Inspired by the SNES and early PlayStation era, it pairs nostalgic presentation with a more reactive combat system, and there’s a Demo Available
The indie developer AFTER1MAGE INTERACTIVE is working on SoulStream Saga: Chapter 1, an indie JRPG that has been developed for PC.
Although SoulStream Saga: Chapter 1 is a new game heavily influenced by JRPGs from the late 1990s and early 2000s, it does not solely evoke pixelated nostalgia.
The gameplay combines elements of political fantasy with a storyline based on the ongoing struggle between the Mages and Alchemists in the region of Alestria and features a combat system that offers more than simply recreating old-style menu-based battles featuring timing, elemental control, and battle interruptions.
The world of Soul Stream Saga: Chapter 1 is based upon a catastrophic war that destroyed the capital city of Alestria.
One hundred years prior to the events that unfold in Chapter 1, Astarius Valcrest, once a member of the Mages, left behind his allegiance to study alchemy; he then returned to his homeland, wielding Alchaeon, a sword that combined both disciplines. Astarius’ ultimate goal was to demonstrate that the kingdom’s future could not be established by solely relying on division.
That legacy directly relates to the present-day plot of the game, where Princess Victoria Lockewell is desperate to save her declining kingdom from her mad father, King Lockewell. Therefore, in desperation, she seeks out the help of forbidden magic to revive Astarius. The overall premise provides the opportunity for the game to have a very clear generational angle.
Getting back to the combat system, the game, instead of using a traditional turn queue, uses a Shared Active Time Battle format. Actions taken during each turn take time to complete.
As a result, timing becomes a critical factor in the battle. Casted spells or abilities by enemies may also be interrupted. The ability to interrupt enemy casted spells or abilities changes the dynamics of how each encounter unfolds due to placing additional pressure on understanding what is occurring in real-time instead of only focusing on determining which action produces the most damage.
Additionally, Astarius is able to shift elemental affinities through changing stances and/or selecting different skills.
Each enemy has its own strengths/weaknesses/resistances, and there’s also adaptive behavior. Enemies are capable of healing themselves, providing buffs to fellow enemies, disrupting opponents, assisting other enemies, reacting negatively to the state of battle and possibly displaying unpredictable behaviors.
The use of equipment and battle items in conjunction with skill timing also suggests that player decisions regarding preparation and loadouts are also relevant to the full experience.
There’s no release date yet, but the demo available now serves as a prequel to the main story, representative of an early section of chapter one. Astarius is at maximum level throughout the entire demo; all of his skills and magical abilities are accessible.
Therefore, this portion of the demo was designed to showcase the full capabilities of the systems included in the game. The developer stated that they had less than six months to develop this build with a team of only three people.
When completed, there will be three active characters participating in combat, seven total party members available for recruitment, more than forty hours of story content, a unique skill tree for each character, and additional non-combat activities including fishing, treasure hunting, and a fully playable trading card game.
SoulStream Saga: Chapter 1 seeks to combine classic JRPG design structures with increased hands-on combat rhythms and for fans of sprite-based JRPGs who desire more interruption, stance play and battlefield pressure from their games, this is one that you should keep your eyes open for. Here is the Steam page, and below you can find the announcement trailer below.
