At Summer Game Fest, Netflix Games revealed a whopping 14 games coming this summer. While there's something for everyone on this list, it's clear that Netflix is investing in a wide swathe of genres, established IPs, and smaller developers. It's nice to see everything coming soon, but it'll be even better when they are in the hands of fans around the world.
Game ZXC was able to play three of these games at Summer Game Fest's Play Days event, each completely different from the last. We first saw down and spoke with Harmonium's developers before delving into a demo of Harmonium: The Musical, we then played the opening sequence of Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit, and wrapped up our time with Netflix on The Dragon Prince: Xadia.
Harmonium: The Musical Offers Unique Puzzles
In Harmonium, players take on the role of 10-year-old Melody Macato who became deaf when she was very young, but she still has a strong love for music. She becomes trapped in the fantasy world of Harmonium, where she must communicate with Harper in order to escape. However, sign language is not universal; there are many different sign languages, depending on which region someone is from. ASL is not universal, and fantasy sign language would not be ASL. The devs created a new sign language called HSL. As such, Harper and Melody have to find new ways to communicate, while also learning HSL and ASL from each other.
Harmonium is a sight-based puzzle game, which truly opens the door to a few unique components. The first puzzle we solved saw us guessing a few neighborhood kids because another kid described them in ASL and other general motions. We don't know ASL, but that doesn't stop us from being able to enjoy the game and come to an understanding with someone else, which is perhaps the core message of the game. The demo jumped ahead, and the puzzle was pretty simple here. We had to free Harper, but because neither Melody nor Harper could effectively communicate with one another, Harper basically made shapes like a half circle and an upside-down triangle. This sequence let us free Harper, and then the demo jumped ahead again.
The next puzzle showed the unique qualities of Harmonium the most. There was a mythical creature Harper was describing to us, and we had to use Harper's hand motions and mimics on a three-tile puzzle to create a mythical Harmonium creature, one we'd obviously never seen or heard about before. Luckily, it was very much music-based, so once we realized that, we were able to put this creature together with Harper's aid. But then it was our turn to describe a creature to Harper, choosing from a selection of motions to make to describe a creature's head, upper body, and lower body. If anything, Harmonium shows how important and varied communication is, yet also reinforces the idea that music is a universal language. It'll be interesting to see how Melody and Harper's story comes to an end when the game releases.
Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit is Well-Written and Adorable
As its name would imply, Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit is a cozy game where players explore an island after a terrible crash. It's all okay though, because Bear Spirits are around to help, and the designs of these creatures are marvelous. The demo began at the start of the game and let us explore the island and experience the core gameplay loop. It's pretty simple, overall: help spirit, get special logs, and feed them to a fire spirit named Flamey. As Flamey devours more logs, more of the island becomes explorable, unlocking new activities, locations, and bears. Just like the first game, the design of the bears is truly impressive. Orsina is a fellow Spirit Scout, but they do not believe we exist. One of the bears was basically a crayon box, and another thought they were streaming to a live audience.
The writing of each character's story is also top-notch - I don't think anything made me laugh so much at Summer Game Fest quite like Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit. The absurdity in some of the dialogue options, the streamer bear popping off with a "Hey chat," and the general demeanor (it's not serious whatsoever) really made the demo a good time. What's also obvious is how much of an improvement it is over the first Cozy Grove.
Exploring the island will take even a veteran player plenty of time thanks to its size (although well-packed with content). Not to mention, there are places in the world that will be colorless until players find certain items to bring more life to the island. There's also a new activity in power washing, which we experienced. To clean a crafting item in the world, we had to pull out a power washer and spray it down completely. Missing any kind of ick meant we weren't done, and it was a nice little activity in the world. It was also easier to find, identify, and store items than in the first game as well.
As players help the Spirit Bears, they'll learn more about their life, and certain knowledge will be unlocked via a flashback system. For example, we learned that the streamer bear wasn't just a one-trick pony. They were pretty handy in making and fixing things, a skill they learned from their mother. It was very immersive, as they relived more of their past life, and it would somehow translate into a handy game feature. We didn't get to see the result because we were short on time and other bears needed our attention, but it's truly an immersive, fun, and cozy game. Cozy game fans should definitely keep an eye on Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit as it nears its June 25 release date.
The Dragon Prince: Xadia Combines Beloved IP with Dungeon Crawling
Our final Netflix demo was The Dragon Prince: Xadia, an ARPG reminiscent of Diablo. We ran a few encounters with the dev team, and we decided to play as Janai. The first one was pretty straightforward so we could understand the character. There are plenty of abilities and items accessible with a quick touch (on mobile devices), our favorite of which saw Janai go on a stabbing barrage. We quickly wiped the floor with the first enemy encounter, getting plenty of gear in the process. Like any good looter game, gear is a big deal in The Dragon Prince: Xadia, and many players will have a good time hunting it down.
The next encounter was a bit tougher. We were facing sky pirates (skyrates) who had kidnapped an important NPC and were dropping reinforcements from a skyship. We had to destroy the anchors of the ship while dealing with the enemies it was dropping. It was a challenging fight, more reflective of the core gameplay than our first encounter, but it was a lot of fun and required us to watch for specific enemy abilities (the boss created directional wind attacks), while thinking about ours smartly. At the end, of course, there was plenty of loot.
Investing in individual characters or builds, acquiring gear, and all that is important to the game; it's taking the best from dungeon-crawling design and pairing it with the beloved IP. It's also one of those games that's clearly better with friends, which means any fans of The Dragon Prince will benefit from gathering a party and enjoying some gameplay between any re-watches or upcoming seasons.
Netflix
Netflix is one of the most popular and widely viewed streaming services in the world. Beginning with its mail order DVD service, Netflix has since grown into an entertainment juggernaut, with original shows and movies including Squid Game, Stranger Things, The Irishman, and The Killer.
- founded
- August 29, 1997
- notable shows
- Stranger Things , The Witcher , orange is the new black
