Update [Fri 20th Sep, 2024 09:45 BST]: Beyond Shadowgate is now available to buy on Steam and GOG.
The game is priced at £14.99 / $17.99 but currently has a 10% off introductory offer until September 26th. There is also a Beyond Shadowgate Special Edition Bundle available to buy for those who want to splash out a bit more, which includes a few digital extras like a strategy guide, a bunch of comics, a map, as well as the game's soundtrack.
Original Article [Fri 16th Aug, 2024 14:30 BST]: Next month will see the release of Beyond Shadowgate, a sequel to the classic NES dungeon crawler, across Steam and GOG on September 19th.
The project, which was originally crowdfunded on Kickstarter last year, has no similarities to the 1993 Turbografx CD sequel that featured a third-person point-and-click perspective. But is instead a more traditional first-person follow-up, similar to the original "Macventure" and its various ports, including Kemco's popular 1989 NES port.
According to the original Kickstarter campaign video, the game is based on an undeveloped 34-year-old design doc that was abandoned when its original ICOM Simulations began to focus less on original projects and more on licensed properties like Road Runner's Death Valley Rally and Rocko's Modern Life: Spunky's Dangerous Day. It is also being developed by the studio Zojoi LLC, which is a company created by the original designers of the Macintosh version of the game (Dave Marsh and Karl Roelofs), in collaboration with the experienced 8-bit developer GrahfMetal.
Here's a description of the game's story:
"35 years have passed since Jair defeated the Warlock Lord in the caverns beneath the living castle, Shadowgate. In that time, the land of Kal Torlin prospered and the events of Shadowgate were forgotten. But once again evil is stirring, scheming to bring the world to ruin.
In the dungeons of Gwynenthell, the capital city of Kal Torlin, a lowly Fenling by the name of Del Thornburrow awaits his fate. No stranger to a jail cell, Del soon frees himself from the dangers of the dungeon, only to begin a journey that will push him to the edge of his limits.
Lead Del as he travels through Gwynenthell, across the Torlin Forest, over the Gatekeeper Mountains, and beyond! Uncover plots to overthrow kingdoms that threaten to plunge the land into darkness! Interact with old friends and new, while protecting Del from the traps, hazards, monsters, and every other peril that may introduce him to the ever-present Grim Reaper."