I really don't think we appreciate how powerful Analgesic Productions is. With just two developers, Melos Khan-Tani and Marina Kittaka, their work always manages to introduce new takes on established genres or games that have become genres. have both Anodine 1 and 2: Return to Dustwhich borrows from various Zeldas in a new way, Zephoniaa carefully crafted approach to 3D platforming, and now Angelina Eraa non-linear adventure game inspired by the early Ys games and Irish mythology that has just received a release date.
That release date is December 8th, a date that's coming sooner than you think, but let's put aside the inevitable passage of time for a moment and focus on why this game captivated me so much. If you didn't know, my name, Oisin, is Irish and comes from myth itself. Since we don't see Irish mythology in games very often, you can see why I'm ready to clown right off the bat. But the concept doesn't help me in the game.
What sells me is his execution. Ys inspired gameplay comes in the form of hit-and-run combat. It works wonderfully simply: you run into an enemy, hit him! Some enemies are easier to cut than others, some can jump, create spikes, or cannot be hit from certain directions. The above encounter applies to almost everything: you have to collide with NPCs to talk to them, collide with chests to open them, objects to pick them up. There's a real sense of playful simplicity, an attitude of “How can we apply our main verb anywhere, anywhere?” which you can only feel from the demo version of it, which I adore.
There are also a lot of mysteries. Very similar to role playing games In the old days he had to travel through the world around him, but you have to find levels to explore. It doesn't matter what order you do them in, just go out and search every corner you can. Once again there is a design mentality here that is reminiscent of retro but is sorely missing. For the most part there is no support, you just have to go and do/look for the thing; at one point I was even told that they wouldn't tell me how specific mechanics worked and that I would figure it out. I did it! How amazing.
If you want to try Angeline Era before it releases on December 8th, there is a demo on Steam – or just add it to your wishlist!
