I was too busy working through Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles to spend any time on the Steam Next Fest, but thankfully there's an army of bloggers dedicated to keeping me informed of the very best of the bunch.
I was very much in the mood to hear about another tactical RPG, and Bhagpuss delivered with an article about Dissimilar, a new game by a French duo who go by the name Opal Grave.
It's the future, and there's self driving cars and bicycle vending machines, but not all to dissimilar (heh) from the world of today. The story is told in flashback, with a framing story of an interrogation of protagonist Amelia to explain the events that transpired.
Those events have Amelia heading home after studies in a self-driving car after having a call with her boyfriend about a new D&D campaign he is writing; perhaps the ending will be enough to get Amelia's online best friend Iris to visit. The night takes a turn for the worse for Amelia, as the car takes her far from Paris, to her childhood home of Haven, a castle on the Brittany coast.
And there, Iris assures her (via a swiftly disappeared phone), Amelia will play a game. Guaranteed she will not get hurt, and she can leave anytime she likes, but she probably should just play.
The plot deals with Amelia finding out some uncomfortable truths about her family and their long history. The mechanism is through tactical RPG battles. The conceit is that all the enemies she faces act according to strict rules from which they do not deviate. The twist is that you don't know what those rules are until you defeat an enemy type at least once. (A little bit of scribble on a whiteboard spoils the first enemy's).
The demo consists of, as far as I can tell, two regular battles, a boss battle, and two challenge battles. You can rest, but doing so resets all battles (aside from boss battles) and locks all unlocked doors. You'll likely need to rest to replenish a resource called plasma which protects you in battles — the battle instantly ends when you take enough plasma damage. You'll need that plasma, not only to protect yourself, but to 3D print your fighters. The first couple are free; more costs plasma. (It is possible to earn more maximum plasma as you continue through the game).
You get the template for your first fighter for free (rogue-type). You meet the second one (archer-type) in a robot bar (yes). You meet the third one (tank-type) in a cell, but I don't believe it is possible to recruit him in the demo. He wants you to kill a specific boss, but the one boss in the demo was not that one.
Looking forward to this one.
I should have put this post on the other blog. Oh well.
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