Looking at the list of indie titles that PAX East has to offer this year, I decided to return to publisher Fabraz with their next title in the making. Last year I checked out Slime-San in celebration of the Superslime Edition for consoles, now this year I checked in on the upcoming title Skellboy by Umaiki Games.
The story for the medieval set action-RPG follows the journey of Skippy the skeleton. After evil magician Squaruman discovers that he cannot have the princess of the kingdom, he casts a spell on the same kingdom and accidentally resurrects the protagonist. Now Skippy must undo what Squaruman has done on the new journey ahead of him.
The demo I played on the show floor lasted about 15 minutes. From the short time I got my hands on the upcoming title was enjoyable and I’m eager to see more in the coming months. The charming 8-bit design while implementing 3rd-dimensional level design has to be one of the most gripping parts about Skellboy. From traversing through courtyards to underground dungeons, taking in the different scenery’s really stands out with the choice for the game’s look.
For gameplay, Umaiki Games chose to work combat through varying weapons and abilities. Speaking with the game’s Music Director Bjoern, he explained to me that combat differs based on the player with the use of combos and charged hits. For the demo, only a selection of weapons and different body parts for Skippy were available. But for the full game, things like hidden items, casting magic like fire balls and roughly 5-6 weapon types will be accessible.
For the choice of the game’s engine and overall appearance, Bjoern shared that the project initially started as a side project on RPG Maker and later moved to Unity when choosing to pursue the game fully and chose to rework the game multiple times until reaching what we see currently.
Expanding on the idea of the title being exclusive to the Nintendo Switch, Bjoern detailed to be the main reason for the game being available only on Nintendo’s platform. Stating to being a “huge Nintendo nerd” since a young age. Like many games, Skellboy will take advantage of the capabilities available on the hybrid handheld console as part of a post-launch update allowing the option to play one-handed for speedrun purposes.
Already discussing the events following the game’s release date, when questioning about how side quests will play a role in the game, Bjoern shared that some will be available in the full version and will have to be played to see how they will turn out. But also following up with a comment that more are planned as the game is currently in development alongside more to be included in a free update.
Just for fun, I asked if there were the chances of any nods towards Slime-san in the approaching title as the two games share the same publisher. Without much to explain on the subject, the developer did share that one might be in the game and players will have to look for themselves when the game is out later this year.
Skellboy will be out later in 2019 for Nintendo Switch.
