We aren’t short of Zelda-inspired titles on Nintendo’s Switch. You have the very decent Oceanhorn, the very short Kamiko, the wonderful Blossom Tales amongst myriad other retro-inspired titles.
Aloft Studio’s Hazelnut Bastille aims to jump into that crowd, blending old school Zelda and Metroid into one very attractive looking package. That’s specifically the studio’s goal. They state on their page that the aim of the title is to capture the mid 90s and the 2D titles at the top of their game.
“Hazelnut Bastille tells the story of a young woman who travels to a foreign shore on the outskirts of her world, in order to seek out the promised gifts of mythological ancients, in hopes of retrieving something which was lost to her. On the way, her story becomes irrevocably intertwined with the lives of those living in this far off land.”Â
The story and 16-bit visuals certainly tick all the necessary boxes and to add cherries on retro tops, Hazelnut Bastille will even sport an 8-voice Chiptune and lofi sample soundtrack. In motion the game looks fantastic and features some awesomely epic and strange bosses.
There also seems to be a pretty robust item, trading, light crafting system giving you reason to pick up all the goodies you can find throughout the world while completing the list of side quests that will become available.
It’s a funny time in gaming. The thirst for retro-inspired titles seems insatiable. The HD era is certainly kinder to 2D titles than older 3D ones and having crisper visuals simply accentuates the level design and animations, making it a wonderful option for a lower lost development process. The Switch has also become a haven for such titles, giving gamers and developers a wonderful platform to work with. PC of course, is a haven for everything. Giving developers a ubiquitous platform to launch on.
Hazelnut Bastille will also be coming to Switch and PC platforms in 2019. Check out their website for more details.
