Impressions on Scarygirl
Earlier this week, Square Enix announced that they are bringing Scarygirl to Xbox Live Arcade, PSN, and PC, along with some screens and a trailer. This downloadable game is a bit of a surprise, with release dates right around the corner. If you’re asking yourself: “What is Scarygirl?” then sit tight, and we’ll take a look at this upcoming title.
Scarygirl is a game based on the graphic novel by Nathan Jurevicius of the same name about a girl with a tentacle arm who washed up on a shore. After being taken in and raised by an octopus named Blister and a kung-fu mystic rabbit named Bunniguru, she starts to dream of a strange man. Not knowing who he is, she sets out on an adventure to find out why he is haunting her dreams. Not much else is known about the game’s story as of yet, other than the fact its events are separate from that of the novel and planned movie, but it looks to be a pleasantly bizarre tale.
From a graphics standpoint, the game is looking really good. With its release date just a tentacle whip away, Scarygirl is polished. The brief peek into the game’s world in the trailer shows what appears to be a diverse world, with the young girl visiting locations like a big airship, a dark city square, a vast forest, and even ice fields. Her enemies seem just as diverse, with her battling bandits, owls, mechanical dragons, and troll-like… things. All of this is delivered in a sort of 3D comic skin. The brief sample of the art style is one that leaves me wanting more.
The title is set to be a side scroller, making use of Scarygirl’s tentacle arm as a weapon. Along her adventure, she’ll be able to upgrade her basic attacks to better forms and learn new moves such as “Anaconda Squeeze,” and “Morph Tendrils.” Moves such as this can also be seen in the trailer. For the old school couch co-op gamers, Scarygirl will feature drop-in action for a second player, who will take control of Bunniguru and his “Fists of Blurry.” Players can combine special attacks together to help defeat tough enemies. Gameplay looks like the usual side-scrolling fare, with plenty of action on offer. How deep the skill system will go, only time will tell.
Not much in terms of audio is available in the trailer, just a techno, Halloween-sounding song, complete with a Theremin. Whether or not this is what we can expect of the game’s soundtrack, or if there will be elements like voice-acting, we’ll just have to find out on release. Although the amount of info available is small, it’s enough to get fans of the graphic novel excited. Even if you’re not, Scarygirl looks like it will be a fun, if not bizarre, side-scroller. It will be available for download on January 18th for XBLA, the 24th for PSN, and a date for PC TBA in early 2012.
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