Two worldly dimensions threatening to coalesce every thousand-odd years.

Say ‘imminent perpetual darkness, a mysterious adolescent poised to play redeemer, Ctuhulu-like entities and brooding horror’ in one-go – and the Dark Souls parallels are bound to be drawn.

Curiously though as a youngling in the middle of no-internet-where, Dylan J. Walker doesn’t recall enjoying his first-time at Dark Souls very much. 40 hours later he was of a slightly different opinion, but then came the Bloodborne, Star Trek and 80s sci-fi influences.

Elden: Path of The Forgotten is primed for a Steam release this year, with 8-bit/16-bit environments designed to lose its players, fluid traversal mechanics and a narrative that’s only half-there. That last feature being its USP.

At all instances of its two-year development journey One Rat Games has emphasized that its debut in the commercial game space is an attempt at unconventional storytelling.

The environment/its enigmatic imagery play narrators, and while there’s elements of written-letters scattered across the Path of The Forgotten, none are meant to offer any discernible sense. It all stands in the way of the player to connect the events that unravel before them into an overarching plot, minus the cutscenes.

I'll be at #GDC18 with a build of @EldenPOTFGame.
I'd be more then happy to show it to anyone interest in having a look.
I'll also be at a few of the BYO game events, look out for the person with a big white rat foot print on the back of there shirt#Indiegame #Eldritch #Medieval pic.twitter.com/4QmMJKWtGz

— Dylan Polglaze @ GDC (@OneratDylan) March 12, 2018

If that sounds like too much work fret not, Walker is not a fan of inventory systems and has gone so far as omit them altogether. Scenarios of combat are further prevalent, yes, but even these will be reaction-based encouraging retreat, stamina/position management and the mastery of parry.

Neither is the experience in all its totality enormously extended, meant to take players anywhere between one to six hours depending on how far their curiosity drives them.

Walker’s haunting GDC this week with a completed build of the game and a second title in the awning. Pick him about it by seeking out his rat-slapped tee or cheering his young team of SAE graduates on Discord, Twitter and/or Twitch via Elden: Path of The Forgotten’s website.

Plus only a day left to try my GDC indie recommendations of  Blazing Legion: Ignition, Dead Static Drive, Lamplight City and Professor Lupo and His Forgotten Pets.