We recently were invited to San Francisco to check out the latest upcoming titles being published by Xseed Games, and were able to go hands on with their upcoming title Orgarhythm. A highly original music based strategy game.
There once were two brothers who served as gods, ruling over all creation and destruction. One day, they both decided to settle down on a particular planet. The older of the two chose to make his home underground so he could be closer to the energies of the planet itself, while the younger of the two chose to make his home on the surface where he could feel the heat of the sun.Eventually, both gods decided they would create life to keep them company and do their bidding. The older brother created loyal followers from his destructive side, while the younger brother created loyal followers from his creative side. The older brother and his followers then proceeded to devour the planet’s energy from within and destroy everything they could get their hands on, while the younger brother and his followers cultivated the earth, turning the surface world into a land of plenty.
It was only a matter of time, however, before the older brother’s followers found their way out of the underworld, resuming their swath of destruction up above. And while the younger brother had up until now turned a blind eye to his older sibling’s misdeeds, he could no longer sit idly by. For the sake of his people, the young god had no choice but to take up arms and join the fight.
Therein sets the tale, but doesn’t begin to explain a gameplay mechanic that is reminiscent of the popular PSP Patapon series. Where Patapon played out as a side scrolling, 2D rhythm action game, Orgarhythm takes this to the next level by bringing it into a 3D world.
With an almost top-down view, you can command your guys based on their abilities. Each of the three groups of your soldiers are color coded, so knowing what the color means, will aid you in your strategies. The colors gave the game a rock-paper-scissors feel to it. You’ll have to learn to master water, sharp/blunt objects and fire. Having a group of your guys dropping boulders onto the heads of opposing forces can go a long way to winning your battles.
The touch screen controls felt great and kept the game going at a pretty quick pace. This is a rhythm game, so touching the screen needs to be done with the beat and bonuses are given when you’re successful – something that’s not really very easy in a room full of gamers checking out Xseed’s latest wares, but with headphones, this game will rock. As you progress through a stage, the beat will increase, amping the difficulty up a notch or two, but it still felt fun.
The game uses an adaptive AI, which will keep track of how you played through levels previously, and change their own tactics to give the game a newish feel when those levels are replayed. The music had some great beats to it, and there will be more music DLC available in the future. The developers have announced that they will be using indy music mixers, so there should be a wide variety of beats to choose from.
There will be a multiplayer mode, supporting 2 players. This will either be a co-op match, where you can work together to take down your enemies, or a head-to-head match where it’s a fight to the finish. We weren’t shown any multiplayer action, so we can only make an educated guess how that will play out.
Orgarhythm is set to be released, possibly simultaneously across all regions, this Summer. Japan may get it first, but either way, the game is shaping up to be worth the wait.
Check out more screenshots below:
