The Best Indie Action Games at PAX East 2023

While we’ve expounded recently upon how wonderful it is that indie games are consistently raising the bar in regards to video game storytelling… some times you just want to play a game where you fight stuff or blow things up. Well, it turns out that indie devs are pretty good at making games like that too, whether it be slicing and dicing evil toys with a sentient hoverboard, or using a flaming sword to destroy creatures of darkness. Below, you’ll find the indie games we thought stood out at PAX this year, based on how well they let you slash, shoot, or otherwise utilize violence as an answer.

Strayed Lights

• Developer – Embers
• Publisher – Embers
• Release Date – April 25th, 2023

At this point, comparisons to FromSoft feel inevitable for any third-person action game that includes parrying (we’re certainly guilty of it on this site). But to call Strayed Lights a soulslike would be doing it a disservice, as it’s managed to carve out its own niche, both in terms of narrative and with its gameplay.

What it does have in common with games like Sekiro is its incredibly smooth and satisfying combat, which has a focus on parrying. However, there’s a twist: you need to match the color of the enemy as it attacks, and enemies will often switch color mid-combo. It’s a wrinkle that sounded gimmicky when we heard about it, but just a few minutes of actually playing Strayed Lights set us straight. While we didn’t exactly get the muscle memory down pat in our brief time with the preview build, successfully swapping colors and parrying a full combo felt awesome.

Supporting this excellent combat system is a beautiful, vibrant world with a wide variety of environments, plus an emotionally resonant story told with zero dialog. We spoke with the Embers devs at PAX, who explained that a lot of care went into the character animations, with the goal of ensuring that the emotions of each scene were clearly expressed by said characters. From what we saw, they certainly achieved their goal, and we’re very much looking forward to exploring Strayed Lights’ tale of inner awakening when it arrives later this month.

If challenging combat mixed with serene beauty sounds good to you, you can try the demo now on Steam!

Trinity Fusion

• Developer – Angrymob Games
• Publisher – Angrymob Games
• Release Date – April 13th (Early Access)

Metroidvanias and indie roguelikes are two of the more overrepresented genres on Steam, but Trinity Fusion still manages to stand out. Its slick-looking combat is what brought us to the Angrymob booth, and it didn’t disappoint. Your character is incredibly responsive, and clever game mechanics incentivize utilizing both your primary and secondary weapon in tandem. This leads to a satisfying gameplay loop in which you’re constantly using all the tools at your disposal.

We didn’t get much of a chance to engage with the plot, but what we could glean of the story piqued our interest: You play as three versions of the protagonist, who all exist in different timelines and play fairly differently — their worlds also feature different enemies and challenges. Your goal is to unite their timelines; while doing so, you can often swap between characters, and it’s possible to take advantage of their various strengths to overcome difficult bosses or levels.

There’s a demo available now, so check it out before its April 13th release into early access!

Gori: Cuddly Carnage

• Developer – Angry Demon Studio
• Publisher – Wired Productions
• Release Date – 2023

When Gori was first announced, there were a lot of comparisons to Stray — but we’re pretty sure the cat in Stray never decapitated deranged unicorn toys with a sentient hoverboard. Described as a “third-person skate ‘n slash”, Gori has more in common with Jet Set Radio Future and games like Bayonetta than it does with that other cat game. In Gori, you play as a genetically-modified cat who has to leave Earth’s orbit and head back down to the planet, which has been overrun with a bevy of terrifyingly weird killer toys.

The game’s fast paced combat lets you rack up combo points as you use your AI-powered hoverboard to slice and dice your way through an almost sickeningly neon cityscape. Using your board’s special abilities will drain its battery, but you can recharge by grinding on rails or wall-riding — this traversal method is also how you’ll make your way through much of the game’s insane-looking levels. The music is reactive, and really adds to the experience, growing in intensity alongside your combo meter as you mow down foes.

The game revels in its silliness and gratuitous violence; your AI hoverboard offers effective comic relief between combat sequences, but basically everything the game does is funny or goofy in some way. It’s simple, mindless fun, and we say that in the most complimentary way possible.

Nocturnal

• Developer – Sunnyside Games
• Publisher – Dear Villagers
• Release Date – Q2 2023

Despite looking like another yet indie metroidvania, Nocturnal is actually a straightforward action platforming title, more in the vein of something like the original Prince of Persia series. You play as a soldier returning home who discovers that a dark mist has taken over the land. To dispel the mists, you’ll have to utilize fire — by interacting with torches scattered throughout the levels, you can temporarily set your sword alight, allowing you to fight the creatures the mist has corrupted. The fire is the game’s core mechanic: in addition to being a requisite for damaging many enemies, having a lit sword also enables you to light lanterns and solve puzzles.

Arguably the most important part of these kinds of jump-and-slash titles is how the game feels, and Nocturnal feels great. Enemies telegraph their attacks clearly but still offer a challenge, and the way you utilize fire is both visually pleasing and satisfying from a gameplay perspective. It just generally looks fantastic, too: the mist curls and pools evocatively, and the way your fiery blade pierces it is straight up cool. This was yet another game that we had to struggle to pull ourselves away from, and we’re eagerly awaiting its Q2 release.

That does it for our favorite indie action games at PAX East 2023! If you’re curious about any of the titles mentioned above, drop us a line in the comments, and we’ll do our best to answer any questions you might have.