Solo developer Jesse Walker has been drip feeding short video updates of new features and areas as he creates them, and I keep getting blown away by
Dark And Darker Gold Mortal Crux's intricate, fixed-camera interiors and playful approach to RPG design.
That attention to detail is what gets me really excited about Mortal Crux. This gameplay snippet released over Valentine's Day is a good example.
Walker's come back to this set piece of a clockwork elevator a few times, and it's a knockout on its own, with intricately animated gears and chains like a German clocktower really selling its 17th-century construction—not the goofy contrivance of a FromSoftware platform with a button you stand on in the middle!
Mortal Crux then goes the extra distance to add collectible cave mushrooms that whizz on by as the elevator descends. If you're quick enough, you can grab some of this valuable crafting resource and get treated to a lovingly-rendered zoom in of the model, complete with a parchment-style tooltip covering that juicy lore as well as its practical uses.
Similarly, I'm continually impressed by Mortal Crux's addition of emergent, almost-immersive sim-like detail to its world. Throwing weapons can block magic spells in mid air, with the resulting collision potentially enchanting that thrown weapon. Ditto for a sustained, flamethrower-type spell that will evaporate arrows and magic missiles out of the air, while ice spells will freeze enemies, priming them for a shatter.
I love this reactive sort of design, and it takes me back to shooting hatchets out of the air in Resident Evil 4 or being unable to climb slippery rock faces when it's raining in Breath of the Wild. It's a simulationist sensibility that I haven't seen in many recent Western RPGs, with
buy Dark And Darker Gold the exception of Larian's commitment to slapstick antics in the Divinity series.
