Shape of Dreams, probably the closest any roguelike has come to the Risk of Rain experience, is coming to PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch 2 thanks to console ports shadowdropped during today's Xbox Tokyo Game Show showcase.
Billed as an action roguelike with combat inspired by MOBAs, Shape of Dreams launched on Steam last September and quickly became one of the biggest success stories for Neowiz, best known as the creator of Lies of P and publisher of other indie hits like DJMax Respect 5, Sanabi, and Skul: The Hero Slayer. (The Lies of P team itself has rebranded as Studio Nough, and seems to be working on a sequel called Wonders of O.)
Now one year old, Shape of Dreams is coming to consoles with full crossplay support just in time for an anniversary update packing a new playable character – the ice leviathan Cetus – as well as additional story content and new options for existing characters. All platforms will get the new content simultaneously.
Shape of Dreams has sold over 1.5 million copies, plays well with a controller, and always gave me a comfy Diablo vibe, so it seemed destined for a multiplatform release. I was smitten from its very first Steam demo release, which also ended up becoming much bigger than the creators anticipated.
The similarities between Shape of Dreams and Risk of Rain, which sits near the top of our list of best roguelikes, are no coincidence, as members of the dev team were heavily inspired by the series before and during development. But the overlap runs so deep that it almost feels like fate: like Risk of Rain, Shape of Dreams was made by two college kids who weren't expecting to stumble into a very successful career. Coincidentally, I've also interviewed both them and Risk of Rain makers Duncan Drummond and Paul Morse repeatedly.
Ahead of Tokyo Game Show, I spoke to CEO Eunseop Shim of Korean developer Lizard Smoothie about the game's runaway first year. He says the small studio, which has grown to five people, is still "very chaotic," but now they have more wind in their sails thanks to all the love and feedback from players. "I think we shifted to a generally healthier direction of concerns," he says, no longer worrying if the game will flop.
"I am not letting this game go," Shim says when I ask if he's also dreaming of Risk of Rain 2-style update and expansion support. "There are so many things that players have been asking, and so many things that we want to do. We want a whole new game mode that I probably shouldn't go into. The players are giving us love, so we should keep working on.
هەفتانە هەرسکردنەکان، چیرۆکەکانی ئەو کۆمەڵگایانەی کە خۆشت دەوێن و زۆر شتی تر
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.gamesradar.com/games/roguelike/risk-of-rain-inspired-one-of-my-favorite-new-roguelikes-and-its-getting-a-huge-update-and-console-ports-a-year-after-blowing-up-on-steam/
