The visuals alone are worth the trek

I hope a lot more people get a chance to play and enjoy Below, Capybara's dungeon-crawling roguelike adventure, once it debuts the far less punishing Explore mode. The free update for PC and Xbox One is scheduled for April 7, 2020, and that's the same day the PlayStation 4 version of Below will debut.

Similar to the prior releases, Below will cost $24.99 on PS4.

The Explore mode update is going to let you poke around Capy's gorgeous tilt-shift world to your heart's content without worrying about hunger, thirst, one-hit deaths, restrictive checkpoints, monotonous backtracking, and some of the other nastiness that made Below such a slog to finish. Meanwhile, the game will still retain its original form with Survive m??ode, which is where existing save files will go.

It's one of those games I desperately wanted to love, but just couldn't. A lifetime ago, in my 2018 review of the PC version, I wrote that Below "has a maste?rful command of ambiance, but it comes with too many caveats." I also said that if the torch-lit experience could be "compressed into a tighter six- to eight-hour adventure, I'd confidently recommend it to a wide audience." Well, here w??e go.

As creative director Kris Piotrowski noted today, "feedback proved to us that many players were intrigued, and enamored of the game's mysterious underworld, unique art style, and dreamy atmosphere, and loved its haunting and hypnotizing soundtrack by Jim Guthrie, but these players' desire to delve into Below required surmo?unting a difficulty that made the journey seem impossible."

I have to commend the team for taki??ng those criticisms in stride and making the most of them.

The post Below’s PS4 port and free Explore mode update are coming April 7 appeared first on Destructoid.

Explore at your leisure

Below was one of 2018's most perplexing, punitive, and challenging games. The premise is simple -- keep going downward -- but the execution is meticulous and frustrating. Jordan's review is dripping with trepidation, like Below is a?? game that he wanted so badly?? to recommend but just couldn't.

PlayStation 4 owners get to take a crack at Below, but with one major alleviation to all the agony: Developer Capybara is adding an "Explore" mode to Below. Capybara says Explore is "optimized to encourage exploration," and that it's meant for players who want to see all Below has to offer "without suffering the exquisite pain of [the] original design." It's an overt admission that Below was too tough, probably even moreso than its creator intended. For those who relish a good challenge (or who just want too see Below in its original form), that will still be avail??able in "Survive" mode. 

All this happens when Below comes to PlayStation 4? sometime later this spring. PC and Xbox One players aren't left in t?he dark, though. They'll also get the Explore mode update, presumably upon PS4's release. All of the discovery with only a fraction of the tedium.

The post Capybara’s Below ventures down to PS4, and the game gets a whole lot easier appeared first on Destructoid.

Headaches and heartache

Capybara's new dungeon-delving adventure, Below, places a lot of confidence in its players. Aside from a few basic control prompts up front, the beloved indie studio offers almost zero explicit instructions. There's a fundamental faith that players will be inquisitive enough to glean all the details they need from visual cues woven into lavish world design and a super clean, ??super minimalist user interface.

Early on, I found this approach totally engrossing. I love it when a game trusts me to figure things out on my own and, crucially, provides me with reasonable clues to help make those connections possible. Below is brimming with a-ha moments as you teach yourself how not to starve, how dungeon floors can (and can't) change from one permadeath run to the next, and what to do when everything goes to hell and ?you need to extract your gear from an inhospitable area that won't ever seem to end.

In retrospect, it's a fairly simple game -- you only need to keep descending, one floor at a time, until you reach the mysterious bottom -- but the real trick is endurance. Below doesn't demand fast reflexes or a particularly quick wit, but it does require gr??it. ?One small slip-up can have devastating repercussions.

Below (PC [reviewed], Xbox One)
Developer: Capybara Games
Publisher: Capybara Games
Released: December 14, 2018
MSRP: $24.99

If you have a low tolerance for tedium in video games, y?ou're probably going to want to bail.

It pains me to put it so bluntly. As I covered in my review in progress, the first several hours of Below will be audio-visual bliss for anyone who cherishes a sense of genuine discovery. In a year with some truly beautiful games, Capybara's tilt-shift art direction stands out, and composer Jim Guthrie is as on-point with palpably atmospheric tracks as I'd expect after his work on Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP.

It's not just the killer aesthetic that sets a promising tone. Below's light action-a?dventuring is much more enjoyable in the opening hours when its survival and roguelike elements don't feel so prickly.

Say, for example, you run low on food. You might feel pressure to move a bit less methodically than you otherwise would in hopes of finding stray mice or plants you can chop up and nibble on. The shadowy monsters who roam Below's early levels only take a swipe or two at most. They aren't much of a threat, even in? large groups. You're far more likely to walk into a stray spike trap or make some other critical error in the stifling darkness. If and when that happens, a new adventurer with none of your gear will appear on the island's surface for another attempt. You'll need to navigate back to your former body to find and reclaim the all-important lantern, an item that's mandatory for progression. The underground rooms will seem familiar but slightly fresh due to procedural generation, so there's added guesswork, and you won't have health or food reserves on-hand unless you make it a point to stock up.

During the first half of the game, this is a setback, to be sure, but you can recover without taking a huge blow to your motivation to continue. You'll likely have a few shortcuts opened up by then and a basic grasp on the diff?erent layouts each specific floor and biome can take. It's tricky to see without the lantern's guiding light, but it's doable as long as you prepare appropriately and play cautiously.

Later on, once you reach a brutal set of one-way floors with a looming presence following your every step, death can be utterly disastrous. Below morphs from repetitive to outright punitive. With a well-stocked hero, the situation is tense. With a new recruit who has to survive long enough to nab his predecessor's lantern and then keep going until he finds an escape route, it's hellish. I left off my revi??ew in progress venting these frustrations ??and wondering if the struggle could possibly be worth it.

Nine more hours later, I've not only made it through the gauntlet, but I've since run back through the entire span of the game multiple times to locate the last few collectibles I had missed. Below's ending was about what I expected: gorgeous to look at and packed with more questions than?? answers??.

Some players will relish the challenge, but I just couldn't. Not in this game. Below puts its best foot forward in its early hours and then never stops losing steam. If the experience were somehow compressed into a tighter six- to eight-hour adventure, I'd con?fidently recommend it to a wide au?dience. As it stands, the game has a masterful command of ambiance, but it comes with too many caveats.

_{[This review is based on a retail build ??of the game p??rovided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Below appeared first on Destructoid.

It's dangerous to go alone

Capybara's dungeon-crawling adventure Below doesn't hold your hand. It can be cryptic and at times obtuse, but then again, it's a game abo?ut discovery. S??ome initial confusion and misunderstandings just come with the territory as you suss out how the systems and mechanics feed into each other.

After chatting with Brett and answering some of his early-game questions about Below, I figured my pointers could also be put to good use on Destructoid. This is by no means a complete guide, and I'm hesitant to overshare since Below revels in mystery, bu??t these tips should help you get started.

• The game's intro is pretty long. You don't need to press buttons or control anything.

• Once you get on shore, you have to find a lantern before you can begin your journey below the surface. You'll see several dead ends that can't be opened up yet.

• Speaking of which, the first shortcut is accessible super early on. I completely missed the secret my first time through and only discovered it hours after it would've been useful. You'll find the entrance after you climb down stairs and see the first underground bonfire (right before you enter Floor 1). Look for a pool of water and head up, then keep heading up through the top of the screen in the next room.

• Below has permadeath and some procedural elements. When you die, you will start back at the shore with a new character, meaning it's important not to rush things.

• To find your deceased hero's body and lost lantern, hit the View button on Xbox One (aka the "back" button) to bring up the map screen. This tells you approximately which floor to look on -- you'll see arrows pointing either up or down until you've reached the correct floor. You can use the left thumbstick on the map screen to scroll through the various floors your current explorer has visited. (Your map resets upon death.)

• While there is randomization to dungeon floor layouts, it can be subtle. Important rooms are always going to look a certain way and be in generally the same spot (e.g.,  "three rooms to the left of the entrance" or "in the middle of the floor"), but the interconnecting rooms do change from run to run. You'll naturally get a feel for it.

• The number-one killer is spike traps, which are difficult to notice without your lantern. You can set them off by attacking them, or you can try and coax enemies into stepping on them. Tripwires are less dangerous. Bonus: you can cut them for materials.

• If you die and are having a hell of a time trying to see without your lantern, find or craft torches. You can't equip a shield and a torch, but you can still wield your sword.

• You can create a warp point at bonfires. It costs 25 bits of light (the glowing things that enemies drop) and if you did it right, the flames will turn blue. Now, when you die and get a new character, you can interact with any bonfire to warp to your blue bonfire -- but it's single-use, so the trip is one-way-only.

• Similarly, you can sleep at bonfires to store valuables. (This is also where marbles go.)

• The hunger and thirst meters start to matter further into the game. If you're running low, keep an eye out for mice and swarming bats -- they're a key source of food in the depths. You can also hunt down foxes, but they're too pure and good to kill. It's wise to stock up on supplies in earlier floors and craft high-value meals at bonfires.

• Warmth is also eventually a factor once you've made it several floors down in Below. You just need to create a fire, and there's usually a spot to do so every few rooms.

• If you suddenly find yourself skipping a bunch of floors, don't panic. This is normal.

• Always keep an eye out for lantern pieces, the main collectible in Below that sticks with you from run to run. When you're near them (with your lantern), they'll become shrouded in a bubble of light. You can break this bubble by focus-shining them.

• Certain enemies block attacks. You can break them with a shield bash (LT + LT).

• If you've sustained damage and your health is red, either quickly apply a bandage or get to a fire so you can cauterize the wound. Otherwise, your health will keep dropping.

• My biggest tip, in general, is to be thorough the first time you explore a floor. Sometimes that means doubling back and potentially dying, but you'll save time in the long run. Having a solid grasp on how floors and shortcuts connect is crucial.

The post Very Quick Tips: Below appeared first on Destructoid.

Are you afraid of the dark?

Below, the long-awaited new adventure from Sword & Sworcery and Super Time Force developer Capybara Games, isn't quite the game I expected it to be. Part of that is on the project's initial secrecy, and part of that is on me for deciding after multiple delays that I'd just stop paying attention to any new tidbits coming out and instead simply show up on launch day, ready to be pleasan??tly surprised.

If you're expecting a pretty little zoomed-out Dark Souls or a Zelda-like romp with a heavy emphasis on combat, you will be disappointed. Some of their best elements -- like a knack for well-placed secrets and a fully-realized, believable world -- make it in. And while you do have a sword, a shield, a bow, and other possible weapons at your disposal, Below is much more about exploration. You're a fragile little survivor, not an unstoppable hero. To that end, the game leans into permadeath. Hard.

I'm not far enough along for a final ass?essment, but after 11 hours, I've seen some ??real highs and lows.

Below (PC [reviewed], Xbox One)
Developer: Capybara Games
Publisher: Capybara Games
Released: December 14, 2018
MSRP: $24.99

The first six hours or so were incredible for me. If there's one thing Below nails -- and it absolutely, consistently does -- it's a sense of atmosphere. Not just in the look of the world, which employs a sort of tilt-shift effect to draw your gaze and make you feel like an insignificant speck, but also in the sleek user interface, the convincing sound design, and of course the righteous soundtrack by Jim Guthrie.

I can't say enough good things about Below's presentation. It exceeded m?y high expectations.

That's not to say it doesn't feel good to play, too. It does. The character movement and sword slashing and shield bashing are tuned just right. That said, combat isn't really the main d??raw. After an ominous opening sailing sequence, your nameless wanderer is dumped ashore, compelled by an unknown motive to delve deep below the surface. At first, the island seems fu??ll of possibilities. You'll find some basic crafting items, a campfire, and eventually a lantern. The latter is where things get interesting.

The lantern emits an ambient glow that makes navigating Below's dark dungeons significantly easier. It can open up ?otherwise-impassible barriers. It even highlights spike traps and tripwires. In return, all you need to do is keep the device fueled by killing shadowy creatures who roam the dungeon floors and drop precious bits of light. But there's a catch: when you die, you die for good, and the lantern is inaccessible until your next would-be hero works their way aaaallllllll the way back down to pick it up.

Sometimes, this isn't a big deal. You can spend 25 bits of light at campfires to create one-time-use warp points, and Below also offers a handful of regularly scheduled shortcuts that permanently connect the s?tarting zone to much deeper floors. Other times, losing your lantern is absolute hell. When I died in a very inconvenient place about six hours in, my progress screeched to a three-hour halt.

Without getting into spoilery specifics, the area has an unstoppable presence that haunts you in every room, as well as pesky new enemies that never seem to quit coming. Worth pointing out: while Below tells you which floor your lantern and previous body are stranded on, the game uses semi-randomized floor layouts. You don't know which room is the room until you enter it. I should probably also mention that there are hunger and thirst meters that need to be ??topped up. This isn't a huge hurdle in and of itse??lf, but the survival elements do necessitate extra planning and preparedness on long treks.

I eventually got out of the jam and have since seen super cool stuff that has rekindled my affection for Below. But man. That incident nearly killed the game for me. If only there were a way to, say, pay a modest fee to fetch the lantern. I would throw so many bits of light into a wishing well.

It might sound like I've made up my mind about Below, but I haven't. Yes, it's too harsh for its own good and that can lead to far too much repetition, but until I reach the end, I won't know if my struggles were ultimately worth it or not. If you happen to be an Xbox Game Pass subscriber, I'd implore you to play this -- but onl??y until you've had your fill. The opening hours are magical and rife with discovery.

_{[This review in progress is based on a retail build of the game provided by? the publisher.]}

The post Review in Progress: Below appeared first on Destructoid.

Asleep in the Deep

It has been a long time coming, but Capybara's Below will finally be releasing next week. Originally announced during E3 2013, Below will be coming on December 14, 2018, for Xbox One and PC. The game still looks quite pretty and should be a good time for anyone that has been waiting these past five yea??rs.

I'm mostly looking forward to the soundtrack by Jim Guthrie. I still routinely play the Superbrothers OST, so ?I hope the aural soundscape is?? up to snuff.

The post Below will finally surface next week appeared first on Destructoid.

And yes, Below is still coming along

Fans of Capybara Games have been patiently waiting for Below, the studio's mysterious cavern-exploring action-ad??venture rog??uelike, for years. It's still coming, though! And co-founder Nathan Vella tells Engadget that Capy expects to announce two new game projects around August.

"The big studio focus is shipping Below, but we also have a  couple other titles," he sa??id. "We're super interested in getting on all kinds of platforms, like we've always been really big into doing stuff on everywhere. So, some of the new stuff is not necessarily the same platforms that we've been work?ing on in the recent past, which is really fun for the team."

As for the timing of the August reveals, Vella said he believes "pretty strongly in wa?iting for t?he right time. As proven by a game that's, like, three years late."

The last Capy title I played was Super Time Force all the way back in 2014. I'm here for this.

The?? unique stress of running a successful indie studi??o [Engadget]

The post Capybara is set to reveal a pair of new gam??es soon appeared first on Destructoid.

Probably by design

Maybe my Bad Journalist seams are showing a bit here, but I cannot pin down exactly what I think Below is. When I saw it at PAX East in 2014, it looked Dark Souls-esque in both combat style and its un??forg??iving nature. Despite writing a lengthy preview, I was uncertain as to what it really was.

Having seen it again --?? this tim??e at GDC last week -- I'm still unsure about it. In fact, I'm possibly more unsure than I was two years ago. All I know is that I want to sit in a dark living room with the final build, and I want to do that as soon as possible.

Talking with Capy creative director Kris Piotrowski did little to enlighten me. He re-explained Below's systems to me (one hit point, slow bleeding out, need to heal or cauterize the wound, respawn as an ancestor), but none of that truly feels like what Below i??s at its very core. That all feels like a smattering of bullet points on a useless fact sheet.

No, Below is about the shroud of mystery, and the player gradually shining a light on that. Working their way ever-downward, there's something to uncover -- whether that?? be a monster, a philosophical meaning, or the Fountain of Youth. (Ponce de Leon is going to be mad jealous if it's the Fountain of Youth.) Piotrowski already dispelled my theory that you're going to hell, so don't lean on that.

In all parts of the game, Below relies on the unknown and the process of discovery. There are no text boxes or dialogue for ??guidance. Instead, it's trial and error -- testing things out to see what works and what doesn't. At one point, Piotrowski showed me how to make soup; I have no idea what the soup did or how?? the various ingredients affect the soup, but it was made and consumed, presumably to my benefit.

The one glaring correction that Piotrowski had from my previous assumption was that Below isn't necessarily Spelunky or Dark Souls levels of difficult. He likened it to Zelda in a lot of ways and commented that it's more accessible than those other games are. It seems as if those who are dedicated to unraveling what Below has to offer won't be held back entirely by lack of skill as long as the desire to proceed is persi?stent.

Our other talking point was a less comfortable one. Nearing three years since the initial reveal, people were starting to loudly wonder why this isn't finished yet. Capy just recently announced that it's launching this summer. Piotrowski was in no hurry to apologize. "That's how long it's taken," he plainly said. Apparently Below is releasing in the coming months less because it needs to release soon and m??ore because it's ready to release as Capy feels it's done.

Leaving my appointment with Piotrowski, I felt hardly any wiser about exactly what Below actually is. That's because Capy doesn't wa?nt me to know until the game's out and I can move through it at my own pace. As a reporter, that's frustrating; but, as a player, that's exc??iting as all hell.

The post I’ve seen Below twice now, and I still have no idea what to expect appeared first on Destructoid.

Watch your step

Below was one of my most anticipated games last year, but it was delayed into 2016 at the last moment. We won't have to wait for it much longer though, as Cap??y's new roguelike adventure will be coming this summer to Xbox One and PC.

The newest trailer is looking lovely. The sense of scale and the slight vision blur around the edges of the screen create a neat effect, perfect for the massive cav?erns and dungeons that seem to swallow up the tiny explorer. I can't wait for more of those magical Jim Guthrie tunes either!

For more information about Below, be sure to check out our preview here.

The post Capybara Games’ Below drops in this summer appeared first on Destructoid.

Cuphead and Below still to come

As part of yesterday's update, which confirmed "every title in [Microsoft's] exclusive 2015 holiday games line-up -- Halo 5: Guardians, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Forza Motorsport 6 and Gears of War: Ultimate Edition -- sold over 1 million unit?s," Microsoft has summarised what's coming next in 2016.

In an interview with Gamertag Radio, marketing executive Aaron Greenberg confirmed t??hat development remains on track for some of it?s most anticipated ID games, too.

"Those are three huge ID titles," Greenberg said. "If you played Limbo you're definitely excited to see what Playdead's bringing next with Inside. We know the guys at Capy make incredible games and Below has been a title that's been anticipated for a very long time. And then Cuphead is a console-ex??clusive for us. Lifetime exclusive. And so tha??t's a big title that we've bet on."

"None of these titles do we want to rush but [Cuphead] is one of the big exclusives we're looking forward to for 2016 and the game is fantastic, and we'll want to make su??re it's released when it's ready. But it's absolutely planning to come out in 2016 and as ??we get closer to timing we'll share more details."

To finish up, here's a snapshot of the "exclusive titles" Microsoft h??as announced ("so far"). It also promises "even more updates to all versions of Minecraft in 2016":

• Gears of War 4 (Xbox One) – Multiplayer Beta in Spring 2016/Launch in Fall 2016
• Quantum Break (Xbox One) – April 5, 2016
• Halo Wars 2 (Xbox One & Windows 10) – Fall 2016
• Crackdown 3 (Xbox One) – Multiplayer in Summer 2016
• Fable Legends Open Beta (Xbox One & Windows 10) – Spring 2016
• ReCore (Xbox One & Windows 10) – 2016
• Sea of Thieves (Xbox One & Windows 10) – 2016
• Gigantic (Xbox One & Windows 10) – 2016
• Killer Instinct: Season 3 (Xbox One & Windows 10) – March 2016
• Gears of War: Ultimate Edition (Windows 10) – Spring 2016
• Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition (Xbox One & Windows 10) – Spring 2016
• Cobalt (Xbox One, Xbox 360 & Steam) – Feb. 2, 2016

If you've yet to pick up an Xbox One, does anything on that ?list tempt you??

C??uphead, Inside & Below still on track for 2016 [VideoGamer]

The post Microsoft summarises biggest 2016 ‘exclusives,’ including Below and Cuphead appeared first on Destructoid.

More news in the new year

With just a couple weeks remaining the year, Below is not going to hit its previously announced 2015 release window, developer Capybara Games has confirmed with Game Informer.

"Below is indeed coming in 2016," Capy's Nathan Vella told the magazine. "Past that I can’t share much?, yet. We’ll certainly have a lot more content to show and news to share in the new year."

You can find more information on the upcoming Xbox One and PC roguelike in our preview here.

Below delayed into 2016 [Game Informer]

The post Capybara Games’ Below delayed into 2016 appeared first on Destructoid.

I need the roguelike hole in my heart filled

Just look at it. Look at how gorgeous Below is. I need it. I need it NOW!

The post Dear Below, I need you in my life now please appeared first on Destructoid.

Rushing through is missing the point

Ever since Below was teased at Microsoft's E3 press briefing last year, it's been one of the titles that I've been most intrigued by. The art style and the fact that Capy Games was the developer were the two main reasons for my interest. Okay, those were the only reasons, because pretty much nothing else about Below has been revealed.

Capy's finally showing Below off at PAX East, and it is nothing like I expected it to be. That aside, my excitemen??t remains completely intact.

When I see an artistic indie title, I subconsciously assume that it's an inviting game. It might not necessarily be easy, but something that anyone can eventually get the hang of. Below doesn't look to be like that, as it's a procedurally-generated rogue-like that's meant to appeal to the hardcore dem??ographic.

To say that Below doesn't hold your hand would be a vast understatement. It sort of dumps you onto an island to begin with, leaving you to figure things out on your own. After a slow ascent up a mountain and wandering about a few screens, I had a??bsolutely no idea what I was doing. Thi??s was a very intentional decision by the developers, as exploration is one of the key directions of the game.

Rather, exploration very well might be the main underlying theme of the gameplay. Below feature?s no dialogue or text. The entire narrative is told through events and scenes that are found. Capy explained that it didn't want to spell the story out, ?instead opting to let players piece things together as they discover new areas and progress.

Advan?cement isn't something?? that's necessarily going to be easy, however. Equipped with a sword and shield, the protagonist only has one hit point. Once wounded, he'll eventually bleed out, negating any progress made. There are a few ways around this though. Health potions can be found that will stop the bleeding for instance. Also, there are fire pits where the player can cauterize his wounds. More importantly, these spots serve as checkpoints of sorts where the player's returned in the event of death.

Don't think you're going to not die. It's going to happen. A lot. Each "life" brings brand new screens full of different enemies and traps that are waiting for you to make a mistake. It's a lot like Spelunky ??;in the sense that you're immediately frustrated with yourself for every death, as a bit more caution would've made it completely avoidable.

After dying, you don't respawn as yourself. You come back as the next in your family lineage, determined to solve the mystery that led to the undoing of your ancestor. However, dying isn't totally negative in that the corpses of your relatives c??an be looted for items such as fuel for your lantern. If nothing else, they serve as a frustrating reminder of your ineptitude mere minutes before.

While exploring the surroundings is important, the primary goal (as the title suggests) is to keep moving downward. As you work your way through the depths, there are hu??ge (and, of course, randomly generated) dungeons that have to traversed. When asked what's sig??nificant about these dungeons, such as bosses, that make them feel more important than the outside world, Capy ducked the question. All they would say besides that they weren't ready to talk about that yet is "There are antagonists, and they're real bad," studio head Nathan Vella stated to Destructoid.

It sounds like Below is set up to go in a very dark direction, which is interesting because it kin?d of directly conflicts with the aesthetics. The overworld looks great, with the rain and mist effects adding a sense of tranquility. Even the areas of the screen that are faded into darkness have a way about them that's peaceful. The music that we heard falls right in line and compliments what's happening on-screen too.

But, it seems like that quiet peacefulness won't permeate the entire experience. As I saw first-hand after many deaths, the general public's going to consider it tougher than the average game. When you wander into "hardcore" territory, the Demon's/Dark Souls franchise inevitably gets brought up. Capy didn't say that Below draws inspiration from this series. Rather, it had the idea before Souls, and those games' receptions just reassured the de????velopers that there's actually a market for this kind of title.

Where this differs from action games is that you'll want to take your time and explore as much as you can. After all, ?exploration leads to discovery, and that's exactly what Capy wants you to do. "It's like pulling a thread on ??a sweater," Nathan commented. "You just want to keep pulling to see what happens."

He's right; I do want to see what happens. The developers said that now that the public's gotten its hands on the game, they'll reveal information about Below at a more regular pace. However, I couldn't help but feel like they'll still stay relatively silent about most of it. After all, Below's an experience best figured out by yourself.

The post Below is a hardcore game that you’ll want to take your time with appeared first on Destructoid.

A chill new trailer to set the mood

Capy never said its Xbox One roguelike Below would come to Steam -- but it also didn't deny that it might, noting back in August that the game was a tim??ed exclusive on Microsoft's platform.

Now, right before Below's first public showing at PAX East, it's been officially confirmed for Steam in an atmospheric new trailer. People attending the convention: go play this beautiful thing.

The post Yup, Capy is also bringing Below to Steam appeared first on Destructoid.

First public hands-on for the Xbox One roguelike

Next weekend in Boston, PAX East attendees will have the opportunity to play Capy's roguelike Below for the first time. It'll be at the Capy x Double Fine booth, and another of the studio's titles, the rad run-and-gun Super Time Force, will be playable over at Microsoft's booth. Just look at that little guy in the top right-hand corner? of the screenshot. Heh. He's poop. Poop with a gun.

If I'm going to a gaming convention in which Super Time Force is playable -- it usually is, let's be honest -- it's a top priority that I seek the game out. Not too much longer now before final release, I hope. Last we heard, ?Capy was tar?geting May/June depending on certification.

From what I've seen? of the PAX East lineup, a few of the major publishers have backed off or are bringing little if anything new to the expo. No matter. There's always the Indie Megabooth, designers ??running around with a laptop for one-on-one demos, and everything in between.

BELOW & SUPER TIME FORCE AT PAX EAST! [Capy]

The post Capy’s Below, Super Time Force playable at PAX East appeared first on Destructoid.

The next big thing from the minds of Sword & Sworcery

Of all the Xbox One games that were revealed during Microsoft's E3 2013 press conference, it was Capybara's Below that had me the most excited for the next-gen system. How could I not be? After all, Capy has had a track record of stellar titles from ranging back to Critter Crunch, Sword & Sworcery, and the upcoming Super Time Force for the Xbox 360.

"Below is our kind of love letter or our take on some of the things that we love about rogue?-likes, what we love about adventure games, [and] what we love about sword/shield combat," co-founder and president of Capybara Nathan Vella told me at E3 this past week.

Below is all about exploration, and Capy has no intentions of babying players here. "As you explore your goal is really to survive," Nathan stated. "Use your sword and shield, other weapons, in "brut??ally fair combat" as we call it. We're not going to hold your hand, you make a mistake you're going to die, but it's going to be your mistake, not the game's mistake. You're not going to be put in s??cenarios where your skill cannot triumph.

"It's a game that's about you as a small warrior exploring. One of the reasons why we have a small character, one of the reasons i??t mostly takes place in single screen dungeons is because it really almost makes movement about exploration."

That feeling of being small and helpless will especially be executed well thanks to the tilt-shift-like perspective you'll be witnessing Below through. Plus, there's the whole permadeath angle. One small mistake and you will have to start all? over again with a brand new character. "You're powerful if you're great, but really you're weak because you're a single warrior in this massive dungeon."

As for the story, Nathan would rather not say as the game is about you figuring out what it is as you play through. And how much of that story you discover will depend on how much you explore. Plus, no two playthroughs will be the same as "a significant portion" of Below takes place in randomly generated dungeons.

"If you manage to survive, that's when discovery happens. That's when you learn more about the story, that's when you delve deeper into the depths, that's when you have an opportun?ity to unravel or learn or experience or just go back and explore some more. It's kind of this cycle of exploring, surviving, discovering, exploring further. And combat is very like a game-y game in a lot of ??ways."

Lastly, you may have noticed in the debut trailer that there was two people playing through a dungeon. We'll learn more about multiplayer at a later date, but the last thing Capy wants to do is create a multiplayer system where there's a lobby and you have to jump through those type of hoops to play with others. While Nathan wouldn't confirm anything to me, my thoughts went into thinking they'll take the seamless approach along the lines of Journey.

The post Capybara’s Below is a roguelike with permadeath appeared first on Destructoid.

I need to see more!

Following its collaboration with Jim Guthrie on Sword & Sworcery, Capybara Games is once again teaming up with the composer for its new Xbox One title, Below.

This short-but-sweet trailer debuted during Microsoft's E3 press conference and now you can watch it again and again to glean just a little bit more inform??ation from t??he intriguing new game.

The post Capybara’s Xbox One game Below looks fantastic appeared first on Destructoid.