The gorgeous hand-drawn visuals of The Library of Babel caught our eye when we first saw the above announcement trailer, and we now know that this stealth platformer will be making its way over to Switch on 7th April.
From developer Tanuki Game Studio and based on the short story by Jorge Luis Borges, The Library of Babel takes place 20,000 years after the extinction of humanity and will see you exploring the robot world of Mesopotamia to investigate a murder. The 2D platformer looks to be all about sneaking through environments to find clues while avoiding the mechanical gaze of patrolling enemies — please, we have only just about got over Metroid Dread's E.M.M.I.
If you are after a little more information than that given by the above trailer, check out the following game features as well as some pretty screens from publisher Neon Doctrine:
Key Features of The Library of Babel Include:
Immersive 2D Babylon: An overgrown yet futuristic world with beautifully hand-drawn 2D environments
Classic Systems: Dialogue and Inventory management systems reminiscent of the Graphic Adventure games of the ’90s
Dangerous Environment: Deadly obstacles and even deadlier enemies to avoid, as Ludovik prefers agility and stealth over violence
Stealth Is King: Ludovik must maneuver around the terrain as quietly as possible, whether that means climbing to new heights, or silently taking down enemies
We don't have long to wait before this one tip-toes onto Switch in a few weeks. If the OLED screen lets those colours pop as much as we are hoping, then this could be one to watch.
What do you make of The Library of Babel? Tempted to give it a go? Let us know in the comments.
[source youtube.com]
Comments 14
This might be off-topic for this article, but can anyone convince my friend why the Switch is better than the PS5?
The design looks good but the animation looks a bit undercooked. It just doesn't flow well enough for my taste.
@GreenNinja500 Nintendo Switch have:
1. Gameplay in their games.
2. Games are actually games, not an interactive movies.
3. 1st party Switch exclusive games are playable only on Nintendo Switch, while PlayStation 1st party exclusive games will come to PC, eventually.
4. Nintendo have Splatoon, while PlayStation seemingly killed their Resistance and Killzone IPs.
5. Nintendo games are for everyone.
6. If not Nintendo's stupid decision to create CD add-on for SNES, then there will be no PlayStation (5) at all, lol.
That's enough, I think.
@GreenNinja500
1. splatoon 3
2. splatoon 2
@GreenNinja500
Depends on what games they play. Switch is great for portability and Nintendo stuff, and it pairs well with a gaming PC. Most PS5 exclusives will eventually come to PC, but you're not going to get that with Nintendo's first-party games, unless you emulate. I bought the Switch for Breath of the Wild. That was my gateway. Since then I've loved countless games on the Switch, but it all started with that.
Looks really neat... reminds me of a lot of other enjoyable games.
Always a question of how well these ports will run on Switch.
The gameplay reminds a lot of Oddworld
I would love to know how this is based on the Borges story, as it looks and sounds *****-all like it
Let’s try and stay on topic here please
@GreenNinja500 I’d recommend asking in the forums as people will be able to help more there ☺️
@DreamlandGem Thank's for the tip.
@Rambler I am curious as well. I don't remember there being any murder... In fact, the "story" itself was written in the style of a history. I mean, it was an interesting concept: an infinite library where every conceivable piece of writing has already been written. Now, Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco on the other hand was INSPIRED by Library of Babel and THAT story did involve solving a murder. And there was an obscure game based on the novel too I once saw.
@Nitwit13
I didnt know there was a game of In the Name of the Rose! That sounds fun. With the film William is supposed to be a Geordie, so they were in the right section of the world with Connery, apart from the country and accent
From the same collection as The Library of Babel, I think Death and the Compass would make a decent game. There is a film version of that kicking about, directed by Alex Cox and starring Christopher Ecclestone.
There's also a couple of online versions of the Library of Babel, which are far too engrossing for their own good...
@Rambler I'll have to check out Death and the Compass. I don't think I read that one when I had the book. I mostly read Library of Babel because I had read it was a partial inspiration for Name of the Rose.
I think there might actually be a few different games based on Name of the Rose, according to Wikipedia. I did watch a play through of one of the older ones, and it looked pretty frustrating. It was an isometric puzzle game but every time you walked to a new screen the perspective would shift - I think just out of terrible game design, and not a clever choice.
Looks quite nice. Keen to see a review.
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