There is a guilty pleasure that is as amusing as it is sadistic. Among the Sims community, there are gamers who enjoy enclosing their characters in four walls or removing pool stairs just when one of them is inside. Then just turn on the fast speed, watch the desperate stick figures and see how they all end up dying. and, in Jumplight Odyssey, the new production of League of Geeks (Armello, Solium Infernum), you will be able to do this and much more.
The game was officially announced during the PC Gaming Show, where a first cinematic trailer was shown, although we at Netcost got to see it in action through a very early demo. Study lead Trent Kusters was tasked with playing and explaining how it works. He defines it as a kind of mix between Star Blazers and FTL, a sci-fi game with roguelike touches that at first glance attracts attention for its aesthetics. Whether in cutscenes or gameplay, it resembles 1970s and 1980s anime.
Princess and captain, a survival mission
After a major military defeat, the princess and captain of the Jumplight spaceship, Euphora, flees her home planet with her crew. Her home has been reduced to stardust, so she must muster her courage and lead all survivors to the legendary Forever Star. As captain, players will have to plot the course, recruit personnel, build structures inside the ship, visit planets with different biospheres and face many dangers. Admiral Voltan and the Zutopan warrior faction pursue them relentlessly.
Jumplight Odyssey’s design surprised us. It’s kind of like a dollhouse, only in the shape of the different parts of the ship. It uses a cutaway camera system inspired by classic books (from top to bottom) to display objects, people and places, all depicted in two dimensions.
The crew members do not remain static, but go about their business and have their own routine, which brings a certain touch of authenticity, because they give the impression of being alive. They even have friends and lovers! It’s not that they feature dialogue options like in an RPG, but they work on their own, even the cute little piggy you’ll find on decks.
The game dives into the strategy genre and allows us to manage the colony. In fact, it is divided into two different paths: the captain job and the construction job. To illustrate this second aspect, Kusters chooses the space in one of the bedrooms and orders the construction of a bedroom for the princess: she chooses the doors, the bed, the cupboards, the desk, and places them where she wants. Then we see how the workers transport the materials as if they were little ants.
Hope system, crew not mutiny!
The princess can’t do whatever she wants with her crew. We mentioned that the option to imitate the Sims is a feasible possibility. Just open the security doors and party members will die in the darkness of the universe. Becoming a murderer doesn’t seem like the most appropriate option, nor is breaking promises. All of this negatively affects Hope, an aspect which, if he suffers too much, can lead to the mutiny of the crew. Situations will be varied in that sense, as Trent Kusters tells us that a serial killer can even appear inside the ship.
We remind you that this is a roguelike, which means that if you die you die for real. It’s Game Over, although you’ll learn things for later games. League of Geeks has implemented a mechanic called Memories, which depending on what you did in the previous game will allow you to collect Memory Fragments.
The mode featuring Princess Euphora is just one of the stories that will be told, as they plan to add more in the future, perhaps from the antagonists’ perspective or under an anthology model .
Jumplight Odyssey will be released on PC sometime in 2023. League of Geeks has opted for early access on Steam, although they are planning a later console release, specifically on PS5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. We asked a possible version for Nintendo Switch, and while they don’t completely rule it out, Kusters says it’s not on the table at this time. Of course, they will optimize the game for Steam Deck.