Developer Moonana Games and publisher Serenity Forge have officially launched Keylocker — a cyberpunk JRPG all about keeping to the beat — on the Switch eShop.
This one takes place in the dystopian cityscape of Saturn (cyberpunk enough for ya?), where a corrupt government has banned all music. You'll play as B0B0, a singer/songwriter determined to dismantle this system through the power of turn-based rhythm battles, be that on the isometric battlefield or in falling-note sections à la Guitar Hero.
It looks pretty sweet, with the pixel art visuals complementing the cyberpunk aesthetic rather nicely. The developer cites the Mario & Luigi series and Chrono Trigger as inspirations — big shoes to fill, but a fantastic place to start.
Here's a list of the game's key features and a handful of screenshots so you can see what we're dealing with:
- Choose your path as a cyberpunk rebel, each with their own unique skill tree and storyline
- Control electricity with you music! Transform it to attack or defend as needed, swapping between different movesets and tactics.
- Classic turn-based combat with a twist: Real-time execution of moves in rhythm game style — aim your shots, time your attacks, parry, and block your enemies!
- No random encounters: fight your enemies head-on with seamless in-world battles
- Befriend citizens, or betray them: Hack into profiles to acquire resources or to change the course of the story with multiple endings.
- Play with your band in the Music Show minigame: Featuring compositions by Elektrobear (Momodora, Virgo Versus The Zodiac), voiced by Psamathes.
- Keep an eye on the Danger Meter! The all-ears church-police will pursue devious denizens who disrespect the Law of Silence.
- Completely customize your characters with a wide variety of equipment
- Unlock special Talents using Keys harvested from enemies you've DELETED in combat.
- Unique interactions with every object in the world: Exploring Saturn can lead to secrets, rewards, or bits of lore about the planet.
Keylocker is now available on the Switch eShop for £15.99 / $19.99, with a tasty 10% discount available for its first month on the store.
What do you make of this one? Think you'll be checking it out? Let us know in the comments.
Comments 16
Looks pretty cool and there are some pretty interesting aspects to it so I might eventually give it a try!
This wasn't really on my radar but it does look pretty interesting.
Seems interesting. The art style reminds me of Cassette Beasts and the battles remind me of Riviera: The Promised Land, which are both big plusses in my book.
That protagonist's name isn't going to go over well with Filipino gamers though.
I feel like terminology is meaningless these days. At least to me. What makes this a JRPG? Because it doesn't look like one to me, for sure.
@calbeau - For what it's worth, it looks like her name is B Zero B Zero, though I might be wrong.
Still, people will read it as Bobo, which I assume isn't a nice thing for Filipino players, so your point is still valid.
Interesting. Something I'd definitely want to try a demo for first.
@Daniel36 It has turn based battles that happen when you encounter a bad guy in an isometric anime overworld. I don't know what else you would call it.
@Poodlestargenerica That's usually called a strategy RPG or tactical RPG. In my eyes, JRPGs are called as such when they have a decidedly animé aesthetic.
But I will concede, that is what it means to ME. Doesn't have ti be the same for others.
Cyberpunk has always been turn-based if you consider the Shadowrun games.
An effective trailer, especially with the singing.
I know this is going to seem like a stretch, but to me there's a really interesting vibe here that relates back to one of the original themes from Robotech - about the clause of culture where the genetic bread for war beings didn't have non-war oriented culture, including music & singing. I never would have thought to use that as a core theme to base an RPG on. It's a great theme to base a story on that I don't think I've seen in any games; even the other Robotech based games.
Going to have to keep an eye on this. Might be a sleeper hit.
I got a lot of SNES Shadowrun vibes from this one, and thats a good thing. Love the music, and the art.
TBS is one of my main genres and this looks neat. But I'll wait for a review to see if it stands out in the eshop ocean.
@Daggot That kind of reminds me of the Spartans. Their whole society was geared towards total war, and I don't think that they had much time for culture. I read about it once, so am hardly an expert, though! 😆
@Daniel36 I don't even know what to say to this, that's not what the genre I described is called. Do you think that every classic final fantasy and dragon quest is a strategy or tactical rpg?
@Poodlestargenerica No, those are "standard" JRPGs. This game clearly is turn based grid, like FF Tactics, Fire Emblem, etc., which have always been called Strategy RPGs.
@Daniel36 I don't think the grid matters much in this game, at least not in the trailer, I didn't really see any characters moving. It looks like it's for more Mario RPG rhythm-based attacks and Dodges
@Poodlestargenerica Fair enough. It still doesn't strike me as particularly Japanese in its approach, though.
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