Ever wanted more games like Bully that portray the harsh side of high school life? Indonesian developers Gamecom Team has made a game like that in the form of Troublemaker, out now.
In Troublemaker, you are Budi the new transfer student in an Indonesian high school. And you go and do what high schoolers do- study, make friends, and beat the heck out of your friends and mortal enemies by combing punches and kicks.
Gameplay-wise, Troublemaker has more in veins with the Like A Dragon games (in how you beat people up in a 3D space), with a Persona-esque presentation (3D characters are still presented with 2D drawn portraits in dialogue boxes).
It’s also a fascinating portrayal of how school life looks like in Indonesia from the comfort of a video game. Kids might not be spouting flames on their legs when they pull off flying kicks, mind, there is a zing of over-the-top being layered on for Troublemaker. But the gang, crude dialogue and general look of the high school are all details that you would expect from a developer depicting their own local culture. And that’s always awesome to see.
Between Troublemaker and the upcoming mythical folklore narrative adventure Kabaret made by Malaysian devs Persona Theory Games, April looks like a solid month for games by Southeast Asian developers.
Troublemaker is now available on PC via Steam.