Eastward

[Povidone]

Recently released for Switch and Steam, top down 2d action adventure game from Shanghai based developer Pixpil.

Im really enjoying this, lots of retro indie games about going for that old school 90's aesthetic but this really stands out. Has a lot of depth to it, an engaging story and charming characters. Even with the limitations of pixel art pretty much every character you encounter has unique look and personality.

You have dual protagonists that you swap between as you play through the game: John is the stoic and silent miner in an underground post-apocoliptic town. He does the combat, bashing monsters heads in with a frying pan, his attacks have a satisfying visceral quality and control really well compared to the style of game they are paying homage to (I think of how much of a pain in the arse combat could be in Zelda: Link to the Past for example)

Then you have Sam, John's ward, a mysterious white haired child that he found on the streets apparently, although there is clearly a lot more going on with her than has been explained so far in the game. She's the one that does the talking and whose strange magical abilities drive the plot. There's a lovely father son dynamic between the two protagonists that really make you care what happens to them.

I must have been primed for this one as I spent most of the lockdown playing old dragon quest games for the DS and even though the combat is different there is definitely an affection for old JRPGs there - to the point that Eastward includes a fully playable Dragon Quest style JRPG as a minigame woven organically into the plot.

Anyone else giving this a go then?