Announced in 2019, the little indie game Baldo: The Guardian Owls got noticed across the web last May after the posting of a first gameplay video: we saw this game for the first time in action. action-adventure with a rather graphic style… Particular.
After missing his initial appointment set for the summer of 2020, health crisis requires, Baldo: The Guardian Owls finally dates to next month - August 27 precisely.
Cell-shading suits you so well
We cannot say that Baldo: The Guardian Owls is discreet about its aspirations: both in terms of its artistic direction and its gameplay, the game from the Italian studio NAPS Team (to which we owe among others Gekido Advance: Kintaro's Revenge in 2003 and so portage in 2018) borrows widely from some of the most celebrated works of Japanese pop culture.
Thus, we easily recognize the strong inspiration of animation studio Ghibli in the use of cell-shading graphics and colors - so much so that we could use the title for a spin-off of Ni No Kuni . Nevertheless, it is not a turn-based role-playing game but an action-adventure game that is very reminiscent of the 2D episodes of The Legend of Zelda franchise - with the view of above, the resemblance is more than striking.
The game synopsis is already available on the game's official Steam page:
“Travel through a magical world full of mysteries to solve.
Baldo: the Guardian Owls is packed with puzzles to solve and dungeons to explore.
Travel through this captivating open world with Baldo and meet a host of whimsical and unforgettable characters as they struggle to decipher the cryptic prophecy and outsmart fate.
From wacky moments to a thrilling adventure, discover new cities and their inhabitants, face ferocious enemies, find lost temples and collect magical or ordinary items to obtain powerful new weapons and shed light on the many secrets of this strange world . "
The output Baldo: The Guardian Owls is scheduled on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC and Apple Arcade.