Worth Checking Out - Apotheon

I stumbled across the trailer for Apotheon this morning and immediately went hunting for a pre-order. Alientrap's 2D platforming RPG is styled after the black figure era of Greecian pottery artwork and follows an acolyte solider as he must battle the capricious Olympian Gods and save his homeland. The game comes out tomorrow(!) on both PS4 and PC, so if the trailer scratches your itch for mythological-god-and-monster-slaying, follow the link to Alientrap's website and go grab a copy yourself!

Flow

Mathijs Demaeght's graduation film "Flow" was released over four months ago, though for some reason it seems to have re-entered into the orbit of the blogosphere after detouring in the space in which all hidden treasures reside.

A beautiful and near-seamless combination of 2D and 3D animation, Flow depicts the story of a young girl who, in the depths of mourning a lost loved-one, follows a white wolf into a mysterious realm of forests and spirits.

"Go then; there are other worlds than these."

The animation here inspires favorable comparisons to the aesthetics of such works as Journey, Sword & Sworcery, and the Gobelins student film Myosis. With the exception of backgrounds, storyboards and score, everything was created and animated by Mathijs himself. If this film is any indication, I'd say he's got a quite the promising future ahead of him.

Cumbia de Piedra

The heyday of traditional, hand-drawn 2D animation may have come and gone, but there still remain artists and animators who know the aesthetic and emotional value of returning to the basics. Case in point: Cumbia de Piedra.

An exceptionally impressive music video beautifully realized through rotoscoping, watercolor painting stills, and other wonderful old-school tricks. This track is phenomenal too, an infectiously jazzy and rhythmic piece that's as hypnotic as its accompanying video.

"Cumbia de Piedra is an animated music video produced by Fabrica promoting MOHS, the second album of Jhon William Castaño Montoya, a researcher in Fabrica's music team. Realized by Tomás Pichardo, a Fabrica animator from the Dominican Republic, Cumbia de Piedra is a hand-made 2d animation that explores the culture, colors and textures of Cumbia."

Worth Checking Out - Night In The Woods

  Night In The Woods is a gorgeous new 2D adventure-platformer from the minds of game designer Alec Holowka and animator Scott Benson. The game takes place in the rural suburbia of Possum Springs where you play as Mae, a precocious yet introverted 20-something trying to find her place in the world of young adulthood. Night In The Woods promises a variety of laugh-worthy and poignant misadventures, with many extracurricular activities to enjoy, characters to befriend, and dark secrets to uncover. 

Run, jump and use astral projection to explore the many sides of the town of Possum Springs and the surrounding environs. Waste time around town with your crew of loser friends. Gain abilities that grant passage to new areas. Discover the secrets of a large cast of characters and the town itself. Experience a big crazy world and the remarkable events unfolding there. Play bass. Break stuff. 

The animation and art style resemble a marriage between the whimsical style and humor of Double Fine's Scott Campbell and Olive The Other Reindeer illustrator J. Otto Seibold. I love games that push into the previously unexplored facets of the human experience, away from the neon-tinged firefights of space warfare and the swashbuckling of high-fantasy. Though those are nice too, in moderation. I can't wait to play this game. Check out their Kickstarter page!

Cafe Allonge / Happy Hour (NSFW-ish?)

This animated short from French animation studio Kaw Animation may be going on a few years old, but I really enjoyed it and thought it worth sharing. The setting is a cafe,and the protagonist are rather upset young guy.  Clearly having a bit of a moment, he appears bitter and angry regarding his relationships with women.  While I'm sure everyone has had that moment of "COME ON, REALLY?!" (anyone?), this dude takes it a step or ten forward. Or at least, so it appears.  Warning: Kinda-sorta NSFW-ish.

MYS by Lila Peuscet

This is by far one of my favorite animated shorts that I've come across in a long time. French school EMCA graduate Lila Peuscet created this bright, surreal, and definitely mythologically-inspired short MYS.  This short integrates a mixture of 2D animation and a unique pop up book style, which play well into the grand narrative.

It tells the story, similar to ones told before, of a recently deceased king and those who would fight over his crown. And in this case, the crown fight is quite literal.  The epic score also lends itself to the overall feel of conquest.

Worth Checking Out: Shovel Knight

 

With only about 6 hours (as of now) remaining, Shovel Knight has more than destroyed it's initial goal of $75,000 but I'd still recommend dropping a few dollars on this fantastic looking project.

Shovel Knight is basically Duck Tails (without the fantastic HD visuals of the newly announced remake) with similarities to Mega Man and Castlevania. It's absolutely brilliant looking and it's definitely a title I can't wait to pick up on my 3DS. Check out it and let us know what you think. It's definitely looking like a solid title

Indie Spotlight - The Iconoclasts By Konjak Games

I missed out on being an early adopter of the hype behind Fez, or buying into those mind blowing early stages of Minecraft coming together in pre-alpha. Yet with Konjak's 'The Iconoclasts,' I feel like I've stumbled into something truly wonderful taking form, and was even more surprised to see that the prolific developer behind the game, Joakim Sandberg was offering free tastes of the game in the form of free alpha versions with 15-30 minutes of gameplay. Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity to give this game a spin immediately, and was pleasantly surprised by what I saw (The video above features me playing the first ten minutes of the game).

I've always been a fan of Metroid/Castlevania style games which despite being 2D, still offered massive maps, plenty of backtracking, engrossing combat and pseudo-RPG elements to keep you going. From what I had a chance to experience, the game narrates the story of Robin, a mechanic living in a universe where her craft is outlawed. The Iconoclasts takes small queues from all of these games, while throwing in a sprinkling of Cave Story and even crafting. With a truly awesome looking sprite aesthetic, great music and fun gameplay,  If Joakim offered people a chance to invest into the game ahead of time, I'd be first in line to show this game some support as I truly feel that the 2D exploration genre hasn't had much love over the last few years (Shadow Complex excluded). I'd highly recommend checking out the free alpha versions that Joakim has put out, which you can get over on Konjak.org. Check out the 2012 trailer after the break!

One Day

The idea of having a house that teleported every day to a different, exotic location sounds kind of awesome, but in the case of the protagonist of this short, that magic is long gone. One Day narrates the story of a man searching for a purpose to stay grounded in his magic house, until a fateful encounter changes the course of his path. The 2D short is subtly animated and serene in it's tone, littered with colorful shots of beautiful scenery. The short was created by 3rd year students De Joël Corcia, Bung Nguyen, Thomas Reteuna, Laurent Rossi and Bernard Som at the Les Gobelins academy.