Skyrim, but heavy metal horror. That's how developer (mainly) Nate Purkeypile has been releasing The Axis Unseen. And after spending a couple of hours in its Steam Next Fest demo exploring a vast, spooky forest dotted with gigantic skeletons, while also being chased by packs of werewolves with intense guitar riffs, I can confirm that The Axis Unseen ticks off Skyrim , heavy. metal boxes and terror with ease.
Skyrim's inspiration is immediately obvious when you first dive into this mystical open world, with a trusty bow in hand and the promise of magical powers to come. These similarities are perhaps not surprising when you know that Purkeypile is also a former Bethesda developer who worked on the Fallout series, Starfield, and Skyrim itself. While this may make the game seem like an ambitious mod for Skyrim at first glance, it's not long before The Axis Unseen's Next Fest demo unleashes its unique folklore-based cosmic horror, to terrifying effect.
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If you could distill “time” into a game, you'd get The Axis Unseen. In theory, you are the hunter, but in practice, I am screaming as a towering Bigfoot suddenly emerges from the horizon and hides among rocky crevices until a Tree Golem finally takes its excruciatingly slow steps elsewhere, begging for the direction of the hunter. wind. It doesn't change so that my scent isn't directed towards another supernatural horror. Instead of easily killing packs of werewolves to gather energy and level up, you may have to sneak around to soften the sound of your footsteps, lining up the perfect shot to conserve limited supplies of arrows (which only return to your quiver with a satisfactory bang when you are close enough to where they landed). Or, you can decide to leave the backpack and your energy behind to conserve your shortage of health items. When simply walking can alert a monster, every second of exploration is calculated.
While you fear for your life, there are beautiful sunsets to admire, heavy downpours to navigate, and mysterious places to explore. Until now, the story of this folkloric plain inhabited by creatures from the Otherworld has been told primarily through journal entries found on suspiciously placed skeletons. But there are also mysteries that can be inferred just by looking at the horizon: mountains made of horned skeletons, unknown symbols growing on trees, altars and abandoned huts. Even if you don't care why you're hunting these monsters, it's hard to ignore how cool everything looks while you're doing it. Actually, we'd better do two ticks for the heavy metal box.
Maybe there's a more explicit story and gameplay challenges that become clearer later in the game, but when I'm not running away from monsters during the demo, I could see that killing one of each is the main goal. Once you've bravely taken one down, its statue and accompanying journal entry will be added to your collection in a very Stonehenge-inspired safe area, accessed through several portals located throughout the grounds. This is also where you level up to upgrade things like health and stealth abilities, and where you restock arrows and health supplies after getting slapped by a Tree Golem and its friends.
It may seem simplistic, but the lure of becoming the hunter, not the hunted, is a tempting motivator. Maybe you'll come across a new type of arrow as you work towards that portal in the distance, or maybe backtracking and finding another way around a group of Bigfoots (Bigfeet?) will lead to the discovery of a new power. With new powers, you unlock new abilities, such as getting a glowing mark on your hand to see if a monster is nearby, lifting the ground to better shoot your prey, and tracking its scent in a rewarding role reversal.
Although for now I still feel more like I'm a poor persecuted person. I can take on a common horned beast or two without fear, but the moment a Tree Golem drags its roots towards me, it's a quick exit in the opposite direction and a silent prayer that my footsteps don't alert me to anything worse. Once I improve the number of fire arrows I can hold and increase my health so I can survive more than one slap of branches, I can't wait to add that Tree Golem to my statue collection and feel a little less like prey. Until I encounter the next monstrosity of folklore, that is.