Practically ten years after its launch, the road between “feels Mom-inspired” and “feels Undertale-inspired” is getting blurrier by the day. And nowhere is that fuzzy line more durable to search out than within the demo I performed at PAX East for Tales of Tuscany. Developed by Nico Papalia (Athenian Rhapsody) and printed by Prime Hat Studios (Labyrinth Of The Demon King, Crypt Custodian), Tales of Tuscany has you enjoying as a cute little lamb referred to as Lambypoo.
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After some fast tutorials by the one way or the other equal-parts-cute-and-threatening, globulous information referred to as Thunder Goober, you’re left to discover the unusual world you end up in, and to struggle the equally unusual enemies inside it.
If the sport’s Steam web page is indicative of something, it’s that the demo actually undersells simply how wild the environments you’re going to see on this sport are. As you might need already gathered, the look of the sport — nay, its humorousness and full vibe — is aggressively harking back to Undertale, and by extension of that, the Mom trilogy. From its visible aesthetic to its quirky humor, every part about Tales of Tuscany simply screams kooky.
It’s positively not shy about saying that it’s right here for the gamers who don’t thoughts a hefty serving to of caprice, or are in any other case within the temper for one thing on the extra wacky and unserious facet of issues. And whereas some may even see this as a characteristic, I might see others seeing it as a bug. The sport’s model is so loud and overwhelming, screaming in each pixel, that I might see some potential gamers feeling like the sport is making an attempt manner too arduous and thereby avoiding it completely. Nonetheless, I feel it gave the sport loads of taste, so I didn’t thoughts it.
The fight itself, nonetheless, positively feels prefer it might use some tightening up. The battles are turn-based, and between turns, you’ll be able to typically see some humorous (if a bit repetitive) items of dialogue. In any case, assaults within the demo have you ever aiming at an enemy after which hitting them. All of this occurs in a matter of seconds by the use of two timed button pushes. The goal and timing simply aren’t as exact as I’d like them to be, at the least proper now. It takes some getting used to, and even by the point I used to be executed with the demo, I by no means felt like I totally acquired right into a groove.
The complete sport isn’t scheduled for launch till 2026, so I’m hoping that that is among the many issues that will likely be polished in time for the discharge. Equally, I hope that there’s going to be extra to the gameplay than goal and shoot. Whereas I don’t thoughts JRPGs with timed button presses not too dissimilar from, say, Shadow Hearts (a sport which, quite the opposite, I really like!), it’s going to wish some method of selection, or another manner to herald some freshness, if it needs to keep away from rising stale after a number of hours. Although to be honest, there are different choices in battle (React, Standing, Gadgets, Burst) that didn’t get a lot use within the demo, which might probably add the zest I very a lot wish to see within the full sport.
Nonetheless, this demo had a whole lot of allure and left me curious to see what different method of foolish shenanigans Papalia has in retailer with this goofy little sport. I do know the concept of a sport feeling impressed by Mom — or arguably one other closely Mom-inspired sport — isn’t fairly the novelty it was. Nonetheless, this sport oozes persona, and particularly for followers of the cartoonish and offbeat, it’s positively one value maintaining a tally of.
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Tales of Tuscany is at the moment scheduled to launch in 2026 on Steam