Afterimage, a new Metroidvania game, will be released on April 25th, 2023. The game is being developed by Aurogon, the creator of the RPG series Gujian. The game encourages players to venture through the ruins of an ancient metropolis, meeting various spirits along the way.
Afterimage presents extraordinary hand-drawn art designs. The art style gives the game scenes a great atmosphere and immersion. For example, there is a beautiful and gorgeous plain in the early part of the Demo. In the foreground, there are flowers and leaves with admirable detail, while the background uses reduced depth of field to make the scene feel vast. Along with the calm music, it gives the feeling that players are standing on a peaceful grass plain.
A screenshot of Afterimage
Major Metroidvania games, including the Castlevania series, greatly inspire the gameplay of Afterimage. As such, the protagonist must defeat bosses to gain abilities like dash or slide. The game includes a level-up system and skill trees like many action RPGs. It also features a character equipment system.
A gif of Afterimage’s combat
As the first Metroidvania game developed by Aurogon, the game’s controls and level design still has room for improvement. Some of the early platforming is quite difficult, and failure causes the player to be sent to a checkpoint a ways back. Some players find it needlessly punishing in the early game, and it can take 30 or more minutes before players can unlock more than just the simple jump and melee actions.
A screenshot of Afterimage
In the later part of the Demo, players unlock several abilities and skills, including some special weapon combo moves. The gameplay starts to shine when players are able to build their own combat styles and face off against tougher enemies.
A screenshot of Afterimage’s skill tree
Afterimage’s demo only shows the prologue of the story, but it provides decent localization. The game supports 11 languages, including full audio support for English, Japanese, and Chinese.
Afterimage’s demo is currently available on Steam for the Steam Next Fest from February 6th to 13th.