Ever since Sony officially unveiled the PlayStation 4 back in February, it has made a concerted effort to lure indie developers to the system. On Tuesday, the company officially unveiled two new indie games that will arrive on the PS4 alongside platforms like the PS Vita and the PS3: Hohokum and Doki Doki Universe.
The first one we'll take a look at is Hohokum, an intriguing and colorful 2D title in which players take control of a long, snake-like creature that can travel and move other characters between floating islands.
"The player controls a long, thin creature with a single eye, who we're currently calling the Long Mover," co-creator Ricky Hagget said to Game Informer. "It is a very expressive thing to control, and feels a little like doodling in the air with a kite. Each place you visit has its own goals - the world is not bound together by a shared 'plot' (this is not a hero's quest game).
"In some places you definitely are helping out (someone at Sony once made the analogy to the old TV series The Littlest Hobo, which we really like), but in other places your role isn't so clearly defined - you may be causing mischief or just messing around for fun."
One look at Hohokum's gameplay (see the video from 2011 below) shows off a kind of 2D sandbox. Players can simply fly around, pick up other characters, battle with what seem to be destructive forces, and more. In fact, the philosophy behind the project calls to mind an older PS3 title called Noby Noby Boy, a title that also tried to free gamers from the constant need to fulfill missions and collect trinkets.
"One of the main aims for Hohokum is to create something where the usual pressures of videogames - constantly being told to do things, fearing failure and being challenged to earn progress - were all absent," co-creator Richard Hogg wrote on the PlayStation Blog.
The other PS4 title Sony unveiled on its blog is called Doko Doki Universe, which will be released in a couple of different forms. The game puts players in the role of a robot who's about to be scrapped due to the fact that he doesn't have enough "humanity." The player must travel around different planets in order to learn what it's like to be more human and report back to his parent company.
The developers at HumaNature Studio will first give players a chance to try the game through a free download on the PS4, PS3, and PS Vita. If they like what they see, they can opt to buy the full game and explore the galaxy in full.
"Doki-Doki is a lot more than just a game," Greg Johnson, founder of HumaNature, wrote on the PlayStation Blog (click to see some images). "It's a huge simulated 'living' Universe of intriguing content, filled with interactive stories and self-discovery. From within Doki-Doki players can use Doki-Doki Mail that 'magically' animates anything you type, and lets you communicate in playfully expressive ways with friends who also have the game or the mobile app."
Hohokum will arrive sometime in 2014, while Doki Doki Universe had no release date specified.
