Twin Souls Is A Gorgeous Stealth Game... With Teleporting
Shades of Thief, Tenchu
Twin Souls: The Path of Shadows could've chosen a better name because a) it's generic and non-descriptive as all get-out and b) it just makes me think of Day-In-Ellen-Page's-Totally-Normal-Life sim Beyond: Two Souls. On the upside, however, Twin Souls looks very, very nice despite being cloaked in creeping darkness half the time. It's a (by the sound of it, pretty hardcore) stealth game whose influences range from classic Thief and Tenchu to more modern fare like Mark of the Ninja, but there's a twist: you can teleport. Trailer and details skulking about below.
The animations could use a little work, but otherwise it's got quite a nice look to it. The teleportation reminds me of Dishonored's blink ability, and given that Dishonored might as well be titled Thief: But With Magic And Whales This Time, that's hardly a bad thing.
Here's the game's basic premise:
"Twin Souls reintroduces the concept of ‘3rd person ninja simulator’, a style of gameplay untapped for many years since the original Tenchu series. Compared to newer action games like Assassin’s Creed, Twin Souls wants to dismiss action mechanics in favor of stealth mechanics, the tension of being detected and the feeling of reward you get when finally beating a level without being noticed."
"Games like Metal Gear Solid, Thief or Splinter Cell defined a genre recently diluted into action games. In Twin Souls you are outmatched, outnumbered and alone. You have no guns, amazing fencing skills or regenerating health. Your main weapon is your cunning, and darkness."
Also magic. Don't forget magic. You gain power from being in shadows, which gives you the ability to do things like teleport, Sneak More Betterer (TM), and create more pockets of darkness. Enemies have magic too, though. They can manipulate light, so you're never truly safe. The game is one of planning, and each level will allow you to traverse it as you see fit.
Twin Souls is currently on Kickstarter. It's aiming to pick $70,000 from willing pockets, and it's already decently well on its way to doing so. What do you think? Gonna back it?