In The Works For Two Decades, Legend Of Iya Is Gorgeous

I don't normally squawk and squeal over pixel art, but well, my throat currently sounds like a jungle of parrots and horrifying red foxes. Legend of Iya is an absolute sight to be behold, with intricate art singing life into its boulder-strewn hills. And also castles, forests, giant rock monsters, and T-Rex robots. Pixel art maestro Andrew "darkfalzx" Bado has been developing the Metroidvania on-and-off for nearly two decades, but always in the background of other professional projects for companies like WayForward and Majesco. Legend of Iya's undergone countless transitions and transformations, but now Bado's finally ready to finish it. He just needs one thing. Or rather, 75,000 one things. Yeah, you probably know where this is going.

But how did Bado reach this point? Well, pretty much like this:

"Legend of Iya (it's pronounced Ee-yah), has been my never-ending passion project as long as I can remember. Beginning with early 8-bit computers, and stretching all the way to present day, the game has changed, evolved and improved over the years, from a simple 8-bit run-and-jump to something far more compelling. The game has seen at least half a dozen iterations, each time dying, but being reborn as some kind of a stubborn freaking phoenix."

The sprawling Metroidvania begins with an Alice-in-Wonderland-like setup - young girl gets whisked away into a land of fantastical and bizarre misadventures - but Bado insists that it goes in some pretty unexpected directions. I believe him, given that I don't remember seeing any elephants with miniguns for tusks in classic children's stories.

The rest, meanwhile, sounds like it's par for the course on grounds whipped (and whipped good) by the likes of Alucard and Samus: countless skills and items, combo-based combat, and secrets galore.

So Legend of Iya's not the most innovative thing, but it's clearly gushing love. Assuming it reaches its $75,000 funding goal, Bado's aiming to have it out next year. Granted, this project has been his baby for longer than it's actually possible for just about anything to stay a baby, so I have to wonder if he'll actually be ready to let it go when the day comes. But then, he does have copious amounts of professional experience. I imagine he knows when to cut the cord and let a project go free. Here's hoping, anyway.