Many new games use a pixel art style and emulate the mechanics of classic titles to serve as a base to begin adding new ideas. The recently revealed Tidespawn takes inspiration from older action-adventure RPGs and dives into the deep sea, featuring characters and locale to fit the unique location. As a modern game, Tidespawn also includes a number of new ideas shown off in the game’s reveal trailer, bringing together many of the elements previously shown off by the developers, Long Lost, on their YouTube channel.
The trailer immediately presents the backgrounds and sprites of the game to give players a sense of the pixel art that makes up the world. The main character is ordered to wake by a mysterious voice and breaks free of their cocoon with an ominous eye opening. They are joined by their floating companion which the Steam page introduces as a shapeshifter who will be available for co-op play. The game takes place from a top-down perspective following the mysterious swordsman wrapped in a cloak. Players will also be able to quickly swap between equipment for looks varying between red hoods and shark masks.
The combat shown in the trailer sees damage being done through wide melee slash attacks and dash strikes. A later clip shows two players hitting enemies in the quick succession to keep them stunned. While the team has not revealed the main aspects of the plot, the trailer does reveal a tie to ancient aquatic architecture. These will be a part of Tidespawn’s interconnected world, which will serve as a hub for both main and side quests. Finally, the two characters will be able to travel through cinematic memories.
With so many aspects of the game’s design available for viewing from past shorts on the team’s channel, the official reveal served as a welcome culmination for long-time fans and introduction for people new to the upcoming release on PC.