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Italian studio Neutronized has announced Asterism, which is an adventure game that combines 2D and 3D puzzle play in a story about stars, exploration, and love. It’s heading to iOS.
The story starts with a bunch of scientists who are conducting experiments to see if star patterns are able to let us communicate with parallel dimensions. In doing this, they accidentally allow aliens from another dimension to rip into our own through black holes. The first thing these aliens do is interrupt the lives of Jin and his best friend Coy, who they kidnap for seemingly no reason.
After this has happened, the scientists discover that Jin is the only person who is able to travel across the dimensions due to his special connection to Coy. It’s then up to Jin to save Coy and the world by closing the black holes and retrieving his friend in the process.
Asterism will have a metroidvania-like structure, with a semi-open world that has areas you won’t be able to access right away, and plenty of mini-games and sub-quests to find by meeting new people and making friends. The game world is synched with your own, too, as the time (and position of the sun) matches your local time with a full day/night cycle.
On top of that, Asterism will also have structured levels for you to beat. These levels are found when you travel through the black holes. Inside, you’ll have to make use of 3D to navigate the levels in a similar way to how Polytron’s puzzle paltformer Fez worked, gaining new perspectives that the 2D view doesn’t allow.
