Acquire and Neilo, a studio formed by Takashi Hirai who has worked on classic music games like Space Channel 5 and Rez, have collaborated to produce one crazy video game genre crossbreed best described as rhythm real-time strategy.
Orgarhythm is the name of this bizarre PlayStation Vita-exclusive game, and it’s coming to North America later this year courtesy of the odd niche publishing ducks at XSEED Games.
In the game, players will assume the role of the God of Light and command an army of red-, yellow- and blue-colored elemental soldiers against the forces of the God of Darkness using rhythmic touchscreen taps and swipes in sync with the rock, club and tribal music thumping in the background. Different attacks occur on different beats and finger swipes lock in formations. Basically, Pikmin and Patapon got sloppy drunk and hooked up for a one-night stand without contraceptive. Orgarhythm would seem to be their bastard love child. That paint a disturbing enough mental picture for you?
Additional info plus announcement trailer and screens are posted below.
Rhythm and sound act as the user interface in Orgarhythm, giving players control over their armies. Each unit type is based on one of the three elements of Earth, Water and Fire. Each elemental troop has a “rock, paper, scissors” relationship with the other elements: Water is strong vs. Fire, Fire is strong vs. Earth, and Earth is strong vs. Water. Units are rhythmically deployed with three taps to choose the unit and attack type, then a swipe of the finger across the screen to choose position and formation. Using the same interface mechanic, players can also unleash their divine powers to boost attack, defense and healing or slow down enemy troops.
Four attack types—each type requiring a certain number of beats to use—can be employed strategically in battle. As more units enter the battle, the game music expands with additional musical layers as attacks pulse with the beat.
The game features twelve maps, which never play the same way twice as the game’s AI remembers how a map was previously played and adjusts its attack strategies accordingly. The game’s multiplayer has both versus and co-op two-player modes via online play. In co-op mode, control of the God of Light’s soldiers is shared, and in versus mode one player commands the forces of the God of Darkness—the last god standing wins!
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