Transistor and Bastion successor Pyre sets summer release date
Pre-order it while it's hot.
Bastion and Transistor developer Supergiant Games is launching its next game, Pyre, on 25th July for PS4 and PC.
It's already available for pre-order on Steam and the North American PlayStation Network, and Supergiant noted on Twitter that this option will likely arrive in the UK next week. Right now the game is 10 per cent off for pre-orders, making it £13.49 / $17.99.
Pyre is a fantastical game about a caravan of exiles seeking a return to their home by performing a series of competitive rituals pitting them against fellow nomads.
This transpires through a group sport in which three characters compete against a team of AIs with the goal being to transport an orb into your pyre on the opponent's turf. It's a lot like footy, actually, only with more shooting and jumping.
That's only half of the game, however, as the rest of Pyre is a piece of interactive fiction in which players must make decisions about which route to take, resources to exhaust, currency to spend, and how to interact with the colourful characters you meet along the way. Think of it like the globetrotting of 80s Days or the non-dungeon crawling bits of Persona.
Pyre won't have a proper failstate, so if you lose too many rituals or make an abundance of questionable decisions the game will not stop dead in its tracks. You'll face hardships for sure, and your fate may not be as fortunate, but dusting oneself off in the face of defeat and continuing to fight is core to Pyre's theme of endlessly moving forward.
While Pyre's focus will be on its single-player campaign, there will be a one-vs-one local competitive mode should you want to face off against a friend (or AI).
For more on Pyre, I interviewed to its creative director Greg Kasavin at PAX East last year. He provides a fascinating look into the thought process behind this wildly divergent - and aesthetically gorgeous - game.