Upcoming sidescroller anime brawler Last Ditch Effort was just revealed to the world for the first time with a trailer at the Future Games Show, a gorgeous-looking monochromatic piece of pixel artwork, that's also clearly a "best of" of all the most beloved edgy anime tropes.
What we see is more of a teaser than a full-on trailer, showing us glimpses of gameplay and hints at the story to come. Protagonist Igor is our dark-haired brooding male lead, living in a grungy, cyberpunk-looking world, hacking up bad guys and alluding to some deal made that grants him power in exchange for his soul. I have no idea if that's metaphorical or not, but considering the evil-looking glowing eye and his mate rocking the Sephiroth wing, I wouldn't count on it.
Either way, the gameplay looks visually spectacular. Openly citing Platinum Games and Sin City as influences, Last Ditch Effort shows off some beautiful and evocative pixel art, with fluid animation, stark colour contrasts, and eye catching visuals that remind me a little of Katana Zero. I'm still not entirely sure what most of it means, but I'm definitely excited to find out.
Last Ditch Effort is planned for release on PC and Steam in 2027, being developed and published by Moonwell Games and Trellis Labs Inc. respectively. If you want to know more about what to expect, you can check out the dev's official social media output on X.
If you're looking for more excellent games from today's Future Games Show, have a look at our official Steam page.
