Nathaniel Weiss, an ambitious game developer out of Oakland, California, has been tirelessly creating a unique experience with his game Songbringer. This one-man team does everything in the development process, art, music, mechanics, literally everything. Now, he’s getting a little hand with the indie publication and development group, Double Eleven. Double Eleven are the ones responsible for bringing the PixelJunk series (PC), Goat Simulator (Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4) and recently Prison Architect for Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Needless to say, Weiss is in good hands. Songbringer is now coming to PS4 and Xbox One, plus Linux, Mac, and Windows PCs.
Songbringer is a retro-styled roguelike in the vein of the original Legend of Zelda. This action RPG will have players exploring this strange, yet beautiful world as Roq, who is a carefree traveler that cruises the galaxy in search of good times. Crash landing on this weird planet, Roq accidentally awakens an ancient evil, throwing the galaxy into conflict. Entrusted with a powerful sword, Roq and his robot pal Jib, the duo will embark to save the many worlds and put an end to the chaos they started.
I’ve actually had the chance to play Songbringer as its being developed, as I was given access to it for a preview I did for Giga Geek Magazine. Players of the old school Zelda games will feel right at home, but Songbringer‘s lighthearted approach to a space centered science fiction makes it feel unique and full of mystery. Instead of the usual boomerang, Roq uses a top hat. Roq will still have to rely on bombs and his nanosword to fight monsters and huge bosses. Dungeons are full of puzzles and challenges, hearkening back to the excellence of the NES era with some modern additions.
Back when I played Songbringer, it wasn’t nearly as featured as what’s being planned for the full release and I still had an awesome time with the early build. There’s a level of polish Weiss is keen on, which is made obvious when sitting down with it. Eager players can even see him develop the game live on his Twitch Channel, Wizard_Fu, which I highly recommend as he is incredibly insightful and fun to watch.
Look forward to playing Songbringer in 2017. The game will also be on display at the Game Developers Conference as well as PAX East in March.
To take a look at my original piece on Giga Geek Magazine from February of 2016, go here. There’s also an old video I recorded of that early build, but once again that build is just around a year old.
