Aestik, a hand-drawn metroidvania from indie developer and publisher Hooded Traveler Games, has finally gotten a new Steam page and free demo today. Naturally, a release window has not been confirmed yet, but for now, the official site’s Press Kit area expects a release date for “early 2024.” Players can wishlist the game on Steam today to support these indie devs:
Aestik has been in the works for some time now, featuring a long series of devblogs and updates for curious fans of the metroidvania genre.
Putting the effort into hand-drawn features always pays off, since the texture feels more tactile, as seen in Curse of the Sea Rats’ latest boss trailer or The Star Named EOS, which is bringing a demo to next month’s Steam Next Fest.
Aestik is no exception, as it is positively brimming with character. The art design is equally cute and eerie, and the contrast successfully improves both. This results in an overlying strangeness that really compels you to explore and learn more about the characters.
The music and dialogue are both charming, the latter of which includes a genuinely amusing sense of humor. In fact, the trailer accompanying today’s tweet concludes with a joke. The game in general feels quirky and creative.
For example, the devs consistently flaunt that players will be forced to deal with “moral dilemmas”. These can affect both the game’s storyline and environments, as seen in this tweet from last November:
It is quite surprising that Aestik hasn’t gotten more attention, and the devs have frequently appeared in live events to showcase their game, such as Zurich Pop Con. Adding Aestik to Steam will surely drum up more interest, now that players can try a demo.
You can read more about Aestik, Hooded Traveler Games, and other upcoming indies by checking out the rest of our news section!
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