“Imagine the barebones gameplay of Zelda, mixed with atmospheric elements from Metroid, action done in the style of Secret of Mana, the excitement of figuring out what element to use like Megaman, hand-drawn storybook backdrops like Legend of Mana, with comedic tones and a thriving in-game clock system like Brave Fencer Musashi”.
That’s the pitch offered by NostalgiCO, the developers of 16-bit inspired action-adventure Cryamore, a game that just hours ago fulfilled its Kickstarter drive a full $182,309 in excess of its goal.
The project’s initial $60,000 target was surpassed not long after its listing last month, but thanks to an extensive list of ‘stretch goals’ – further milestones that would allow the developers to accomplish a much more complete game – inlcuding things like full voice-acting, additional weapons and a full Japanese translation, supporters kept funneling in their money until every single milestone ticked off.
Since the final stretch goal of $225,000 was to produce game ports for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii U, and since the project has wrapped up with a grand total of $242,309, we can now confirm that Cryamore will be coming to our favourite little black (or white) box.
Given that virtually every influence listed was originally running on a Nintendo system, and given that the Super Nintendo was the undisputed king of sprite-based action-adventures and RPG’s (a crown that was eventually passed down to the DS), this game seems like it will be right at home on Wii U. It would have been a true shame to have to experience the game on a keyboard or touch-screen only (although while we’re on the subject, some minor touch-screen functionality for menus and such wouldn’t go astray on Wii U).
The game itself seems to be set in a post-steampunk world where a mineral known as cryamore has become the dominant source of fuel and innovation. The story follows spunky bookworm Esmy, her kid brother Braxton and obligatory anime babe Bliss as they set out to discover why their use of cryamore has caused an imbalance on their home of Noka Island, causing all sorts of monsters and problems to arise.
The gameplay is described as a “rich, single-player experience, mixing exploration and puzzle solving with strategic, action-based gameplay” with “little to no hand-holding”. There will be multiple learnable abilities based on 8 core elements, a real-time combat system, a 1:1 time cycle based on an “internal clock”, summons, plenty of side-quests and puzzles and of course plenty of items and collectibles.
The two project leads have a wealth of dev experience behind them including work for Capcom and Namco Bandai, the game’s music is being composed by the acclaimed Aivi Tran (AKA YouTube’s Waltz for Luma ) and the rest of the team comprises programmers and artists who’ve worked with such companies as WayForward, Insomniac and Ubisoft. It truly is an all-star indie team producing Cryamore.
You can see a whole lot more detail including gorgeous artwork, sprites, music and concepts over at Cryamore’s Kickstarter page.
So what do you think? Would you be interested in playing Cryamore on Wii U, or do you think it’s better suited to a different platform? What do you think of the direction the guys and girls at NostalgiCO are taking? Make your opinions known in the comments below.