It’s been a little over a week since members of Gamer Social Club attended PAX East, and there is much to discuss. While PAX East may no longer have some of the biggest studios, smaller studios are getting their time to shine. Today, we want to highlight one of the studios that attended with quite a few games for players to try out. 

Ocean Drive Studio arrived with a very strong showing this year. Three games were available for convention goers to demo. While two of them were roguelikes, the gameplay was so different that they will appeal to distinct audiences. Toss in a zombie survival game for good measure this year, and you’ll see the variety of Ocean Drive Studio.

Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch

Gamer Social Club has previously covered one of these releases, Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch, so we won’t spend too much time on this one. At the time, we weren’t quite sure of the roguelike aspects in a tactical RPG. I can share that with hands-on time at PAX East, it feels like some of the balance and the bugs have been resolved. It is still not a perfect game, but it has highlights along the way. It continues to move towards finding the balance of Hades and Fire Emblem that it strives for. Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch has a fantastic voice cast that has added additional voice-overs to the game. While we won’t say run to get this one, it is worth keeping an eye on for its full release out of early access.

Section 13

Next up, another roguelike with Section 13. While currently in early access, the official launch comes May 26th, just a few days away! If this game looks even slightly familiar, you aren’t crazy. Section 13 previously launched in early access under the name Black Protocol. After hearing the feedback from the fans, it has undergone quite a transformation. Previously a strategic co-op, Section 13 is now a roguelike shooter. This will also have a much more narrative-driven approach.

Out of the three from Ocean Drive Studio, this may have been my favorite to play. Personally, games that are just a bit self-aware are quite fun to me. I made it through the demo a bit too well as Agent Red, and the game was well aware. Section 13 took the time to remind me that it is in fact a roguelike. Remember, readers, death is part of the experience. Fans of games such as Hades and Risk of Rain 2 will most likely find joy in this one, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t ready to dive right in. 

God Save Birmingham

The final game from Ocean Drive Studio was a zombie survival game, God Save Birmingham. Zombie survival fans, get ready, this one is for you. I had to know why they used the setting of Birmingham, and it was an easy answer. Ocean Drive Studio wanted to make a medieval survival game that was extremely historically accurate. This meant not just with what was available item-wise, but also location-wise. Birmingham had a lot of visual and historical assets available to make this game. The goal had always been to be as real as possible despite the zombie setting.

Recreating a medieval town and allowing players to interact with the world in a way they would have done back then is all part of the experience. I can confirm that realism is a very strong component in this game. While playing, I did not grab a candle before exiting the starting area, leading to quite the struggle as the sun set and the house was completely dark. Even with my character being extremely tired, I could not find the appropriate place to rest easily. Stumbling around in the dark eventually worked, but it took some time.

To Hyeonseong Cha, creative director of God Save Birmingham, it is important that the journey of surviving in desperate odds is important to the experience, so prepare for a game that will challenge you. While the game is currently set to be single-player, the team did reveal they are considering a multiplayer experience as well. Did I survive the full 30-minute demo? No, in fact, I died about three times, but what an experience it was! 

Have you played any games from Ocean Drive Studio? Let us know down below.