Costume Quest 2! Costume Quest 2! Costume Que--

Ahem. So as you may have already surmised, there is going to be a Costume Quest 2. The original Costume Quest was a delightful Halloween-themed role-playing romp from Double Fine that warmed hearts and had Alec's internal, infernal grin factory working over time. But it was also a rather insubstantial snack of a game, all things considered. A sticky-sweet Halloween treat, but far from the sumptuous meal it could've been. That in mind, I'm very, very, very excited that Double Fine is carving a second Costume Quest from its colossal game development pumpkin. I doubt it'll be some sprawling mega-opus, but I certainly won't say no to a slightly improved stroll down the darkest of child-friendly candy-filled alleys.

That was silly.

Anyway, Costume Quest 2 will be out this Halloween, because releasing it on any other day of the year would turn it into Cosplay Quest. It's being published by Casey Lynch's perfect beard, sometimes also known as Midnight City.

That's all the developmental duo is really saying right now, so it's tough to gauge the scope or nature of this project. Given, however, that Double Fine only got Costume Quest's rights back from Nordic Games late last year, this one's looking at a development cycle just short of a year long. I'm not expecting the next Final Fantasy, in other words.

It is further worth noting that the original Costume Quest was then-Double-Fine (sm)art person Tasha Harris' brain child, but she's since moved on to work at Pixar. Double Fine is obviously far more than a series of singular figureheads, but it is a company that allows project leads to mold games in their own image. Up to a point, anyway. What will a new Costume Quest look like without Tasha? Only time will tell.

I'm definitely excited to see what comes of this, though. Costume Quest's particular brand of tone and humor - neither cynical nor saccharine to the point of nausea - was a pretty special thing. If Double Fine can give that more room to breathe and some slightly more robust gameplay systems to round it out, well, I might just have to add a yearly playthrough to my list of Halloween traditions (watch Gingerdead Man and the Halloween episode of Buffy, take a nap, attempt a blood sacrifice to resurrect Xarlanthrulax, my One True Lord).