Weekend Announcements March 10-12th Part 1: Idea Factory, PLAYDIUS and TVR

By Rebecca Smith,

Another weekend, another game conference. This time it was the turn of PAX East to bring us a lot of news. We'll begin with the many announcements to come out of the weekend. Because there were so many of them, we've even had to split these into two parts. Here are the first 11 games to be revealed over the weekend.

Ancient Amuletor

Time of Virtual Reality is a publisher that is heavily supporting Playstation VR. Not only have they released four VR titles with a fifth on the way, they revealed three more at PAX. The first of these is an "action tower defense title". Set in the world of an ancient civilization, up to four players are pitted against magical creatures, resurrected monsters and "other legendary threats". If they're to succeed, they need to defend the crystals that maintain the balance in the world. Players can swap between several different heroes at any time during the battle, such as the archer, mage, gunner and puppeteer, each of which has their own set of abilities. The game will be coming to Playstation 4 this summer.

Ape Out

Unsurprisingly, Ape Out features an escaped ape. A rather large and angry escaped ape. In this title, no human must be left alive as the ape battles to escape its captors, using them as weapons and shields to create its own path to freedom. The "smash ‘em up" combines a stylized art style with rhythm based action to a jazz soundtrack. Developer Gabe Cuzzillo has teamed up with publisher Devolver Digital to bring the title to unspecified consoles this summer.

AWAY: Journey to the Unexpected

A collaboration between Aurelien Regard (The Next Penelope) and Jim Gennisson (Rayman, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom), this "first person adventure game" is one of three titles to be revealed by publisher PLAYDIUS this weekend. Players explore a rogue-lite environment where action and negotiation are as important as each other. Players can choose their path and recruit allies from any of the strange characters that they meet along the way. Your crew may consist of a ragtag bunch of oddball friends, but you'll need them to solve this mystery from outer space. The game will arrive on Playstation 4 later this year.

Beat the Game

As the game's name suggests, music plays a large part in Beat the Game. In the "surreal" adventure game, players will only be able to find their way by locating and collecting objects with the Roboball, and discovering sounds with the trusty Sound Scanner. Characters might share sounds, or you could combine objects to create a new tone, but that's not the end of your discoveries. Using a portable holographic music mixer, players can combine sounds and add effects and faders to create their own music show. Only when the audience is happy will you be able to progress to the next level. The game is heading to Playstation 4 in the future.

Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online (JP)

Released in Japan last month, this PS4 title will be making its way to North America and Europe this winter courtesy of Idea Factory. Tamsoft and Compile Heart joined forces to create this hack 'n' slash advnture where four Goddesses enter an online fantasy game world that has been inspired by themselves. Along with the CPU Candidates, players will fight in four-person real-time brawls where they will need to use devastating Awakening Skills if they're to succeed. There will also be "tons" of cosmetic accessories with which players can customise their characters.

Farming Simulator 18 (Vita)

As has become custom in the Farming Simulator franchise, the odd numbered instalments head to PS4 while the even numbered instalments arrive on the Playstation Vita. That trend continues with the announcement of FS18 where players now find themselves in a Southern US environment. As well as the usual crops, players can now grow sunflowers and breed pigs. Over your farming career, you'll have access to over 50 vehicles and machines from over 30 of the biggest names in the industry. Brands appearing for the first time are Challenger, Fendt, Massey Ferguson and Valtra. You'll be able to build a farming empire when the title is released in June.

Flipping Death

From the minds behind Zombie Vikings and Stick It To The Man comes another weird and wonderful adventure. The game takes place in Flatwood Peaks, a small and seemingly whimsical town. The town has a problem, though — Death is on holiday and the ghosts are becoming restless. The player character must help the ghosts with their problems while trying to solve the mystery of her own demise. The title will be coming to Playstation 4 in the future.

Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds (Vita)

Another Idea Factory title, this one will be making its way west on May 16th for North America and May 19th for Europe. Hakuoki was first released in 2008 for Playstation 2, but now a remaster of the visual novel is making its way to Playstation Vita. Set in Kyoto, the story follows the young Chizuru and her quest to find her father. In the process, she'll romance the famous samurai of Shinsengumi. The remaster adds new episodes and character routes, introducing new characters, new paths and, most importantly, new "romanceable targets".

Category I Shisenjou no SurvivornnerSpace

Players can take InnerSpace in one of two ways. You can either treat the game as a flying game that has a heavy emphasis on exploration, or you can play it as an adventure game where your method of travel is in a plane. The universe in which the game is set is Inverse, a collection of worlds that is inside out and where gravity pulls to the edge instead of inwards. Each new world has a different ecosystem with its own ruins and wildlife, and exploration will reveal evidence of a long lost civilization, which you must tie together to learn more about the universe. You'll get to explore these worlds on Playstation 4 in the summer.

Last Stitch Goodnight

Your last memory is of a bright light, a hallway, the worried sounds of your family, the steady beep of the machine that was keeping you alive, and the vision of your own body lying motionless in a bed. You survived a near-death out-of-body experience, but things are about to get even weirder. Because you meet certain criteria, you are then kidnapped by a doctor for his own nefarious experiments and you need to escape. You'll need weapons and powers if you're to survive your encounters with the doctor's other failed experiments and escape the gigantic mansion. A successful Kickstarter, the title will be coming to Playstation 4 sometime in the future.

Lighting End

The second of Time of Virtual Reality's titles, this puzzle title will be arriving for Playstation 4 later this year. In the game's universe there are Seeds of Light, each of which is wrapped in a Dark Flower that is waiting for light to be able to bloom. Players must use mirrors to change the path of light that originates from the Light Planet, avoiding obstacles that lie in its path.

Tune in for part two of the weekend's announcements and the remaining 11 new titles.

Written by Rebecca Smith

Rebecca is the Newshound Manager at TrueGaming Network. She has been contributing articles since 2010, especially those that involve intimidatingly long lists. When not writing news, she works in an independent game shop so that she can spend all day talking about games too. She'll occasionally go outside.