Topic: ANATHEMA - Classicvania Coming to Steam

[piscesdreams]

UPDATED 7/15/2017:
The below info is outdated and a new version of Anathema is in development.  You will find this thread evolves over time into the new version, and it has been left intact so that the evolution of the game is documented.  You can grab the demo at any of the following links:

STEAM
http://store.steampowered.com/app/375390/Anathema/

INDIEDB
http://www.indiedb.com/games/anathema/downloads

ITCH.IO
https://esperware.itch.io/anathema

OFFICIAL WEBSITE
https://www.anathemagame.com/

NEW TRAILER


----OLD VERSION----

Hello everyone,

After working endlessly for the last 4 months, it is time to officially unveil what I have been working on.




---TRAILER---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy4Rw7HxyEU

---OFFICIAL SITE---
http://www.anathemagame.com

---STORY---
During the late 14th century, the angel of death, Azrael - fell out of favor with God and launched a campaign to create an army using the souls he was meant to deliver for judgement. He unleashed a terrible plague that devastated millions, giving him the souls he needed to wage war on humanity. During this time, a rancher and squire named Corbin Delacroix endeavored on a quest to slay the fallen angel. He was successful in his task, and with the angel of death destroyed, Corbin inherited the powers of Azrael. He journeyed throughout the continent, liberating the souls that were once under Azrael's dark spell.

Many years passed, and Corbin's divine task began to take a toll on his body. A cult led by a vampire sorceress named Aeron sought to restore power to Azrael saw their opportunity, and killed the weakened Corbin. However, Corbin's powers transferred into his next of blood - his daughter, Aurora.

Now, using the deathly angelic powers she has inherited, alongside the whip her father crafted from the bones of Azrael, she seeks out to avenge the death of her father - and slay the resurrected angel once and for all.



---GAMEPLAY---
Developed using a custom platform engine, players will use a gamepad (designed for Xbox 360 gamepads) to traverse stages in various settings, using multiple subweapons with special powers and her whip to swing across chasms and slay enemies. Players can expect classic platformer action with modern graphics and sound running at 1080p 60fps.



---SCREENSHOTS---










---THE BIG IDEA---
I have always loved the Castlevania series, in both the classicvania and metroidvania incarnations. The problem is, Konami has not issued a new Classicvania style game since 2009's Castlevania - The Adventure Rebirth. That was almost 6 years ago. Some may abhor the fact that I am trying to somewhat make it feel like Castlevania. I make no contest that this game is heavily inspired by the aforementioned title, but my whole heart is in the fact that Konami has left the Classic/Metroidvania styles out to dry for quite some time now. My hope is that fans of the series will enjoy this game, if nothing else, to tide us over until Konami issues an official 2D Castlevania.



So there you have it. Anathema in a nutshell. I hope that you all will look forward to this project as it develops.
Presently, there is an alpha demo that is being polished, and will be at the 2015 GDC, but until it is further developed and I launch the Steam Greenlight campaign, it isn't available for download yet.

Thanks, everybody for reading!
If you want to keep up with the project, you can like my page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/esperware and Twitter @esperware

-Matt

[Dracula9]

This looks phenomenal, pisces. I'll be Greenlighting and sharing the fuck out of this.

Happy belated birthday, by the way.

[Shiroi Koumori]

Wow! This game looks beautiful!

[Chernabogue]

Looks very promising, nice job.

[darkmanx_429]

Pisces,

Long time no hear! Didn't know you were into 3D?

[uzo]

Going for the cheesy 90's look?

[Donvermicelli]

I love what I'm seeing, I will greenlight this for sure

One remark though: In screenshot two I notice how you used the classic 2D stairs scheme. While nothing is wrong with it I do find that for 'realism' sake the bottom sloped part underneath the stairs to be a bit thin.

Might just be me nitpicking at stuff though 

[X]

This game still has some time to be finalized. I definitely want to play this when it's available.

[Dracula9]

Going for the cheesy 90's look?

You say that like it's a bad thing.

[SabinFigaro]

Quaaack! Wow..this looks freakin phenomenal. I can't wait to try this. I enjoyed bloodletting a lot. But this looks like it's in a whole different category.

[piscesdreams]

Hi everyone.

Thanks everybody for viewing, commenting and giving feedback. It is much appreciated.


@Dracula9
Thanks! Any help spreading the word is always much appreciated! Thanks for the birthday wishes! Long time no see, how have you been?

@Shiroi Koumori
Thanks a ton! I wanted to opt for a pixel art style, but I just can't get it down. There are some things I will improve on, as the game is still in alpha. For example, I am going to revamp the ascending stairs animation as it has always looked kind of stiff to me. Glad you dig it!

@Chernabogue
Thanks! It's still early, but it can only get better.

@darkmanx_429
How have ya been man!? Long time indeed. I've been getting into 3D for a while. It's really fun actually. A bit daunting at first, but after a while it starts to flow a bit. How's your game coming?

@uzo
The 90's was a great decade. I'll take that as a compliment.

@Donvermicelli
Thanks! Feedback is always welcome. I'm sure I'll be tweaking and polishing a lot to what you see since this is just the alpha that you are seeing. Nitpicking is always welcome. Sometimes people might see things that I don't, and as a fan, building a game for us fans to enjoy, things like this need to be said.

@X
Definitely some time for finalization. What you see here took about 4 months of animating, designing, programming, etc. The only thing I haven't been handling is the music, which a close friend of mine has been scoring the soundtrack.

@SabinFigaro
Ha! I kept thinking "what to put on the logo screen"...couldn't think of anything so I put a duck there in Bloodletting. Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad that you dig it!



Again, I appreciate everyone taking the time to view and comment. Feedback is always welcome, so feel free to message or e-mail your questions, thoughts and opinions. I'm always listening. Just bear in mind the game is in alpha and not everything is set in stone.

As a show of thanks for everyone's replies, here's an early render of Aurora!

[C Belmont]

Looks promising, I like how you have used 3d models to create a lot of your artwork I plan on trying that out myself some day.
I do have a few constructive comments I'd like to make though.

At the moment it looks very cobbled together and inconsistent, my suggestion is that you should consider diving into texturing and shaders a little more so that you can make all your assets look like they belong together and maybe even consider going for a slightly more stylised look especially if you want to include stairs that look just like the classic games and that sort of thing because they will stick out a lot less if everything else is a bit stylised too. changing up your textures will also help to make it less obvious that your using Daz Studio/Poser models and give the game it it's own unique feel at the same time.

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

The slightly plastic look and textures both on characters and on stage models are giving me a kickass Killer Instinct vibe.
I say this as a compliment.  Totally 90's.

[Dracula9]

There better be a knight that looks like Fulgore. 

I've been good, brother. My long burnout on programming is finally starting to ease up, and productivity is looking to renew itself. So I'm excited to pick back up on projects that have sadly gathered dust the past year and a half.

Also, I can understand uzo's perspective, and I will say that generally some of the animations look a bit stiff. Obviously it's still early, so I won't make a big call just yet, but I do want to put that out there. However, I'm totally behind the 90s CG look. It's most definitely an outdated and largely obsolete look, but then again so are NES-styled games, and people still flock to 8-bit stuff like moths to a flame. It has its own magic, and since I grew up playing Killer Instinct and Blood Omen and watching shit like Cyberspace, I most definitely have an affinity for it and am behind it 100%.

The only gripe really is the stilted animation, that'd be the only thing I'd suggest to maybe work on. I already know the music will rock and gameplay will be stellar. 

EDIT: One more thing, not a huge deal but I feel the need to mention it, I feel like the chainmail stockings could do with shading on the sides. With how good the rest of her looks, the sudden flatness feels a bit off.

[Kingshango]

Visually the game reminds me of a one of those Sega CD games with the FMV models. Those visuals are a hit or miss for me, that and the animations look kinda stiff.

Gameplay on the other hand looks solid tho.