Amidst all of the commotion of the Steam Subsequent Fest (opens in new tab) and a few sort of huge wizard recreation (opens in new tab) popping out this week, a completely captivating-looking indie RPG has emerged on Steam: Felvidek (opens in new tab) (typically styled Felvidék) is a low-fantasy, turn-based recreation made with the venerable RPG Maker toolset, and it has a completely gorgeous aesthetic all its personal.
Course of gif to present some perception into how the pixelart search for my environments is madefor any extra particular questions be at liberty to DM me#felvidek #rpgmaker #gamedev #indiegamedev #indiegame pic.twitter.com/zZxuGlRkzNFebruary 8, 2023
“Like Baldur’s Gate on the Sport Boy” is the punchiest elevator pitch I can give you. Solo developer Jozef Pavelka replicates that basic model of pre-rendered 3D backdrops frequent to RPGs of the late ’90s, however goes the additional mile by making use of this grim, monochrome wash that presents every little thing in muted greys, greens, and browns. The distinction between the high-fidelity artwork and the dearth of shade jogs my memory of Lucas Pope’s Return of the Obra Dinn (opens in new tab), or, and this may increasingly sound high-falutin, the gothic vistas of the unique Nosferatu silent movie. Pavelka just lately put a brief video outlining the method of constructing these environments on Twitter (opens in new tab).
I am an absolute sucker for this kind of rendercore revival, particularly when a developer is ready to make it their very own and supply a extremely distinctive tackle the model. Gameplay-wise Felvidek is harking back to basic Dragon Quests or Ultima, together with your prepare of companions wandering by means of an exploration display and fight zooming into a primary individual view of your enemies laid in a row. New Blood’s upcoming Fallout-inspired CRPG (opens in new tab) goes for the same break up in exploration and fight.
Felvidek appears to be a extra grounded, sober kind of low fantasy, however there are glimpses of extra fantastical parts from its first trailers and screenshots, with floating eyeballs and tentacle monsters dispersed amongst smelly, arquebus-wielding bandits. I additionally love Felvidek’s cheeky first individual fight animations, with chunky sprites of sword swings, protect bashes, and spellcasting that seem like they’re straight out of Hexen.
Felvidek simply strikes me as an extremely characterful burst of shade—ironic given its intentionally drab palette. Felvidek is at present set to launch this April, and you may wishlist it now on Steam (opens in new tab).
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