Top 10 Best Game Reveals Of The 2014 Summer

4. Vane

At Gamescom 2014, Sony had a lot of new properties to display that certainly managed to impress in a visual way. Games like Wild showed off yet another way to do the survival thing, while Rime managed to wow audiences by blending together the mystifying allure of Ico with the magical colors and shapes from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. That last one could be right here on this list, were it not that the project from the creators of Deadlight was actually announced last year, before everyone forgot about it.

Cut back to Tokyo Game Show 2014 and we're presented with an even more delightful announcement, namely the first gameplay for Vane. It uses a similar scope for a third person adventure shrouded in mystery, but the clincher here is that the developer holds actual Team Ico people. Rime is a great imitation, but nothing beats the source.

Given the inspiration of the classic that is Ico, Vane is a bit more desolate and brown, instead of going for vibrant scenes. It does retain a swash of color nuance through neatly applied lighting effects. Soft touches like that are what make this game. Much like titles such as Journey, just running through the desert, seeing angular sand shards flare up and having bird feathers floating in the wind increases the atmosphere in such a basic way. Vane is about the journey and not so much the destination.

Yet, there's naturally bound to be a story here that only the minds of Team Ico can build. As always, the plot and gameplay will urge players to discover the secrets of its world. Puzzles will also be scattered throughout locations, such as the usual decaying castles and towers.

A final point that is instantly gripping is the ability that the main character has, which transforms them into an elegant bird soaring through the skies. While not everyone can get behind 'artsy' games, at the very least we should all be able to give credit where due when this theatrical element is done right. Vane is most certainly doing it right.