First Looks// Dispatches from EGX: Isbarah and Hopiko

Chris O'Regan, host of The Sausage Factory (the inside baseball of the videogames world), has been out and about once again, keeping his nose to the ground at EGX to sniff out the best upcoming games you might not have heard about. Here's what he found...

Hopiko
Developer: Laser Dog
Format(s): iOS and Android

I encountered Laser Dog's last game, Alone, at this year's Rezzed (I actually wrote about it here) and this new title is very much in the same spirit. Hopiko requires the player to jump between platforms that can move and rotate using split-second timing in order to avoid the deadly spiky things that can and will result in failure.

It's not possible to move along a platform when jumping between them - the only action you can perform is to just leap from platform to platform. It's not unlike Bugaboo, a game from the 1980s that had the player controlling a little flea-like creature that could only jump. The big different here, though, is that Hopiko allows the player to project the direction the jump takes, so there is some additional control involved.

Another feature of Hopiko that it shares with the previous Laser Dog-authored game is the amazing soundtrack. It's a cacophony of chip-tune gloriousness that needs to be experienced via headphones. It adds a great deal to the Hopiko experience as the baseline of these tunes can aid the player in completing the levels thanks to the almost rhythmic action of play.

Hopiko sports a very simple colour palette of a handful of colours as Laser Dog has aimed at keeping things moving and well-animated while maintaining clarity, which has forced the studio to use a minimalist approach. All of the above creates a very intense and rewarding experience that I would recommend anyone experience for themselves.

Hopiko is out now for iOS and Android.


Isbarah: The First Journey
Developer: Leikir Studio
Format(s): Windows PC, Mac and Linux

Bullet-hell is a gameplay mechanic that has been knocking around since the heady days of Space War. In that duel to the death, players had to dodge each other's missiles in order to be victorious. This mechanic has stayed with us through Gradius, Radiant Silvergun, 1942 and R-Type with all of these games being shoot-'em-ups. What Leikir Studio has done with Isbarah is to take bullet-hell dodging and place it within the confines of a platform game.

The player takes control of Iria, a goddess who is charged with maintaining order and preventing nightmarish creatures entering the real world. These beings are vast and only rail guns can destroy them. These are few and can only be fired once energy from Iria is expended. These rail guns are spread across the play area and are usually well-guarded via a spew of numerous yet slow-moving balls of death also known as bullet-hell.

Thankfully Iria has an arsenal of abilities available to her, the most useful of which is the 'dash'. This has Iria flitting almost instantaneously between two points in space and she is invulnerable when she does this. Due to its immense power she can only do this twice in quick succession. After that Iria needs to recharge as, while powerful, this ability is extremely draining. This also prevents players simply zipping around the level at breakneck speed, avoiding the bullets with ease and making Isbarah a very dull game. Thankfully, you can't and it most definitely isn't.

While I played Isbarah at EGX 2015 I couldn't help but marvel at the presentation of it and the fluidity of movement the enemies and the player character boasts. Isbarah is an extraordinary-looking game and plays incredibly well. Each level includes a boss fight that requires the player to learn the strategies and patterns the boss creature employs. Once these are understood it's only a matter of time before they fall.

Isbarah is currently out for Windows PC, Mac and Linux.