There’s a gorgeous new pixely Metroidvania on the way next year that I now have my eye on. It’s called City of None, and it’s made by one of the co-creators of Celeste, and published under the same studio label.
Look at thiiiiiis (h/t Rock Paper Shotgun):
I love this style of pixel art, that invokes Game Boy vibes but is still clearly modern and taking advantage of better hardware to support intricate detail. The teaser soundtrack is also really good, and there are some other tracks available on the game’s official website that I think are fantastic too, especially “Among the Heaps” and “City Outskirts.” Again, big Game Boy energy!
City of None bills itself as a platforming adventure game in which the player travels through an enormous city, trying to take control of it back from some bad folks who have taken over. It’s being developed by Noel Berry, who co-created Celeste and notably was responsible for a lot of that game’s excellent art, alongside his brother Liam who’s focused on City of None‘s sound design. It sounds like it’s just the two of them doing everything else, though they’re being supported by the bulk of Extremely OK Games as publisher. EXOK is the studio formed by fellow Celeste creator Maddy Thorson following the release of Celeste and with the same team involved. Celeste and Thorson’s previous game TowerFall are both currently published by EXOK, and City of None will be as well. EXOK was also working on another new game entitled Earthblade, but it was canceled last year after a falling out between some of the team members.
We don’t have too many other details about City of None, though we know at minimum it’s coming to Steam and is planned for sometime next year.