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When we thought gaming couldn’t get any better, 2024 raised the bar once again. Gamers have been eating well over the past year, and we have the excellent developers behind our favorite games to thank for that. This International Women’s Day, we’re honoring six game makers who made the year better via their contributions to our favorite video games. The list is by no means exhaustive, but hopefully shouting out just a few incredible women who work on games, it will encourage more people to look behind the curtain at just who brings these amazing experiences to life. Here's our list of six games you should check out below:

Pinki Li – Writer, 1000xResist 2e2f1c

1000xResist is one of the standout releases of last year. Telling the story of a society cloned from a single teenage girl immune to a disease that devastated the planet, 1000xResist examines everything from Chinese diaspora in Canada, and the building of culture from nothing, to the internal struggle of burden, and loss.

It is not an easy story to tell, and even just playing through it you will need to take time to digest it. However, as one of the main writers on the project Pinki Li tackles these topics with grace, and nuance, while not shying away from showing a darker side to emmigration. 1000xResist’s power comes from the strength of its narrative, and we have Pinki Li to thank for that. It is a powerful game, a powerful narrative, and a powerful experience, and one of the must play games of the last 12 months.

1000xResist launched on May 9, 2024, and is available on PC and Nintendo Switch.

Azusa Kido – Director of daily events, Metaphor: ReFantazio 4q5c4m

Metaphor: ReFantazio is indisputably one of the best games of last year. Developer Studio Zero took their work on the modern Persona series and elevated it to a whole new level with changes that go beyond the high-fantasy setting. Metaphor: ReFantazio splits the gameplay, and story between dungeon-crawling action, improving your Kingly Virtues, and forming tighter bonds with the people you meet.

Metaphor: ReFantazio’s biggest improvement over the Persona series is the wider variety of actions you can do when not on the critical path, and the more lenient time frame you have to complete them. We can thank the director of daily events Azusa Kido for these improvements, as she worked to tweak the formula, make daily life more engaging, and give players more options to individualize their playthroughs. As one of the many amazing women in gaming, Kido’s contribution to Metaphor: ReFantazio is one of the most important additions to the game.

Metaphor: ReFantazio was released on October 11, 2024, and is available on PC, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, and PS5. 

Anna Todich and Anastasia Dyachuk – Actors, Indika 3t7010

Indika is one of the most singular experiences of 2024. There is no other game I can compare it to. It tells the story of a Russian nun who is ostracized from her community as she suffers a mental health crisis. She begins to have a crisis of faith, and on her journey to deliver a letter, comes across a dying man, who believes he can be healed by visiting a holy artifact, the Kudets, and she decides to him hoping to heal herself and reclaim her faith.

Anna Todich voices the titular Indika, and Anastasia Dyachuk worked as her face model making for a dynamic duo of women in gaming. With so few characters in the game, Indika’s strength is in the skill of its actors. Indika’s inner torment can be read through her facial expression and her voice, and as a character study, Indika would not be as incredible as it is without the work of these actors.

Indika launched on May 2, 2024, and is available on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5.

Åsa Wallander – 2D artist, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes 6h1354

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes was developed by Simogo, the same team that created the rhythm-based acid trip Sayonara Wild Hearts. Before I talk about the game and Åsa Wallander’s contributions, I want to shout out Simogo in general for highlighting each of its developers and giving them all the recognition they deserve. Developers are the lifeblood of the industry and they deserve so much more recognition than they receive. 

If Celeste is the hardest platformer anyone can beat, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is the hardest puzzle game anyone can beat, if they put in the effort without immediately giving up the ghost. It will make you feel the smartest and dumbest you’ve ever been all at once. Åsa Wallander’s work is not meant to be noticed; it’s the type of work that players only notice when it’s done poorly. The environmental art is a masterclass in style, sucking you into the world that is beholden to no particular period leaving you with a sense of unease. If you appreciated the atmosphere of Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, Åsa Wallander is to thank.

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes was released on May 16, 2024, and is now available on PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, and PS5.

Saho Nishikawa – Producer, Fantasian: Neo Dimension xhc

Square Enix and RPGs go hand-in-hand, and not only does the company love producing them, but it is excellent at doing so. Not only that but Fantasian: Neo Dimension was developed by Mistwalker, best known for creating the Wii cult classic, The Last Story. From this pedigree it seemed inevitable that Fantasian: Neo Dimension would be an excellent game, but there is something specific that sets it apart.

Every background, every environment, every scene, is created physically before being put into the game. Everything except the sprites and the UI, including the towns and the battle grounds are dioramas; real life paper craft, and models that make up the backgrounds. It takes the 2D-HD art style that became popular with Octopath Traveler and pushes it to the next level. Producer Saho Nishikawa’s work focused on the creation of these dioramas, alongside the special effects that make them blend so seamlessly into the game. We hope that more women in gaming push game art like this in the future.

Fantasian: Neo Dimension was released on December 5, 2024, for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

The post International Women’s Day in Gaming – Six Incredible Game Makers That Made Our Year appeared first on Siliconera.

Picking up Lorelei and the Laser Eyes feels like taking a step into a cryptic past, when rumors of Polybius were flitting among arcade goers and a night of entertainment meant a crossword puzzle or two. Unique and addicting, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes provides a fun and rewarding experience for either a single person or group of gamers.

Like Lorelei and the Laser Eyes itself, the story does not immediately reveal itself to you. It takes a bit of time and sleuthing before the yarn starts to unravel. When the game starts, you know very little about your character, a smartly-dressed woman who looks like she’d fit right in a noir spy film. As you piece together clues from dialogue and readable items, you learn that an eccentric man invited you to a secluded hotel, which houses strange puzzles, art exhibits, magic shows, and plenty of mysteries. And a dog too, which you can pet.

The puzzles range between pleasantly easy and surprisingly difficult, but none of them feel like cop-outs. You truly have almost everything you need at your fingertips, or they’re a few steps away. Some of them are incredibly easy, such as one requiring basic knowledge of Roman numerals or our English alphabet. But then you’d encounter one that makes you stare at it, feeling like you’re rubbing every single brain cell you have and getting nothing in return.

I vividly realizing the solution to a puzzle as I was falling asleep and then shooting up, wide awake, just to turn on Lorelei and the Laser Eyes and rush to the location to input my answer. I was right, and that rush of serotonin was so strong that I continued to play until the sun was in the sky.

Part of the appeal lies in its more old school way of doing things. It brought me back to when I was a child, sitting in the waiting room of my piano teacher’s house and hunched over a book of riddles and whodunnits with a pen and notebook in hand. The Discord server I have for myself was full of pictures, notes, equations, and scribbles. I called on my roommate for help, as well as provided the puzzles without any context to my friends when I was stuck. Some of the puzzles prompted pretty lively discussion and I found it fascinating that this game, which can feel so isolating as you wander around the dreary hotel on your own, could bring so many people together without even being in my friends’ hands.

“Beautiful” might not be the first word that pops to mind when you see Lorelei and the Laser Eyes. Indeed, according to Simogo’s development blog, that wasn’t the goal. But there’s something gripping about the retro aesthetic. I loved how clean and crisp the black-and-white color scheme is, with everything easily visible despite the grainy filter and odd textures. When colors appear, they pop, and they’re so eerie against the dark backdrop that they really stick in your mind. For a game that seems to do so little with its appearance, its blend of its many inspirations make for a singularly unique experience.

This is one of those games that I’ll think about even after I finish it. As of the time of writing, I still have quite a few mysteries to uncover, as there are some puzzles that just well and truly stumped me. The world it presents is a cryptic one, reminding me of old conspiracy theories from before my time, but it keeps you coming back for more, hankering to pull back the curtains and unlock the doors to discover the secrets behind them.

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes will come out on the Nintendo Switch and Windows PC via Steam on May 16, 2024. Nintendo Switch version reviewed.

The post Review: Lorelei and the Laser Eyes Makes You Feel Like the Smartest and Dumbest Person Alive appeared first on Siliconera.