Just hearing that a game has mashed two genres together does not generally excite me. It’s a useful shorthand, maybe, but there’s only so many roguelike deckbuilders I can take. Once in a while, however, a mashup comes along that makes me think, “well that doesn’t seem right,” and my ears perk up like a dog that’s learned how to spell walk. Today, that mashup comes in the form of Brokensides, a psychological horror beat ’em up where you play as a violent sea bunny recently freed from imprisonment after committing a Cardinal Crime.
Brokensides is the latest weirdo release from FUNKYHEART developer juicce, and the surreal and strange vibes return in this one. The landscapes look like a mixture of oldschool wireframe 3D, improperly rendered models with strange colours and ASCII art, all coalescing into a wonderfully weird, barren world. It’s all quite open and desolate, filled with 2D characters of varying existences (“Meet some nasty creatures, they will talk to you even if you stink!!) and glass bodies that you do the grappling with.
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Given that there’s just the one trailer so far, it’s a touch hard to get a grasp on the feel of the combat, but it looks akin to Slowclap’s Absolver, albeit with a tighter focus on streetbrawling style fighting. I’m quite a big fan of how the enemies shatter into chunky, crystalline pieces, the plethora of bits flying all over the place with a well timed hit. And yes, you can both dropkick and suplex them, so this game certainly has the, uh, juice in that regard.
The game’s Steam page also, charmingly, notes that “while you explore you can pose and sit wherever you like!! Even if you don’t deserve it!!” Cute! Brokenside was only just announced, so it’s still early days. There’s no release date to speak of, not even a release window or year, so for now you’ll just have to join me in throwing it a wishlist over on Steam.