I am very much not a side-scrolling action platformer person, but even I have to admit that SlashZero looks pretty cool. The upcoming roguelike from developer Streetlamp Studio oozes style with its anime-inspired visuals and cyberpunk aesthetics. A new gameplay reveal video shows off some of the movesets of two of the game’s playable characters, while an earlier trailer dives deeper into the game’s story.
The aerial combos on display are genuinely impressive, especially given how smoothly they appear to flow. Streetlamp and publisher Skystone Games first announced SlashZero during the Future Games Show Spring Showcase, highlighting the team’s “Triple-I” (as opposed to AAA) development ethos. According to a press release, Streetlamp wants to “push the boundaries of the side-scrolling roguelite” by “investing in high-quality 3D animation and in-game performance.”
In practice, it looks like an amplified, anime-style Dead Cells, which could be a whole lot of fun. Like in Dead Cells, each level in SlashZero is procedurally generated, ensuring each run is unique. The customization and upgrade system looks suitably robust, too. The plot details are a little vague: you play as a Timehacker traveling through different degrading timelines in pursuit of Hieros, the Lord of the Void, the game’s big bad who is (I think) causing all the time chaos. Or something like that. From the game’s early descriptions, the narrative details aren’t super clear, and they seem mostly beside the point, anyway. No one’s coming to SlashZero for the story, just like no one was coming to Dead Cells for the story, either: these are games that draw players in with fun, responsive combat and unique aesthetics. Time will tell if SlashZero‘s game mechanics can live up to its first impression.
SlashZero has no release date yet, but you can sign up for an early playtest via Steam.