If human beings are indeed not alone in the sprawling universe, I hope for two things. One, that their culture does not carry with it a galaxy-wide, prophetic doomsday. Two, that when we visit their planets they left kick-ass technology idling that we may play with. However, even if our distant ancestors encounter an alien planet, the soothing Funk Fiction synths of the upcoming Kickstarter game, Epitasis, will not accompany them.
Beautiful and Puzzling
The developer, designer, and programmer, Lucas Govatos, describes Epitasis as “a colorful exploration puzzle game” that is non-linear. The demo displays a handcrafted interpretation of No Man’s Sky melded with the edenic landscape of The Witness. The player enters a portal, lands on this planet, and wishes to find a way home. To do so, they traverse the remnants of a distant, alien society and uncover what transpired to leave their lush planet uninhabited. While the emphasis is on puzzle solving, the creator ominously mentions forgotten security systems and unfriendly drones, perhaps implying there is to be spikes in tension at some points.
The unnatural and contrasting colors form picturesque skylines and will surely make for some impressive screenshots. However the color scheme is rather simple. It leans on the abstract make-up of colors and lighting to create an intriguing atmosphere. As a result, players will likely only stay entranced by the wide vistas for a little while—even with VR support.
Epitasis is still developing, with a prospective June 2018 release date. Here’s hoping that in that time the graphics optimize and more activities will fill in the open-ended world. As of now, the game’s website are economical with detail, leaving any clue as to the presence of a sophisticated and thematically-consistent narrative up in the star-lit sky box. We will see soon enough though, as Govatos’ and Epitasis Games have indeed reached their Kickstarter goal.
