Twin Souls Is Now Called Aragami, Out This Year
Name changer, shadow danger
Remember Twin Souls: The Path of the Shadows? You know, that Tenchu-inspired stealth 'em up that first surfaced in 2014 and used a teleport mechanic similar to the one found in Dishonored? Well its back. Only it's called Aragami [official site] now, and has a cool shadow dragon summoning combat mechanic thing going on. It's also out this year, developers Lince Works have announced, and has a brand spanking new trailer.
Let's start with that:
Set in "mystical Japan", Aragami's cel-shaded art direction is inspired by console classics Okami and Journey, and tells the story of the titular Aragami undead assassin who's not only out to rescue a damsel-in-distress named Yamiko, but also hopes to uncover lost memories from his previous life. Which to me sounds like he's suffering from amnesia. Two tropes for the price of one, it seems.
As was the case last year, the game's stealth segments still look a bit on the simple side, however its death animations look every bit as dazzling - not least now that the protagonist can summon shadowy dragons from the ether in between teleporting instantaneously from cover to cover. In order to succeed, levels can be approached from two distinct angles, so wrote Lince Works' studio director David León on the PlayStation Blog:
"Here at Lince Works we’ve defined two types of players: Demons and Ghosts. The first type includes players who love to kill every enemy and clear the area before proceeding, while the ghosts are players who prefer to stay invisible and beat the level without being noticed.
"In Aragami you will unlock different abilities suited to each gameplay style. We want to reward both types of players, as a mark of a true assassin is completing your objective using any method available."
On the subject of challenge, León spoke of how modern stealth games fail to portray a credible sense of tension, and that he hopes Aragami will change that. "You are outmatched, outnumbered, and alone," he says. "You have no guns, amazing fencing skills or regenerating health. Your main weapons are your cunning, your sword, and darkness."
Aragami is expected to release at some point "this fall", but is yet without a price.