The newly announced title focuses On exploration with spell crafting, status effects, and sanity management.
Apathema is a new PC RPG from developers Sammy Makes Games and DOSMan Publishing. The game’s development has been underway for some time; however, a release date has not yet been formally stated.
Apathema will be a “grunge fantasy” style of turn-based RPG. The gameplay features a bleak story where the main character is cursed to continually repair the internal organs of the Chasm in an effort to understand why they exist, and ultimately to put an end to what the game refers to as a “self devoured cycle of apathy.”
Influenced by games like God Husk, Baroque, and King’s Field, Apathema features first-person combat with a limb-targeted system and possibilities for players to dodge, parry, craft spells, and utilize skills.
The enemies in the game are designed to be studied and examined, emphasizing identifying enemy weaknesses, managing status effects, and quickly switching out equipment to counter different types of enemies.
Apathema‘s spell system appears to be equally thought-out. Players can collect body parts from the Chasm to create status-based or damage-dealing spells. However, the game restricts the number of spells that can be created to four per round, which suggests that players will need to carefully plan their loadouts when entering each new area.
The equipment available to players includes armor, weapons, spell guns, passive abilities, and syringe shots used to buff or heal players.
It appears that exploration will also play a large role in the game. The Chasm is described as a hostile environment that contains acid, darkness, strange creatures, forgotten shrines, and unreliable guides.
One of the primary survival mechanics in the game involves maintaining a light source (a lantern) as players descend further into the Chasm. Losing light will cause sanity to decrease and increase the level of danger present, creating another layer of resource management in addition to the RPG progression.
Apathema will be a PC game with release date yet to be announced. Here is the Steam Page. Below the announcement trailer.
