If you're someone who regularly finds themselves reminiscing fondly about the early days of computer role-playing games, then you might be interested to learn about Cyclopean — a promising new retro RPG from the Islands of Caliph developer Schmidt Workshops that is currently in development for Steam.
The game draws influence from various early role-playing games including Ultima, Questron, and Legacy of the Ancients, and features stunning monochrome graphics and pixellated character designs as well as two perspectives of the game's world that are split between a 2D map display and 3D first-person dungeons.
Much like Schmidt Workshops' previous titles, the title aims to evoke the look and feel of classic role-playing games from the '80s, but this time around, the developer is pairing this presentation with an ample dose of Lovecraftian horror, setting the game in the Great Abyss, a vast underworld that featured across various H.P Lovecraft's short stories.
In the game, players will start off selecting from a bunch of dreamers who have been trapped in the Great Abyss, before embarking on a quest to successfully navigate the world and find their way back to the upper Dreamlands and eventually, the waking world.
To help them along the way, players will be able to collect armour, weapons, and consumable items, and will also have the potential to form alliances and recruit others to their party to have a greater chance of fending off the inhabitants of Abyss.
No release date has been given for the game just yet, but an "Early Access" demo is currently available. According to the developer on Steam, this has a limit set in place on how many dungeons you can enter, and how many levels you can gain, but should give you a pretty good idea of what it's like to play.
You can grab the demo here.