Heart Forth, Alicia is a metroidvania RPG inspired by '90s games heading to Vita in 2016
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Heart Forth, Alicia is heading to PS Vita in early 2016. This is great news.
I've been following Heart Forth, Alicia for years. Seriously, it's been in production since 2007. Not the whole time, of course, but for a lot of it.
That's on account of it being the work of just one person: Alonso Martin. After a hiatus, he returned to work on it in 2013 and launched a successful Kickstarter last year.
But the game's development isn't the exciting bit. That belongs to what it's all about.
It's inspired by '90s RPGs and has glorious pixel art that evokes some of the great ones.
In fact, Martin says he's combined the gameplay of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, the world and dungeons of the Zelda series, and the story telling of Xenogears.
You play as a young wizard called Alicia who attempts to save her village on a floating island called Auster.
It starts off with a god-spirit attacking the village. Alicia and her friend Höstra flee to get help. But the spirit manages to possess Höstra, who then flings Alicia into the Void below.
It's down there, beneath the clouds, that Alicia discovers the Old World and its denizens. She then has to find a way back up to her own world.
You'll have to solve environmental puzzles, battle with agile moves, and and upgrade Alicia so she can cast powerful magic - shocking, freezing, and burning her enemies.
You can find out more about Heart Forth, Alicia on its website.