Celeste composer and game developer Lena Raine has revealed her latest project ANOTHEREAL, a shmup RPG that combines exploration, puzzle-solving, and tense combat encounters.
Though a Switch release has not been confirmed at the time of writing, we remain hopeful that the eventual Steam release will pave the way for more platform launches (and maybe our enthusiasm will give publisher Radical Dreamland a bit of a nudge!). Similarly, a release date has not yet been set, so we could be in for a bit of a wait.
The game sees you take control of Astra who, after receiving communication from her sister to reconnect, finds herself navigating both the world itself and her inner demons as she becomes 'existent'. The trailer showcases some lovely pixel art visuals with some tasty bullet-hell encounters typical of the shmup genre. It looks cool, and we sincerely hope it lands on Switch at some point.
Let's check out the key features:
- Explore and discover the world within and beyond Astra’s childhood home, full of puzzles, mysteries and weirdos
- Meet new friends to help Astra navigate the Real
- Shoot, dodge, absorb and retaliate in shmup-style combat encounters
- Customize Astra's loadout with meaningful objects, experiences, companions, and parts of her Self
- Obtain and use items?? Why is this a bullet point
- Original story, art and music by award-winning composer Lena Raine
We'll be sure to keep you updated on ANOTHEREAL and its potential Switch launch in the coming weeks and months.
In the meantime, let us know what you make of the trailer in the comments section below. Are you, like us, hoping the game comes to Switch?
Comments 24
An RPG shmup with music by Lena Raine?
Sign me up!
Thats a day 1 purchase for me.
Seems pretty cool.
Not the biggest fan of shmups because I kind of suck at them, but it seems to be relatively slow so I should be fine and love everything else shown so definitely interested in seeing/hearing more of this and potentially playing it myself!
art and story by Lena Raine?
Day One purchase, will double dip when there's physical ❤️
Yes, I'm in! Just point me to the release date!
Another Eel? Yes please!
That looks refreshing!
This should be good!
Yo this is so cool! I’m normally not a fan of bullet hells but the speed at which this hell is happening is more my speed….if that makes sense…
But seriously I love the mashup of shmup and overworld/hub. I’ll be getting this!
4:3 aspect ratio! Awesome! Retro style game just seem right at this aspect ratio.
I don't think I've seen the concept of bullet hell/rpg at all outside of Undertale, and that seemed kind of gimmicky, if really innovative. I'm interested to see where this ends up going.
Lena Raine rocks!
Just inject it directly into my veins!
Oooh looks super cool! I'll try almost anything Lena is involved with.
I didn't know she was a game creator as well as a composer - that's fantastic!
That said, Anothereal doesn't quite sing to me - since the goal is gaining existence, I guess I expected it to look more enervating than it appears in this trailer. (Maybe it's just my mood today!)
I'll definitely keep an open mind, though, and look forward to hearing more about it.
Sounds interesting but I'll wait and see. I love Celeste's ost but everything after has been samey and lacking the spark.
I see something good on display here, but I don't do bullet hells, so that killed it for me.
I never played Celeste, but heard it’s set to some pretty rockin beats, and the music in the trailer is nice, but the game itself is what has me slathering.
I do hope it comes to Switch, but i certainly won’t wait until it does to play it.
Lena absolutely nailed in on Celeste. This is on my radar now.
I hope Radical Dreamland was founded by Chrono Trigger and Kirby fans.
Holy moly, I want to play that so badly.
Looks very nice... btw any reason why you put composer before game developer?
@romanista Probably because Lena Raine's biggest claim to fame is her music, she's worked as a composer in multiple projects, often to great acclaim.
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