I hadn't come across Recompile before, but I'm down for a "metroidvania-inspired hacking adventure" with zippy air-dashes, a "sentient virus" protagonist, and a story that branches based on play style.
Recompile is planning a 2020 PC release on Steam, and as of today, it's also aiming for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. To put you in the right headspace, Phigames was inspired by Axiom Verge, Hollow Knight, and even The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, among others. Quite the mood board!
"The landscape of The Mainframe is a completely open and explorable seamless experience," Phigames co-founder Phi Dinh explained today in a PlayStation Blog post.
"We've crafted a small yet fully-realized environment bursting with character and details. There are multiple biomes each representing a single function of the mysterious computer system you've been tasked to infiltrate. From the heavily armed security fortifications of The Tet to the authoritarian engineered world of The Hex, each location requires different skills and strategies to master."
As for the branching narrative, it comes down to "your play style, and how you decide to resolve certain narrative situations." Recompile is about the creation of a self-aware AI – if you play too aggressively, you could "end up creating a similarly violent antagonist" – and there are multiple potential endings.
Another fun tidbit: "The game's entire story takes place within one second." I'll be keeping tabs.
