, and particularly resilient enemy combat.

This is also contributed by the fact that the aesthetics of Crow Country are not those of classic Resident Evil. There is the decay and rust of these, but its lowpoly art direction is more reminiscent of a refined version of the original Final Fantasy 7. An incredible nostalgia boost that works extremely well with its scenarios, which are presented as small dioramas made for the world’s most sinister Pinypon.

Actually, although the scenarios are relatively small, they are very compact. They are full of objects, enemies, secrets, and doors. This makes them extremely dense and interesting to explore, even though they are quite small in size.

That’s why the game is reminiscent of classic Resident Evil games. Combat is in the background and is more of a last resort than something we use constantly and consciously. Not so much because of scarcity, since we can replenish our pistol ammunition whenever we want, but because of the resistance and quantity of our enemies. Making it wiser to simply clear our path to be able to advance without fear.

If you like classic Resident Evil games, Crow Country is the game you should be playing. It’s beautiful, it’s fun, and it perfectly captures the sensations of those first three installments of Capcom’s classic. So whether it’s nostalgia or because you’re in love with that kind of design, you should play Crow Country.

Discover your next obsession: a game that blends Resident Evil with Final Fantasy VII

Mixing Final Fantasy VII with Resident Evil seems like a perfect formula for success, but no one had thought of carrying it out… until today

Feeling nostalgia is something normal. We all have periods in the past where we enjoyed things in a special way, and that’s why it’s common to have a special attachment to certain moments in our lives, associating them with specific points in history. In the case of video games, nostalgia for the era of the first PlayStation seems to be a common particular case, especially when we talk about two specific franchises: Final Fantasy and Resident Evil. But what if we told you that a game blending both has been announced?

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Developed by SFB Games, its name is Crow Country. It’s a survival horror game with a low-poly aesthetic that reminds us of PlayStation 1 titles, like a stylized version of the models from Final Fantasy VII. However, in all other aspects, it’s pure Resident Evil.

This isn’t even something the game hides. According to the game’s creative director, Adam Vian, what they aimed for is a “Resident Evil / Final Fantasy VII aesthetic.” He also added that the game includes “locked doors, rusty keys, a health meter in the form of a heart rate monitor, a nightmarish atmosphere, and environments that evoke pre-rendered art (but are actually 3D).” In other words, it’s a nostalgic dream of the first PlayStation era.

Set in 1990, the game invites us to investigate the disappearance of a man named Edward Crow. To do so, we’ll have to visit Crow Country, an amusement park closed two years ago under mysterious circumstances. As Mara Forest, it will be our obligation to uncover the secrets hidden within the park and, more importantly, to survive.

Scheduled for release in 2024, the game has been announced for PlayStation 5 and PC via Steam. Furthermore, a demo of the game is already available. So, you have no excuse not to immerse yourself in this incredible journey to the past right now.

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