It’s October and you know what that means – there are a lot of freaks and fears out there! There’s no better time to dive deep into wildly experimental and stylish survival horror than the spooky Halloween season, and this month’s PlayStation Indies delivers on that front. As for the “freaks” – well we have a bunch of very strange creatures and some beastly fighters that come straight out of the barnyard. Oh, and a geometric object so terrifying that alien apex predators tremble with fear. Let’s take a look at what you can look forward to this month on PS4 and PS5.
The Eternal Cylinder
The imaginative minds of developer ACE Team (Rock of Ages, Zeno Clash, Abyss Odyssey) have returned with an otherworldly adventure. A majestic planet exists far away in the universe, teeming with strange life forms all struggling to survive. But even in this harsh environment, one threat looms above all others: the crushing, destructive power of the cylinder.
You take control of a Trebhum, a strange companion creature blessed with the power to transform and adapt to environments by eating. Explore four beautiful alien biomes – savanna, tundra, desert and a freaky mutated infected sector – as you metamorphose your herd of Trebhums to respond to the perils of the environments and other creatures. Grow extra legs to build stamina, extendable eyes to get a better view of your surroundings, and swell your body for extra storage space. Explore, evolve and discover the secrets of the cylinder before it destroys everything.
Publication date: October 13 | Publisher: Good Shepherd | PS5
They fight herds
Tiny, cute animals make for great romping, stomping action in this unorthodox one-on-one fighting game from Mane6. Created by and for fans of the genre, Them’s Fightin’ Herds is a beautifully animated, humor-filled critter fighting game featuring character designs from acclaimed animation producer Lauren Faust. These fuzzy, scaly fighters may run on four legs, but they have just as many slick fighting skills as their human counterparts, bolstered by magical energy that can be used for movement and attack skills unique to each character. If knocking down the barn doors with your local friends isn’t enough, you can compete with friends both online and offline, thanks to the smooth rollback netcode.
Publication date: October 18 | Publisher: Games Mode | PS4, PS5
Saturnalia
Some historians theorize that the customs of the Roman holiday Saturnalia were incorporated into the Christmas holiday. But in the case of Saturnalia, a game from acclaimed Italian indie studio Santa Ragione, Halloween is a much more appropriate season because this survival horror roguelite is anything but festive.
You will travel to Sardinia, an island off the Italian coast and home to the village of Gravoi, where a strange ritual takes place every winter solstice. As you take control of four different characters, you’ll explore disturbing corridors and terrifying, twisting passages as you struggle to keep the ever-encroaching darkness from consuming you.
Saturnalia’s stunning and unique graphics, which combine bright colors with contrasting pencil shadows, perfectly enhance the disjointed, otherworldly atmosphere. Gravoi’s twisting, maze-like structure also changes completely with each playthrough, triggering a new set of startle responses every time you play.
Publication date: October 27 | Publisher: Santa Ragione | PS5, PS4
signalis
In the far future at the edge of space, a ship crashes into a cold, barren planet. As Android engineer Elster searches for her missing crew member, she discovers what appears to be an abandoned “re-education camp.” As terrifying visions and unfamiliar memories flash through her mind, the answers to her many questions lie in strange radio broadcasts. They point to something mysterious deep beneath the planet’s surface that Elster must travel to discover.
Signalis combines thrilling, terrifying survival horror combat and resource management with a mix of 3D polygons with 2D sprites that create a unique, exceptionally detailed pixel art look. Explore the moody, surreal environments of the planet in a top-down perspective as you piece together the suspenseful psychological thriller story. Can you overcome both visible and invisible evil forces long enough to come to the astonishing conclusion?
Publication date: October 27 | Publisher: Humble Games | PS4
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