Enotria: The Last Song is an Italian folklore-inspired soulslike by Jyamma Games. It's their first attempt at a soulslike and it's looking like it'll bring a rather bright aesthetic to the table. But that sparkling art style is there to mask some truly dark legends.
Like many games overtly inspired by folklore, such as Lies of P and The Witcher games, it will call to a certain kind of player - history buffs and those who prefer to learn about real-world mythos through interactive means. Despite the game world being lit by the blinding sun that Italy prides itself on, the game is set to feature some dark themes and devastating boss battles.
Translated, Enotria means "land of grapevines". It was the name given to the area of southern Italy that Enotrus (aka Oenotrus) migrated to all those thousands of years ago. That's Enotrus, youngest of the fifty sons of King Lycaon - appropriately the king of Arcadia, so it seems this is a legend that was destined to be turned into a game.
Just to set the soulslike tone a little, this is the same Lycaon who was meant to have killed, cooked and served up one of his many sons to Zeus himself as an offering. Whether he or any of his many sons feature in the game is unclear, but that at least gives you a taster of the kind of messed up stuff you're likely to encounter in-game.
And lord knows there's plenty of narrative to be siphoned from the vast Italian mythology. You can bet there's going to be some magical, mask-based antics, in fact. Playing as the Maskless One, your journey takes you across the land to claim masks that endow you with both powers and even some negative effects.
Aside from character-changing masks, the game also features an environmental shifting mechanic where you can change the world around you with little orbs called Ardore. Not only that, you'll have the ability to switch between three custom loadouts throughout the game.
"Each loadout allows you to try out a new playstyle, without the burden of a respec."
The game's official website describes a world trapped in a perpetual play known as the Canovaccio. "Become the Mask of Change and free a world of unwilling actors, stuck in an eternal script not of their making", it says.
Your role? Defeat the Authors and "free the world from stagnation".
Enotria is set to release June 21, 2024, and if learning Italian folklore while getting your ass kicked in soulslike style, you can wishlist the game right now on Steam.
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