Every E3 Devolver Digital produces an extravagant and hilarious marketing parody video that is simultaneously a set of solid jokes and writing poking fun at gaming industry trends as well as highlighting some of the most creative indie games that are on the horizon.
For 2021, the theme of the Devolver event was their new premium subscription service Devolver Max Pass +, a new way to have gamers spend all their disposable income on games they will never play. The jokes are lightning-fast and sprinkled throughout the live-action bits Devolver showcased some exclusive merch that is available for purchase at devolvermaxpassplus.com. We don’t want to spoil the extent of the jokes because it’s just that good that you should experience the 30-minute thrill ride on your own.
As for the games they showcased this year, all of them have unique art styles, gameplay genres, and it really just goes to show how good the creative eye for talent is at Devolver. Let’s get into the announcements.
Shadow Warrior 3 | The showcase opened up to a new look at Shadow Warrior 3, the third installment in the Shadow Warrior reboot series developed by Flying Wild Hog. Shadow Warrior 3 looks to be taking inspiration from recent shooters like DOOM Eternal, but differentiating itself by turning the wacky dial up to 10. The game looks fast-paced, traversal mechanics like jumping, dashing and a grappling hook make the mere act of movement look like a blast, and there are as expected a variety of weapons to shoot and crazy enemies to eviscerate. Shadow Warrior 3 is launching in 2021 on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.
Trek to Yomi | Also developed by Flying Wild Hog in collaboration with Leonard Menchiari, Trek to Yomi is a 2D samurai action game with an incredible Kurosawa-inspired art direction. According to the game’s Steam page, “As a vow to his dying Master, the young swordsman Hiroki is sworn to protect his town and the people he loves against all threats. Faced with tragedy and bound to duty, the lone samurai must voyage beyond life and death to confront himself and decide his path forward.” Trek to Yomi is definitely one to keep your eye out on and is slated to release in 2022 on PlayStation 4. PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Phantom Abyss | Phantom Abyss from Team WIBY is an asynchronous multiplayer game about dodging deadly traps within procedurally generated temples in search of treasures. On-screen, ghostly remains of players who failed their run in the temple appear alongside you as you leap over gaps and sidestep spikes. The game looks like a lot of fun, and if you want to get in on the fun early, Phantom Abyss enters Steam Early Access on June 22nd.
Wizard With a Gun | Probably the most intriguingly named game of the presentation, Wizard with a Gun is an online co-op survival game with a bold and colorful art style. Reminiscent of games like Don’t Starve, you will be collecting and crafting items, building structures, fighting foes, and customizing your wizard, all with your trusty lead spitter at your side. Developed by Galvanic Games, Wizard with a Gun is launching in 2022 on Nintendo Switch and PC.
Death’s Door | From the creators of Titan Souls, comes Death’s Door. An isometric action game where you play as a crow tasked with reaping the souls of the dead. The trailer showcases fast-paced melee combat, puzzle-solving, and interesting characters to interact with. The bosses look especially interesting and seem to combine a lot of the elements seen throughout the trailer. And to top it all off, you don’t have to wait long to play. Death’s Door launches July 20th on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.
Inscryption | Inscryption is a card-based game with rouge-like escape room elements all coated in an unsettling horror aesthetic. From Daniel Mullins Games, it’s hard to glean much of the mechanics of the card game from the trailer, but it involves animals, creepy inky opponents, and live-action FMV scenes. This unique puzzle card game is coming to Steam in 2021.
Devolver Tumble Time | It’s honestly surprising that Devolver didn’t already have a dedicated mobile game but soon we will all have Devolver Tumble Time to distract us on the toilet. Like many other addictive mobile games, Tumble Time is a matching game where you clear out characters from various Devolver Digital games that fall from a tumbler. There is a collection aspect where you will unlock these different characters, the trailer showed a piku from Pikuniku, through playing the game or just paying for them via microtransactions. The game looks like a fun time-waster for Devolver fans and the game will launch for free in 2021 via the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Demon Throttle | Here’s something you don’t see much these days, a game that is only available to purchase physically. Demon Throttle is a retro-style 2D co-op shooter with a pseudo-8-bit / 16-bit art style. You and a friend will blast through levels working to kill four demon generals in a hunt for revenge. As was mentioned above, the game will not be released digitally. Instead, through a partnership with Special Reserve Games, you will be able to preorder a physical copy of the game on Nintendo Switch between June 12 and October 13th, 2021.
And that was the showcase. It was pretty impressive this year seeing the amount of high-quality and varied games Devovler is publishing in 2021 and 2022, and there were plenty of belly laughs to be had at their witty takedowns of industry tropes. While reading the highlights gets you all the information, the showcase itself is quite the experience, and we recommend checking out the full 30-minute video here. Which Devovler games excited you the most? And are you planning on picking up a physical copy of Demon Throttle?
