Developer Mad Mimic and publisher Light Up Games have announced that the pirate metroidvania Mark of the Deep will be landing on Switch in January 2025.
You might remember that this one was initially scheduled for an October 2024 launch — a date which, obviously, wasn't met — and while it's never ideal to see a nice-looking game delayed, the new release window isn't all that far away.
For those who missed the initial announcement, Mark of the Deep sees you shipwrecked on a cursed island (the worst type of island), forced to fight your way through all kinds of nasties in an attempt to reunite your crew. There's a metroidvania structure to the exploration, and the developer highlights a certain Soulslike approach to the combat — so expect to see a good few dodge rolls.
Looking at the new gameplay trailer (above), we couldn't help but be reminded a little of Hades in the game's isometric camera, action animation and overall visuals. Obviously, there are no roguelike elements to contend with here, but we'd be surprised if Supergiant's journey through the underworld didn't provide at least a sliver of inspiration on the design front.
You can find a rundown of the game's story and key features, and a handful of screenshots below:
A pirate ship wrecked on a mystic and cursed island, till then known only by myths n’ tales. In this diversely hostile environment, Rookie needs to face a wide variety of dangers to find his lost crew.
However, by exploring the eerie biomes and fighting abyssal monsters, he will learn that the Island was cursed centuries ago, when the cultist leader of the Old Folk - the native inhabitants of the island - imprisoned the Leviathan, in search of obtaining immortality.
Features:
- Get new abilities that change how you fight enemies, traverse the environment, and unlock new paths!
- Experience challenging but fair combat against a diverse set of enemies!
- Find your missing crew and bring them to the crew's HUB!
- Upgrade your weapons and abilities!
We still don't have the specifics of exactly when Mark of the Deep will drop anchor on Switch in January 2025, but we'll be keeping an eye out over the coming weeks for more information.
We were lucky enough to go hands-on with this one at Tokyo Games Show this year and we liked what we saw. Here's hoping that the full game can keep the good times coming.
What do you make of Mark of the Deep? Will you be checking it out next year? Let us know in the comments.
Comments 17
Still keeping my eye on this, if it ends up being good then I'm interested in eventually giving it a try myself!
That is Ubisoft levels of manatees in the ball pit design
Oof that voice acting is kind of rough.
I do like the in-game animations. The gameplay looks very fluid and exactly the kind of game I'd love to spend hundreds of hours on.
The art direction is a bit uneven, taking Hades a bit too much as a reference, but not applying that style consistently. The medieval setting isn't as colourful or exciting as Hades' world. That's the comparison you'll get.
They should just focus on the fun and make that character a little bit more legible.
Game looks nothing like a "Metroidvania" unless every single action/adventure game with some gated progression is now considered one.
Having "metroidvania structure to the exploration" doesn't make it a "Metroidvania", that is just one single element of the genre.
Between Hades and TMNT I think I've had my fill of this type of game for a bit. I think i'll wait until Hades 2 comes to Switch/switch 2. Maybe reviews will swing me
Minus the voice acting, I like evrything about this. Ill keep an eye out
I'm not exactly sure how it's "souls-like". I see that word used too frequently nowadays. Looks more like modern diablo games/ Hades to me.
"souls like" is keyword for yet another one for the huge pile of the stuff 🤢🤢 no thanks
Something about this just reads "worse version of hades" The graphics, animations, voices all have that that look of being unpolished
This is not a Metroidvania, it's roguelike just like Hades. Metroidvania is not isometric.
I found myself asking, "Why have they chosen to make these voices such a feature of their trailer, cos I'm not sure they're a selling point". Reassuring to see others had a similar reaction.
@JackieCMarlow All our labels really do start to get confusing, especially when we can't agree on what they mean. I was just arguing over what constitutes a retro game, and I'm still not sure if there's a difference between Metroidvanias and Zelda-likes besides the perspective, which falls apart even further with the 3D games. Then Soulslikes throw another wrench in the works considering they're basically the same thing, just with higher difficulty and currency loss.
Caveat: I'm familiar with the folks from the studio.
I had fun playing the Steam demo earlier this year—it's still available, I think. I'm looking forward to seeing what this unexpected time extension brings.
Hades having some of the best voice acting ever recorded, that doesn't help either.
They forget that in Hades, everyone delivers their lines as fast as they possibly can. That would already make it much better.
Gonna keep tabs on this one
@JalapenoSpiceLife
Yeah i really dislike seeing soulslike and roguelike on what feels like almost all upcomming indie games
Looks good to me and the voice acting imo isn't as bad as people in the comments here are making it out to be.
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...