In a recent announcement, publisher Chucklefish has released a trailer for their new game, Eastward. Featuring an apocalyptic backdrop of a world in ruin and cities in decay, Eastward will be developed by Pixpil, a Shanghai-based developer, and is planned to release on PC and Mac with possible plans for a console release if demand is high enough.
For many, Chucklefish can be remembered as the developers of Starbound and Wargroove and the publishers of Risk of Rain, Stardew Valley and Starmancer. With a hefty library of popular indie hits, one would expect to see great things from Eastward considering pedigree alone.
But, from the short announcement trailer, it doesn’t seem like Eastward will need to rely too heavily on its pedigree to get by. The visuals, animation and art style are stunning, featuring a somewhat cutesy, Studio Gibhli-esque sprite art and quirky humor. Yet, all of that charm contrasts the decaying cities and dying world around our characters, and in the end, it comes across as having some inspiration from the Earthbound series.
As for what we know about the game’s story, you will be playing as hardworking digger John, who comes across a mysterious girl named Sam in an old research facility and must protect and guide her through dangerous decaying cities and the strange world around them toward an as of yet unknown goal. According to the game’s website, it will be a single player, dual-character adventure RPG with puzzle-solving and dungeon elements.
Eastward is planned to release on PC and Mac, and Chucklefish has stated that possible plans for a console release maybe in the works later on but only if demand is high enough. We do not yet have a release date, but we will keep you updated on Eastward as development continues.