Nomad's Sky: Tahira - Echoes Of The Astral Emire

If more games looked even a teensy bit like The Banner Saga, browsing through trailers and screenshots would be a much more pleasant experience. Less of the grey grasps toward realism and mud, just bold, clear lines, and beautiful characters and landscapes from here to eternity. Tahira: Echoes of the Astral Empire is a turn-based tactical game and the video below fits the bill. It's a soothing balm for eyes that have shrunk deep into the skull to avoid the sixty seven launch trailers that now accompany every major release, beginning six months before the actual release day.

My eyes have emerged from their long hibernation and with my new Feldmanesque appearance, I shall go in search of another tranquil project to help take the edge off the day.

If you thought I was going to link you to a Kickstarter page here, you thought wrong, but that's only because Tahira's crowdfunding won't begin until January. The game has already been in development for a year and a half and the upcoming fund-gathering will allow the team of three at Whale Hammer Games to finish the first episode. I'm wary of episodic Kickstarters because even if the funds are raised, subsequent episodes might rely on another round of crowdfunding, or sales of the first episode. But Tahira caught the attention of my bulbous eyes with the details of its story and tactical possibilities as well as the lovely animations.

The game is inspired by my travels through Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Nepal and India. It's the story of Tahira, a princess struggling with anxiety, who ran away from her kingdom and responsibilities. The episodes follow her struggle to come to terms with the responsibilities of her birthright as she leads the remnants of her people across a world that has been plunged into a medieval dark age after the collapse of the galaxy-spanning Astral Empire.

Sci-fi empire plunged into dark ages - CHECK

Anxiety - CHECK

Inspired by real life travels through places I've never been to and would very much like to see fictional interpretations of - CHECK

And then there's this:

A character driven story, in which you travel and talk to a large cast that includes a swaggering mercenary power couple and a bitter exile wrapped in mystery and a cloak.

Swaggering mercenary power couple - CHECKMATE.

There are a few more details on the official site, including the option to sign up for a newsletter should you wish to be informed when the Kickstarter begins.