The studio that broke a lot of hearts withEndling: Extinction Is Foreveris back with a new game and the reveal trailer forRewilders: The Lost Spring.
If you missed their first game, Endling: Extinction is Forever, it was agut-wrenching survival gamewhere you play as the last mother fox desperately trying to keep her cubs alive in adying world. That game won them a Games Beyond Entertainment BAFTA in 2022, alongside a nomination for the Games for Impact Award at The Game Awards.
This time, Herobeat Studios is taking a somewhat different approach with their spiritual successor.
What’s New With Rewilders
Where Endling had you sneaking through the shadows of a cruel, post-apocalyptic wasteland, Rewilders puts you in the shoes of Abi a lone survivor on a mission to rescue her family. But this time, you’re not just fighting to survive, you’ll also fight torestore natureand heal a poisoned world.
This is Herobeat’s second game and their first crack at self-publishing. They’ve built Rewilders as a third-person action roguelite wrapped in a vibrant, cel-shaded world that manages to look beautiful and cruel at the same time.
The reveal trailer features an original theme song by Julie Elven, who if you don’t know, is the one who composed “Aloy’s Theme” for theHorizon series.
Awakening The Locals
As for the gameplay, Rewilders: The Lost Spring starts with you on a skyship base, which will be your home between each run. From there, you’ll descend to explore the corrupted biomes below, and as you heal these areas,you’ll awaken the Hântu, which are extinct creatures who will become your companions and will help you gain abilities to survive the broken world.
This is Herobeat’s second game and their first crack at self-publishing.
Souls-Lite, Not Souls-Like
Herobeat’s calling this a “souls-lite” experience, but I don’t think you should expect Dark Souls difficulty here.The game features runs with random rewards, enemies and starting points, plus a respawn system, but that’s a good thing here, considering the game is more about getting your emotions tugged rather than being a difficult game.
The studio cites that this game is heavily inspired by the works of Hayao Miyazaki, the co-founder of Studio Ghibli who brought us masterpieces such asPrincess Mononoke,Spirited Away,My Neighbor TotoroandHowl’s Moving Castle.
Making Hard Choices
Like Endling, expectRewilders: The Lost Spring to tackle heavy themes about family, responsibility and caring for the environment.Throughout the game and for each of your victory, you’ll face a moral question: Should you restore the memory of the world that was or will you let hatred reshape the world into something new?
For a game that made us feel connected with the last living foxes, jumping into the action-roguelite territory is a bold move. But if they could weave the same emotional weight alongside the flashy action, Rewilders: The Lost Spring might just offer us an emotional experience we will never regret.
For now, though, Herobeat Studios is keeping the launch details close to their chest, but they’ll be showing the game to select media members atGamescomlater this month, including which platforms will be set for its release.
