![]() In the week or two before a playtest we often adopt an attitude of "we'll fix it later!" for complex problems that arise. We chose the monthly interval because we don't want to be always sprinting - we still need time to tackle things like large refactors or prototypes of new mechanics. Another benefit of these playtests is they function as deadlines - the week or two before one becomes a sprint to prepare the game so that we can maximize the usefulness of that session (and because it's just plain motivating to see your work played!) As expected, we're gaining valuable insights from observing how people from outside of the project experience it. We're currently scheduling one for the end of every month, tapping friends of ours who aren't yet familiar it. We recently started formally playtesting Earthblade! For this game we wanted to wait for quite a long time before beginning playtests, so finally getting here has been very exciting and energizing for us. Earthblade puts you on more of a front foot and tasks you with taking the fight to an enemy, and it will be fascinating to see how this changes the Celeste formula.Maddy here with another EXOK newsletter :) Can you do it? Can you push yourself? Can you make that one brave leap? It was you against nature, you against your own limitations. In Celeste, the biggest challenge was yourself. ![]() Earthblade's horned protagonist has throwing daggers and a sword, and has far more enemies they must defeat rather than simply avoid and flee from. However, the major difference is we see more combat here. By the same token, the Earthblade trailer takes us across the sweeping map filled with swamps, traps, chains, and ledges, so it seems to be moving to a similar beat. Each square of the map locked you in - if ever you failed, you just went back to the first ledge of your current screen, meaning doing it once was enough. However, to level the playing field, there was no way to fail. Celeste was an incredibly difficult platformer that relied on precise timing, lateral thinking, and the appliance of creativity in order to master each fiendish jump. ![]() The general makeup of Earthblade and Celeste appear similar. It's fitting - the same on the inside, different on the outside. To underline this fresh start, the studio had a name change too. Many players saw Celeste as a trans allegory, and the game's lead, Maddy Thorson, came out as trans in the aftermath of the game. If you don't recognise the name Extremely OK Games, that's because the studio changed it. I'd put Celeste in the all-time indie top ten, alongside the likes of Hades, Undertale, and Stardew Valley, so I'm obviously keen on the follow up. Related: Immortality's Manon Gage Deserves Our ApplauseĮarthblade is made by Extremely OK Games, the team that brought you Celeste. ![]() It's still an indie game with a new IP up to two years out from launch, so it's unlikely to be the talk of the town soon, but that's why I'm looking forward to making it my business to keep everyone in the loop. Unless you were a superfan who followed the dev on Twitter, you likely weren't aware of this game prior to the 'world premiere' of its new trailer, and as an indie game with a new IP still two years out from launch, it understandably hadn't made much of a splash before Keighley showed it off. Though not technically a reveal, as the game had been announced several months prior, this was its introduction to the world. Earthblade made its major debut at The Game Awards earlier this month.
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