This upcoming title from Digital Minds S.L is their very first game but they are already showing enough prowess to grab all attention for this as the trailer itself was all in-game footage showing striking visuals and this retro-feel with the stop motion animation reminiscent of movies like Coraline. It is slated to release some time in Q3 of 2024 as per their steam page.
Okay, What’s So Special About This?
What is eye-catching about this is the spin on horror and stomach-churning, multi-bodied monsters and stop motion animation coupled with smooth transitions of the camera as the protagonist at the time (as of now, it’s confirmed that the spirit will inhabit 3 different bodies) moves with the bloody backdrop of feudal Japan.
The player will be able to change between 3 very distinct characters, which are a Samurai, a Kodama spirit (spirits in Japanese folklore that are said to inhabit trees) and finally a cat. This journey across the land, engaging in combat with various monsters while controlling the samurai and Kodama while avoiding others as the cat is all in an effort to save the land from the invading monsters known as Oni.
The characters themselves are fleshed out a lot which are:
- Takeshi (the samurai):The bulk of the story will be relayed through Takeshi, a fallen warrior whose spirit was reanimated to help defend his village against the approaching Oni. As per the gameplay snippets, it’s clear Takeshi will have an arsenal of combos, parries and jutsu(spells) he can dish out.
- Chisai (the cat): Chisai’s playstyle is evidently looking very similar to the style of Little Nightmares where we control Chisai to navigate through various corners and/or walls to help her avoid the horrors that lurk in the war torn areas of the land. Additionally, Chisai has claws allowing her to stealth kill unsuspecting enemies when the need arises.
- The Kodama (tree spirit): The Kodama due to its size will be able to access the areas, this character’s gameplay will mostly be for exploration and puzzle solving while mostly trying to avoid combat altogether rather than strike at opportune moments like Chisai.
In the journey of defeating the Oni, the story unfolds on trying to find out who the spirit really was as it controls these bodies to find out. This along with a fox called Kitsune (The spirit of the Forest) who helps out the spirit to uncover truths about itself along with progressing the story.
There is a hint of soulslike in the combat, in the sense that there are going to be well-timed attacks, a requirement to be mindful of available resources and the level of difficulty with bosses that players have come to respect from FromSoftware’s iconic titles such as Dark souls or the more recent Elden Ring.
Conclusion: It looks Beautiful,Horrific and Above all, Enticing
From the few short gameplay snippets of the 3 characters that we would be able to control, to the artstyle and visuals along with the mini jumpscares to show off horrific looking creatures to the engaging combat shown off, it’s safe to say this game should be put on everyone’s radar. The game is looking appealing already due to the stop motion animation giving it a uniqueness that a triple A title could not ever give.
This presentation of multiple, fairly distinct gameplay sections also make it interesting as to how the story will unfold and how the sections will be designed as it is possible to switch between these characters any time we want. This could mean that there is going to be a lot of backtracking in the game allowing for a lot of exploration to figure out a way to enter areas that were not previously accessible either by a certain character or due to story elements resulting in awards gained such as it was in the Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, another recent indie title that was critically acclaimed.
