Duel Corp. looks so pretty that you’d be forgiving for thinking that it’s an upcoming RPG from Square Enix. But it’s actually made by some indie developers who decided to make a Soulslike from retro pixel art. And the effect is incredible.
Duel Corp. is an action RPG reminiscent of Octopath Traveler that can be played in both single player and co-op. The description on its Discord server promises an unrestricted class system where classes and weapons can be tailored to the player’s preference. According to the game’s programmer, Duel Corp.’s aesthetics were inspired by Octopath Traveler, but the gameplay was inspired by Dark Souls 3 and Mount & Blade: Warband. Although the world is procedurally generated (randomized to an extent), the overall structure will be akin to Dark Souls 3.
“We try to influence the generation so that it is not just a randomly generated map, but that each region has its own characteristics,” the developers told Kotaku. “The equipment and combat behavior of the enemies is also procedurally generated. That is, enemies always behave the same way depending on their appearance. This allows the player to learn them, which is important for the combat system and different in each playthrough.”
“Our design goal is to make the gameplay challenging, dynamic and slower paced, with less focus on the story,” the official Discord account reads. But don’t worry if you like a bit of story in your Soulslike. The game will feature NPCs, quests, and a dialogue system.
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The developers have promised a lot of combat options. The Steam page says that players will have access to “70 different talents, over 100 unique skills [and] spells, six different classes, [and] over 20 unlockable options.” Duel Corp. will also allow players to customize companion AI to allow for more flexibility in combat.
Duel Corp. is going into a closed alpha phase in 2022 and will be available on Steam. Early access will be available sometime in 2023.