The Blood of Dawnwalker managed to stir up quite a controversy with its time restrictions, but that's not scaring indie developers away from instilling some good ol' FOMO in players – in fact, some are leaning well into it.
If you're old enough to remember Majora's Mask, one of the best Zelda games of all time, then you're also (un)lucky enough to have grappled with its three-day cycle. It's stressful, sure, but it's what makes the game as fun and unique as it is – if you ask me, anyway.
I'm not the only one who thinks so, apparently, as Studio Zubio is cooking up a stealth RPG with a similar feature… Bunderkin: The Ocular Eclipse. You can back it on Kickstarter right now, where it's already racked up nearly four times its initial $44,444 goal with nearly $175,000 raised so far.
So, what is Bunderkin? Well, like I said, it finds players "trapped in a three-day time loop" as the ever-unpopular Beedee the Bunderdragon (yes, you read that right). Beedee is desperate to get into the Ocular Eclipse festival, which just so happens to be a "once-in-a-lifetime" event.
There's a catch, though: a villain is plotting to freeze said eclipse, but Beedee discovers a mysterious device that transports him back in time so that he can do it all again and stop the chaotic foe.
It sounds fun as heck, honestly, with Studio Zubio noting it's "inspired by stealth classics like Metal Gear Solid and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell" – and, of course, Majora's Mask – with puzzles, stealth mechanics, and secrets galore.
There's no release date set for Bunderkin: The Ocular Eclipse just yet, but its Steam page is live, so you can wishlist it if you're just as intrigued as I am.
It's entering the limelight at an interesting time for sure, considering how The Blood of Dawnwalker's time restriction was so controversial that its biggest mod reworks it altogether and Baldur's Gate 3 publishing director Michael "Cromwelp" Douse had to step in to defend it.
Regardless, I'm not afraid of a little fear of missing out myself, and Studio Zubio appears to be conjurin' up quite the fun little gem. Fingers crossed its launch window drops soon so I can relive my Majora's Mask days once again.
Searching for some new games to play? Browse through our roundup of the most exciting upcoming indie games set to arrive this year and beyond.
