Here at oprainfall, our Crowdfunding Spotlight feature gives us a chance to cover a lot of fantastic indie games coming our way in the not-too-distant future. If there are one or two games that consistently appear on our radar, though, it’s Two Brothers from Ackk Studios and Shovel Knight from Yacht Club Games.
Here’s a bit from Ackk Studios’ official site describing Two Brothers:
Roy Guarder, inventor, scientist, and philosopher, is on an expedition to discover the origins of life. This quest has brought him to “The Cursed Lands,” a stretch of land so dangerous and shrouded in mystery that it hasn’t been explored in over 700 years. When Roy finds what he’s looking for, he is met with a terrible fate. Roy no longer finds himself a living man. He is greeted with a world of colors he never believed could have existed! One obsession leads to another and Roy begins to walk the line of life and death – sometimes intentionally ending his own life – just so he can see this land of beauty and color again.
But something is strange: Why is Roy the only man who can cross so easily between the worlds of the living and the dead? What has given him this unique ability? How will he reconcile the existence of an afterlife he never believed could even exist?
For additional reading and listening materials, you should check out my interview with composer Andrew Allanson, Jared’s interview with some of the team at PAX East 2013, or our conversation with Andrew and lead programmer and sprite artist Brian Allanson in Episode 14 of The Downpour Podcast.
And then, there’s Shovel Knight. We’ve mentioned it from time to time, but for anyone unfamiliar…
Shovel Knight is a sweeping classic action adventure game with awesome gameplay, memorable characters, and an 8-bit retro aesthetic. It’s a hot mashup of new and old that may remind you of Mega Man, Castlevania, or Dark Souls! You play as the eponymous Shovel Knight, a small knight with a huge quest. Shovel Knight has come to this valley with two goals: to defeat the evil Enchantress and save his lost beloved. He wields a ShovelBlade: a multipurpose weapon whose techniques have now been lost to the ages. Always honest and helpful, Shovel Knight is a shining example of the code of Shovelry: Slash Mercilessly and Dig Tirelessly!
Told you all that to tell you this: earlier this afternoon, Ackk Studios announced that Shovel Knight would be making an appearance in Two Brothers. Here’s the screenshot they had to share.
Two Brothers is headed to just about every platform out there, including PS3, PS4 and PS Vita. The game will launch on Windows, Mac OS and Linux in just a few short weeks, while the console versions will head out later this year. And Shovel Knight will arrive on Wii U, 3DS, Windows, Mac OS and Linux by winter 2013.
