Summer Eternal, an indie studio founded by former Disco Elysium writers, has officially unveiled its upcoming RPG, Red Rooster. Co-founders Argo Tuulik and Dora Klindžić worked on Disco Elysium‘s sequel at ZA/UM before the project was canceled. And their new project, Red Rooster, is said to have a lot in common with the renowned RPG.
Described as a “physics-driven RPG” and an “immersive sim,” Red Rooster follows former convict Redrick “Rooster” Roost, who must find a mysterious arsonist causing trouble in the fictional city of Arta-Tantor. According to Summer Eternal, “Events of Red Rooster take place in an our-world-adjacent magical realism setting,” with a plot that will have a sci-fi undertone.
Similar to Disco Elysium‘s Thought Cabinet, Red Rooster will feature a playable area called the Coop, which exists inside the protagonist’s mind. The Coop will host various “Roosters,” alter egos of Redrick that can become more dominant or fizzle out in his mind, depending on the player’s dialogue choices. The game will let players decide which Roosters can stay in his mind and which ones can never enter. However, if players continue to favor a specific Rooster in their dialogues while it is absent from the Coop, that alter ego will try to force its way into the protagonist’s mind.
Find the odd one out before the timer hits zero.
Red Rooster will also feature a creative inventory management system. Players will have a three-by-three grid where they can place apparel and accessories. Each item will affect the player’s stats and abilities while also creating synergies with adjacent pieces. Summer Eternal says this approach to inventory management was inspired by the co-op board game Kingdom Death: Monster. The developer also names several other IPs that helped shape Red Rooster‘s world and gameplay, including “Exanima, Larian’s Divinity Engine games, and Dark Messiah of Might and Magic.”
One thing that can set Red Rooster apart from games like Disco Elysium is its approach to world-building. Based on Summer Eternal’s description, the game’s universe will be more of a sandbox filled with objects that players can move, manipulate, and burn. “The world around you consists of physical objects with their own mass and inertia,” the developer says, explaining that players will perform most actions through physical gestures rather than simple clicks. The city itself is also described as “dynamic, reactive, and consequential,” with many scripted and randomized events shaped by the player’s decisions.
The game’s universe will be more of a sandbox filled with objects that players can move, manipulate, and burn.
Summer Eternal says Red Rooster is still in the early stages of development and may need another three to four years of work before its release. The team is building the game using Unreal Engine, with PC as its primary platform. However, Summer Eternal plans to bring Red Rooster to PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch in the future. The developer has also confirmed the campaign’s expected length and story word count. According to the Summer Eternal Anthology book, Red Rooster‘s campaign will last around 25 to 30 hours, with a story comprising approximately 850,000 words.
- Released
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October 15, 2019
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs, Violence
- Developer(s)
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ZA/UM
- Publisher(s)
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ZA/UM
