The Astronauts, the developers behind The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, are finally ready for the world to experience Witchfire, their new game that seems to be a mash-up of Doom, Dark Souls, and, believe it or not, the Monkey Island series.
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What Genre is Witchfire?
It’s no surprise that Witchfire will have gameplay elements similar to Doom after watching the gameplay in the trailer, but how does Witchfire incorporate elements from Dark Souls and Monkey Island?
In an interview with Adrian Chmielarz, the Creative Director and Co-Founder of The Astronauts, he says that instead of a “non-stop action fest,” Witchfire will have “periods of quiet exploration, planning, thinking,” which he says feels much closer to the Souls games than Doom. Witchfire looks to be a game dripping with impressive atmosphere and lore to bask in.
Okay, but how does Witchfire relate to Monkey Island? In the blog post on The Astronauts’ site, Chmielarz describes how The Secret of Monkey Island is a masterclass in video game openings. In short, Chmielarz says that Monkey Island perfectly executes “creative freedom,” which is something that changed the direction of Witchfire from being a straight-up shooter to a game that tries to master autonomy, mastery, competence, and relatedness through worldbuilding, puzzles, and exploration.
When is the Witchfire Early Access Release Date?
Nice! I can’t wait to play it. Luckily, we won’t have to wait long — Witchfire enters early access on September 20, 2023.
The Astronauts are a small team working as hard as they can to make Witchfire a polished experience, even for early access. There may be many different variables that contributed to Witchfire going to early access first instead of a full release, but either way, we’re excited.
What Platforms Will Witchfire Be On?
Currently, Witchfire is only set to release on PC via the Epic Games Store. Eventually, Witchfire may come to Steam and/or consoles, but for now, you can wishlist Witchfire on the Epic Games Store.
- This article was updated on June 8th, 2023
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