The summer of Vita continues! Long-awaited RPG Chasm will release on July 31st
After a very long, protracted, and public development, side-scrolling RPG Chasm got a release date today. After being announced in 2013, the game has been developed in a very open manner, with regular updates from the development team. The action-packed title from developer Bit Kid Inc will release on July 31st for PS4 and PS Vita. The announcement was immediately lauded by the Vita fan community on Twitter (which I never realized was so large and active until I published a recent Vita-related post), with cries immediately going out for a physical release. The Vita fan community really likes their physical releases.
Chasm is a procedurally generated Metroidvania title, but in a detailed post on the PlayStation Blog, the team at Bit Kid Inc is careful to clarify that the game is not a roguelike. In the post, James Petruzzi Director, Bit Kid Inc. writes “to address a common misconception, Chasm is not a roguelike with permadeath, though there is an option for that for veteran players. Permadeath combined with the changing dungeons makes for a tense experience, since you never know how many more rooms are left until the end.”
The team was careful to structure the procedural generation so that players will hit certain important points in the game at approximately the same time each play through. Though the destinations are the same, the roadmap changes each time. Through this dynamic, they are hoping that the game can feel both fresh and familiar at the same time.
For those that enjoy playing through the same levels each time, Bit Kid has implemented an ingenious “Seed Number” mechanic. Each time a player gets a procedurally generated set of levels, the game also generates a seed number. Entering that seed number into the game will generate an identical playthrough each time. So, for players that don’t dig procedurally generated games, the ability to have it be the same each time is enabled. Clever!
Chasm will retail for $19.99. No word yet on cross-buy, but one can always hope. Either way, Vita fans have yet another treat head their way this summer. The little-portable-that-could still has some life in it yet.
