The folks at Mythwalk Studios are speaking my language. The studio’s upcoming Metroidvania, Dewborne Dawn, is pitched on Kickstarter as a 2D search-action experience influenced by Hollow Knight, Sekiro, the Legend of Zelda, and possibly most notably, Dust: An Elysian Tail, among the very best video games of 2013. It looks and sounds wonderful, and with an RPG-like buddy system included too, it formally has my attention.
You play as Dew, a charming little blue animal wielding a sword with the power to stop menstruation contaminating the world of Ephemore. Dust: An Elysian Tail’s impact is clear in the method Dew relocations and how they, along with the remainder of the mainly bestial cast, appearance and act. The platforming areas and employer battles in the trailer are emitting some huge Hollow Knight vibes, too, however with a more involved combination system swarming with juggles and parries.
The video game’s other points of recommendation appear to manifest in more particular methods. I’m presuming the Sekiro nod connects to Dewborne Dawn’s battle system, which includes standard health bars in addition to endurance bars that you can trim to carry out one-hit vital attacks. This being “a love letter to the experiences we matured with,” Zelda’s impact might be the most developmental, and I’m not simply discussing the hookshot.
“The heart of any great Metroidvania is discovering your own course forward, rather of the video game itself directing the roadways you take,” the devs state, carrying the wanderlust at the heart of Zelda. “It’s discovering that a person cavern behind a breakable wall, resulting in an effective upgrade. It’s taking a look at the undiscovered parts of your map and thinking what might perhaps lie there. It’s discovering that a person subtle entrance that opens to a huge brand-new area. We never ever desire there to be a particular course or technique to experiencing development.”
There’s a gradient of non-linearity even within Metroidvanias, clearly understood for branching courses, and it seems like Dewborne Dawn leans more open-ended. I’m likewise captivated by what might be its killer app and most distinct function: a summoning system for assistance characters. You can hire other celebration members, establish a connection with them, and after that contact them in battle for special advantages and mix attacks. I like this type of weaponized characterization celebration dynamic in JRPGs, and it seems like an interesting addition to the circulation of a Metroidvania.
Dewborne Dawn is a delicious mix of concepts, and the discussion is simply beautiful. It’s close to its Kickstarter objective at the time of composing, and the lead devs, a husband-and-wife duo, state “we are devoted to bringing this to conclusion, it’s simply a matter of when that day in fact comes.” It does not seem like a funded-or-bust circumstance considered that it’s currently been 3 years because the video game’s ideation stage, however the result of the Kickstarter– which approximates a late 2025 release– will doubtlessly impact the advancement timeline. Platforms appear unsure, though Switch is discussed in the benefits.
Taking a look at 2024, this Soulslike Metroidvania has everything: Japanese scary, playable warrior felines, and beautiful stop-motion animations.