Indie developers like to make retro-style games that resemble PlayStation games you rented from Blockbuster and flipped through during a feverish winter weekend. I’m happy, so here’s another one. Cold And Afraid is a murder mystery that aims to channel the nineties with solid characters and lots of beautiful hesitations. You play a detective who must stop a serial killer with a creepy pattern who is preying on the young women of an unnamed American town. On top of the mandatory tank checks, it aims for “consistent dialogue choices” and a “Time Event system where you have to meet certain people at specific times to forward various storylines”. Ah, forgive me, you are here to see the fat limbs. Here’s a recent trailer showing them.
“The trend of retro-style indie games has gone crazy,” says solo developer Sunamii. “But I want this to be the best you’ve ever played.
“In a genre that prioritizes visuals over substance, Cold and Afraid places consistent dialogue choices and the relationships you develop with characters at the heart of the experience.”
The cinematic slant reminds me a bit of Indigo Prophecy (that’s Fahrenheit for you American folks), which was technically a PS2 game, but let’s not split hairs about it. Cold And Afraid has been in development for a while, but we haven’t reported on it yet, probably because no one here loves the warping textures and jagged vectors of Sony’s glorious gray box as much as I do. “I’m working hard to get a demo ready,” says the developer. Take your time, my friend. I encourage cooking, as the young people say.
Cold And Afraid isn’t the developer’s only PS1-style project. They also listed Dungeon Explorer Twilight Bastion on Steam. It started as an homage to the PlayStation game Vagrant Story, but changed a bit in feel as the creator worked on it.
“As development progressed,” they say a xeet“it’s become more of a mix between Demon’s Souls x Symphony of the Night.”
Those are some tough moves to follow. As a solo developer, Sunamii seems to like to set the bar high. Speaking of Cold And Afraid, they say they want it to leave a lasting impact.
“Many indie games come and go. Released one week, forgotten the next. If the same happens for this one, then I’ve failed. Your work has to survive the release week.”
Sunamii also previously released Isolaniaan adventure game about living, working, eating and sleeping within the confines of a small cell to escape an ongoing plague (oh hello traumatic Covid memories, how are you?).
As for the PS1 retro craze, it really started after the Haunted PS1 demo discs were a wonderful annual compilation of small retro-style horror games. But other developers are embracing the aesthetic, including modern PS1 throwbacks like the upcoming Sorry We’re Closed and (arguably) Dread Delusion, which features the juddering vectors characteristic of Sony’s machine, even if it looks closer to PC classics like Morrowind .