ATONE: Heart of the Elder Tree, a hand-drawn indie adventure from Wildboy Studios, has just announced it will launch on January 27th, 2023, alongside a new gameplay trailer. It will be available on steam, PlayStation 4, and the Nintendo Switch. Here is today’s new trailer from publisher Untold Tales:
ATONE: Heart of the Elder Tree is the debut game from the New Zealand team Wildboy Studios. They don’t have other titles for reference, but they are already working on Nitro Kid, an upcoming retro action game set in an alternate 1980’s America.
Wildboy Studios has displayed a lot of sincerity and passion in their work thus far. ATONE has a dazzling combination of art styles, toying with geometry in clever ways. The art design is a gorgeous translation of Norse mythological imagery.
The hand-drawn effort definitely pays off, as it feels both rich and adds to the otherworldly atmosphere. It creates compelling strangeness and variety, which results in the sense that every turn will be unexpected.
ATONE seems to be filled with lots of visual surprises, which is a perfect approach, since its story is hinged on mystery. This will generally be fueled by escalating puzzles that are filled with secrets.
Incorporating a rhythm game as the combat system looks promising too, and it was a smart way to avoid something too elaborate for a debut title. Rhythm games rely heavily on great music, so hopefully the soundtrack has the ability to carry players throughout the entire story.
The Steam product page suggests that players will get to make decisions with consequences, but it’s unclear just how much that will alter the story.
You can read more about ATONE: Heart of the Elder Tree, burgeoning studios, and other upcoming indie games by checking out the rest of our news section!
Comments