Watch On
Sometimes, magical issues occur when video games studios go outdoors of their wheelhouse. Without Creative Assembly getting experimental, we would not have the terrifying Alien Isolation. And with Rusty Rabbit, famend visible novel studio Nitro Plus is branching out in an uncommon course, seemingly mixing its knack for storytelling with a cute 2D mascot platformer. One starring the (Japanese) voice of Yakuza’s Kazuma Kiryu as its lackadaisical lagomorph hero, Rusty, who you possibly can hear within the demo on Steam now.
What we’re right here feels a bit like a mash-up of Steamworld Dig and a metroidvania with a heavy narrative focus, no less than judging by the (tragically quick) demo. Rusty is a middle-aged, carrot-cigar-smoking scavenger, piloting his energy swimsuit by way of the ruins left behind by now-extinct people. He appears a likeable type—world-weary however pleasant, wistful, and able to throw down for anybody in hassle. Kiryu in fuzzy bunny kind, just about.
Much of the demo’s playtime is devoted to fundamental tutorial stuff, giving gamers a primary have a look at Rusty’s fundamental motion tech, together with teases of future skills like jump-jetting and a useful grappling hook, earlier than taking them away to concentrate on the fundamentals. There’s some satisfying Mega Man X-like wall grabbing and a significant concentrate on tunnelling by way of smooth blocks of scrap for XP, which will be poured into an intimidatingly massive grid of perks. The blocks typically include loot, which might presumably be traded or used within the full recreation, though we do not get the prospect to do it right here.
The demo does point out that some objects will be shared with different bunnies on the diner or donated to the church; two places that we do not get to see but—intriguing hints at what may probably be fairly complicated, however it’s onerous to get a way for the sport’s true scope proper now. One factor that’s for sure is that Nitro Plus hasn’t forgotten its roots as a visible novel studio, and the sport usually segues into full screens of (narrated) prose and illustrations. The script appears enjoyable to date, penned by Gen Urobuchi, creator of genre-subverting anime hit Madoka Magica and deeply transgressive horror basic VN Song of Saya.
While I doubt there’s going to be something right here that might eternally traumatize a baby (or grownup, for that matter—Song of Saya goes onerous), there’s simply sufficient edge to the writing right here that I would not fully write off the opportunity of tragic character deaths. Urobuchi has earned the nickname ‘the butcher’ in some circles, in spite of everything. But even when every part stays upbeat and fluffy, I’m nonetheless very curious to see how the total recreation pans out, given what number of temporary glimpses at recreation mechanics the demo gave me.
Despite the sport coming to Switch as properly, the PC model isn’t any slouch graphically. If you have received the {hardware} for it (and it may well make a 4090 sweat at max settings), the mixture of Lumen ray-tracing and luxurious fur rendering makes for a surprisingly good-looking recreation, and a few adorably squishy trying bunnies. It’s a surprisingly polished product, standing at attention-grabbing odds with Nitro Plus’ different upcoming motion title, the Armored Core/BLAME!-inspired souls-like Dolls Nest, which additionally has a demo on Steam proper now.
