My next appointment at PAX East was at the Toge Productions booth. At the booth, there were quite a few games that covered quite a few genres. The game I wanted to see the most was a cozy game called Undusted: Letters from the Past but I also got to check out two more games while I was there. Letters from the Past: Undusted tells the tale of Adora as she goes back to her childhood home after the passing of her mother. Through cleaning certain items, you’ll learn about Adora’s upbringing. You’ll also start to get a sense of what happened between Adora and her mother in terms of their relationship falling about. The game is all about cleaning items and these items start to talk to Adora(not literally) about the past. In the demo, you learn the basics of the game like how to use a toothbrush for cleaning items for example. You’ll start cleaning on your own and when you get to a certain percentage of cleanliness, you’ll be able to get a hint, showing where the rest of the dirt is. Having the remaining dirt flash is like Powerwash simulator where you get help seeing the remaining filth. The writing in this game is very well done as I was getting into it and wanted to see where Adora’s relationship with her mother was going. You started to get the sense in the demo that they didn’t have the relationship but the demo ended. Wanting to hear more is a sign of good character development.
Next up was a game called Compensation Not Guaranteed. This game reminded me a lot of Papers, Please or other games that have you interrogate characters to find out if everything is on the level. Long story short, you work for the Southeast Asian government checking the authenticity of documents belonging to citizens. You’ll have to decide if the paperwork is legit and if the people bringing it in will get compensation for their property. You’ll be able to speak to the citizens and find out their stories as well as if they deserve to be paid for their property. Find out if the information matches on documents and make decisions. After a certain amount of time, you’ll be evaluated by your boss and have to answer for your decisions. You’ll have the option to look the other way on certain matters but then you’re boss could start asking questions. You might hear one bit of info from one person and have another one come in with the problem that the other person was talking about. A couple of times in the demo I had a tough time seeing if I was missing something but on the plus side, your co-worker helping you out double-checked things. It’s an interesting idea for the game but it felt like there is a slight learning curve with Compensation Not Guaranteed.
Lastly, I checked out a game called Whisper Mountain Outbreak. The game is a survivor horror game where the key is to get the hell out of the location alive. Along the way, you will find all kinds of items that should help out in your survival like better guns or ammo. You can pick one of three starting characters and for the demo, I went with the Firefighter. The fireman attacks with an axe but has trouble aiming guns. I felt that since I have trouble aiming firearms in games like this, the axe would be perfect for me. You can charge it up to do heavy damage against enemies. Other characters have their own strengths and weaknesses so learn which one you play better with. You can play alone or online with friends. The look and feel reminded me a little of Crow Country or old-school isometric horror games. During gameplay, you have a time limit and if you don’t find everything you need and escape, it’s game over. I played solo and I think the game would be easier if there were other players there. You could assign people tasks and get them to search certain locations, especially with a limited time. You can combine items like herbs for healing. You’ll be able to find keys to unlock doors but you can also lock pick doors too. The lock-picking game was very finicky and I couldn’t get it to work with a controller. I was able to blow right through it using the mouse though. You’ll also have to find items to get through certain parts of the stage. For example, gems to open locked doors or fuses to turn the power back on. You can also have a gun and a melee weapon like the Fireman with a gun and an axe for example. This game also has a learning curve but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be running through locations like a pro. Toge Productions has a wide range of games coming out soon so keep an eye out for them.