Deven McClure (@lilkombucha.bsky.social)

Orbitals Doesn't Just Capture The Retro Anime Look, But Its Childlike Wonder As Well With its anime art style and high-energy soundtrack, Orbitals immediately made a splash when it was announced during last year's Game Awards. Developed by Shapefarm and published by Kepler Interactive--the publisher behind Clair Obscur: Expedition 33--the co-op platformer adventure game aims to authentically capture the anime feeling via a collaboration with Studio Massket. The Japanese animation studio, known for its work on shows like Attack on Titan, has partnered with developers to craft all of Orbitals' cutscenes, and, after spending about an hour with the title, I can confirm it very much feels like an anime you can play. After the team's work on Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker and Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time, Orbitals was born out of a desire to continue crafting games with anime characters in amazing worlds, but with an original intellectual property. The co-op-only gameplay style has become an increasingly prominent genre following the success of games like Hazelight Studios' It Takes Two and Split Fiction--a fact that Orbitals game director Jakob Lungdren, a former level designer for Hazelight Studios, is keenly aware of. With this combined history as a development team, the path to Orbitals was inevitable. Orbitals is driven by two pillars: retro anime and co-op play. Ahead of our hands-on session, creative director Marcos Ramos joked, "Other games have three pillars, we have two--more efficient." There are many facets that make up both pillars, however. Orbitals aims to encapsulate not just the look and storytelling of retro anime, but also the feeling of sitting at home watching it as a child. And its co-op gameplay is designed to test communication and coordination while creating fun, emergent moments with asymmetrical game design.Continue Reading at GameSpot http://dlvr.it/TSBHKF