In February of this same year Ron Gilbert moved to New Zealand to start a new adventure. Or at least that’s what she said in la red social Mastodon, because the truth is that at iGamesNews we have not gone to check it out in person. Not long after, Guybrush Threepwood’s father and creator of the Monkey Island saga was somewhat more specific about his plans: once he moved away he began creating his next video game. What is shown does not look very different from Zelda: A Link to the Past and Stardew Valley, but the basic idea catapults it to the most anticipated of this year. Or, at the latest, at the beginning of 2025.
The description of the game, still without an official name although referred to as RPGTBD, we have it since Terrible Toybox website and it is a promising mix: the experience will be somewhere between the first games in The Legend of Zelda saga, the action RPG style of Blizzard’s Diablo saga and elements from Thimbleweed Park, its graphic adventure strongly inspired by the classic Maniac Mansion. A winning combination, no matter how you look at it.
Bringing together so many ideas at the same time can be somewhat ambiguous, but the truth is that the first official screenshots already show us where the project is going to go: Gilbert once again opts for the pixel art that Terrible Toybox is so good at and , in terms of the visual section, takes us back to the times of adventure games and RPGs on the SNES. A golden age for both genders, all things considered. However, and as we will see, the adventures of the intrepid Link are only one of the pillars that support the initiative.
What we know about the development of the RPGTBD project
We are not sure if Ron Gilbert has not yet decided on the title of the game or has simply decided to keep it to himself to present it officially, but we do know three things: Its codename is RPGTBDhas been working on the idea for almost a year, which roughly coincides with the release of Return to Monkey Island, and the project began development this same year.
In fact, and despite the fact that the protagonist and several of the characters shown seem to be taken from Monkey Island, in March of this year Gilbert himself confessed that he was trying to find a name for the game’s hero that was not registered and that had an address. website available, laughingly confessing that he sees “Bqmgphevuy” as a viable option.
We know that the game inherits so much from The Legend of Zelda like games Diablo its exploration system in which we will discover a large map and we will also have access to dungeons to find loot and that in March there were three people shaping the scenarios in an improved version of its own game engine, so that, despite using pixel art, development will be facilitated without conditioning the result and the gaming experience.
“My engine now supports tiled world maps so the map can grow without throttling resources at runtime, plus (and perhaps more importantly) different people can work on the map at the same time.”
In fact, although we do not know the final size of the map, or maps, the game development plan Currently, it involves creating a small first game area that is perfectly defined and from there, with clear ideas, expanding it to the rest of the content, missions and areas.
“We are trying to complete the initial area, it mainly has an art test and quests. Once that is done and we feel good, we will move on to the rest of the world, blocking areas and quests, but we will move much faster.”
Following the new trend in the Video Game Industry to produce games on a small scale and in short development periods, what will be the next Terrible Toybox title (if Gilbert does not get bored before launching it, as he himself confesses) is scheduled for release by the end of this year or, being pessimistic, in early 2025.
What will make Ron Gilbert’s next game special?
The similarities with the visual style of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past are obvious, but Gilbert’s vision goes a little further and there will be a looting system (we assume that in the style Diablo) and one of the great distinctive elements of the proposal will be its mission and adventure system.
Furthermore, they were created five ways to accept an assignment of a non-playable character and Gilbert himself assured that technically only two are needed, but during development another three were added to see how that can benefit the game. Although he does not rule out going simple.
As far as plot and adventure go, Gilbert’s words They seem to indicate curious elements such as that what we will need to go on adventures will be found in a bakery and a weapons store. We can more or less intuit the second, but it will be interesting if we change the typical potions for sweets, buns and pastry delights or if there is something else. In any case, from the creator of Monkey Island we can expect anything.
What we do know is that there will be an interesting change in our way of socializing since practically all non-playable characters can die. In fact, Gilbert confesses that for the main story there is only a very small group of characters who are essential to the adventure and that is what will only save a few of being able to be struck down. And beware, some of these seem to have escaped from Melee Island.
As expected of Ron Gilbert, he will give to all those who come from his previous works those elements that have elevated him to the category of genius: not only will there be cycles of day and night, but He has written an epitaph on every grave. Is it a clue or a system so that we don’t forget the characters who have died right under our noses?
We also know that, as in Zelda, A hearts system will be implemented, but unlike the main adventures of the Hero of Hyrule (except Zelda II) there will be an experience system with its respective bar, which makes it more similar to the sensations of Diablo. However, we still have one crucial element to know: how the combat system will work. We know that we can launch bombsbut when it comes to Gilbert we can expect from fun twists to classic concepts and even insult battles.
A pixelated adventure game to crown a 2024 full of essential indies
If 2023 was the year of big blockbusters, 2024 is set to offer 12 months to frame when it comes to indie games and great little gems: titles like Animal Well or Balatro have not only been huge surprises, but they have positioned among the best we have been able to play.
But it doesn’t end there: not long ago we celebrated the launch (in Early Access) of Hades 2 or the reunion with the essential Braid. And if everything goes as planned, Hollow Knight: Silksong will no longer be a recurring meme at every new Nintendo digital event or an Xbox that will welcome it with open arms in Game Pass.
These are just a few examples, but also something that is happening more frequently: the development of large projects is increasingly risky, so creatives like Shinji Mikami (who is at least two years ahead of the industry itself of the video game) is committed to making titles that require less time and costs, but capable of leaving a great impact.
Gilbert’s plan, as we mentioned, fits wonderfully in the face of this reality and if his ambition does not skyrocket (which usually happens) he believes that his next game will be able to be played before the end of the year. We also know that there will be clowns, for the record, but the same one who was chastened by sharing too much information about Monkey Island It seems that he has regained his enthusiasm. And that will always be synonymous with good times, dialogues to frame and genuine picaresque.
The ingredients for RPGTBD, Bqmgphevuy or whatever they end up being called are top-notch, and the project is in the hands of people with enormous talent and the vision of a video game legend. Enough to be the biggest surprise of 2024? It is clear that between Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle there is room for something different and at the same time special. And if it’s half as addictive as Diablo o Stardew Valleypossibly manage to accumulate more hours of play than both titans combined.
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