During the Triple-I Initiative Showcase, Alabaster Dawn developer Radical Fish Games showed off a brand-new trailer for its upcoming action-RPG, as well as an early-access launch date of May 7 on PC.
The next game from the studio behind the critically acclaimed CrossCode, Alabaster Dawn, is built on CrossCode’s foundation of engaging combat and challenging puzzles, with the story taking place in a world that has been warped into a wasteland. As Juno, the Outcast Chosen, players will embark on a quest to restore the land to its former glory.
The real attention-grabber is the visual design powering Alabaster Dawn’s adventures, as the game uses a unique 2.5D art style that combines pixel-art visuals with a subtle 3D perspective. The result is something that looks like it would be right at home on a 16-bit console like the SNES, but once you see it in motion, the smooth animations help to elevate its art direction. This combination of retro-inspired visuals with modern-day flourishes has been popular with a wide number of recent RPG releases, including Square Enix’s HD-2D games like Octopath Traveler and Dragon Quest remakes.
According to the studio, the game will feature dungeons filled with puzzles and large boss fights, environments that change over time, a complete RPG system to explore, and a unique cooking system that combines healing and buff consumables with a leveling system.
“With early access, we plan to support an extended development time and gather more feedback to bring the game to its best possible state,” the studio said in a blog post.
If you’d like to try it out, you can grab a demo for Alabaster Dawn right now on Steam.