Rain Of Reflections shows off turn-based sneaking and chatting
Mirror's pledge
I hope you're feeling lucky, punks, because there are more games with a cyber-aesthetic in development than I can count on the fingers of my digitally-enhanced robo-hand. Rain Of Reflections was announced way back in 2015, but Lionbite Games only gave us our first proper look at their turn-based stealth and conversation 'em up earlier this week. The gameplay trailer for the first chapter, "Set Free", awaits below: you're a scientist who's decided to stop experimenting on the last child ever born, and free him instead.
I'm not sure that's a great idea. He could get hit by a bus or something.
Quick, to the blurbmobile:
"Rain of Reflections is an atmospheric, dystopian adventure game. Its turn-based strategic confrontations are uniquely centered around a motivation mechanic. Every move and choice made by the player is permanent and will have consequences on the world and its characters.
"The introductory chapter – 'Set Free' – centers around Wilona, a scientist working towards a solution to our future world's sudden infertility. As she starts doubting the morality of the experiments, she decides to free the live subject – the lastborn child – from captivity. This will prove difficult, as powerful forces try to stop her."
I'm more sold by the world than the actual sneaking, at this point. Turning invisible is like, the ultimate last-ditch desperation stealth move, yet Wilona goes ahead and activates that cloak like she's got a lifetime's supply of AA batteries stuffed under her coat. I'll need to see something a bit more inventive before infiltration becomes more than a distraction from the talky bits.
Which do sound promising! I like that you choose specific lines of dialogue, eschewing the current dominant paradigm where you indicate your rough intentions and just have to hope that you and the devs are on the same page. The (vague) stuff about how moving around will impact the world sounds interesting too, and - most intriguingly - the option to "speak" is listed as a tactical option next to moving stealthily and opening fire.
Chapter 2 moves on to a robo-eyed PI, and chapter 3 will put you in the shoes of an underground resistance fighter. I don't specifically know what they're resisting, other than a scary ten-foot robot. He shows up in this story trailer from last year.
Chapter 1 is set to come out "in the coming months". You can wishlist it on Steam, if you like.