Xbox Developer_Direct Brings Mana, an Indy Game, and More

Today, Xbox held the 2024 edition of their Developer_Direct showcase. Here is a 90-second recap that will hopefully bring you sufficiently up to speed:

If you want the full one-hour experience… well, age-restrictions mean an embed isn’t any good here, as I found out while writing this, but here’s the link. Go nuts.

While everything here looked great, two titles in particular stood out to capture my attention. One would be the new Indiana Jones game:

I’m a fan of Indiana Jones going way back — the movies, at any rate. Some of the other stuff has been kind of hit-and-miss, and even the movies don’t have a flawless record. Still, at its core, I like the franchise, enough that I’m always willing to give something new a look.

In this case, we’ve got our first look at the fruits of the developers of Wolfenstein: The New Order and Wolfenstein: The New Colossus, MachineGames, teaming with Bethesda and LucasFilm to apply their Nazi-busting chops to renowned professor of archaeology’s adventures. I’m still kind of new to the whole first-person style of gameplay, after avoiding it for so long — special thanks to Halo: Infinite for breaking me in, which I should really say something more about sometime — but this looks right up my alley.

In particular, the two things that entice me most here are the promises of unique and versatile usage of Dr. Jones’ signature whip, and that there will be more ways to find your way through a situation than just shooting at it. If there’s anything I love, it’s the ability to employ a little outside-the-box thinking to solve a problem. So if they can deliver on that in a satisfying way here, I think I’m going to be in for a good time.

If there was one thing that concerned me, it was the voice of Henry, Jr. here. It sure sounded like Indy, but… maybe not quite like Harrison Ford, if that makes any sense?

That the voice casting for the star, played on the silver screen by the equally iconic Harrison Ford, was never mentioned during the presentation worried me. Were they using AI? As a fan of the art of voice acting (who’s dabbled in it a little bit myself), I sure hoped not.

Thankfully, that seems to not be the case. Rather, as Kotaku reveals, it’s Troy Baker donning the leather jacket and fedora for this adventure. Whew!

In what appears to be an ongoing traditional “Here Comes A New Challenger!” surprise spot, we’ve got news that Visions of Mana, the latest of many follow-ups to the acclaimed Secret of Mana on the Super NES (and first new installment in 15 years), will be arriving on Xbox this Summer.

Granted, this is probably more my wife’s thing than mine, but I was still curious enough to take a gander for myself.

Other than “that sure looks like the artwork from Secret of Mana,” what caught my eye in particular was the movement and aerial combat. Put simply, it reminded me of Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis by quite a bit. It makes me curious enough to wonder if it actually plays as similarly as it appears to. That might draw my interest in more.

A new element revealed was the introduction of creatures known as Pikuls, which are like a cross between a dog (Yorkshire terriers, to be precise) and a pangolin. I dig it.

Three other games were also on display at the digital event: Ara: History Untold (launching Fall 2024), Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II (May 21st), and Avowed (also Fall). Each look good in their own way, though I’m not sure they hold the same personal appeal for me as the others, but who knows? Time may change that stance.

Nevertheless, if they look good to you and you want to find out more, check out Xbox’s Developer_Direct recap, where more details on all five games, plus a few others, are yours for the taking, including links to further articles and official websites.

With that said, which of these games are you looking forward to?

Thanks for reading! And in case you haven’t heard, re-upping our hosting for the next few years took a big bite out of our bank account, so if you like what we’re doing here, and can kick in a few bucks to our Patreon or buy us an E Tank on Ko-fi, we’d greatly appreciate it!

David Oxford

David Oxford, or “LBD ‘Nytetrayn’,” as he is sometimes also known, is a freelance writer of many varied interests who resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.

For a full list of places to find him online, click here.