Erosion, an ambitious upcoming title from Plot Twist, the developers behind The Last Case of Benedict Fox, blends twin-stick shooting, roguelike elements, and a dynamic open world that transforms with player actions. Creative Director Bartłomiej Lesiakowski detailed the game's core mechanics and inspirations in a recent interview, highlighting how a unique time-advancement system and a voxel art style contribute to its reactive nature.
The game's central premise involves a nameless cowboy, known only as Pop, on a quest to rescue his kidnapped daughter. The core gameplay twist is that time advances by 10 years with each player death, causing the daughter to age with each failure. This mechanic, coupled with the ability to destroy voxel environments, forms the foundation of the game's combat and world design. "We wanted to make the deaths meaningful," Lesiakowski explained. "So, if we die, let the daughter age, and also when we die, let the world change, and by following this path, we basically created the whole concept."
The aging system for the daughter has significant implications, with Lesiakowski hinting that players might not always be able to meet her. While the game features a single true ending, the world's construction and the various timelines mean that questlines and the stories of individual locations can conclude very differently. Lesiakowski noted that while focusing solely on the main quest is technically possible, it would present a considerable challenge for players, though early playtest data suggests some players may already be capable of achieving this.
The scope of Erosion's world is described as vast, further amplified by its progression through multiple timelines. Lesiakowski elaborated on the timeline system, explaining that player actions influencing the future are prompted, allowing players to view the cause and effect in a timeline interface. This feature enables strategic planning, as different quest resolutions can alter locations and unlock new weapons and items, influencing players' moral choices and desired paths.
Time in Erosion advances through specific "timelines," which players can trigger by dying three times or by initiating a manual jump. The thematic inspiration for the game's western setting stems from early discussions about a desert and wasteland aesthetic, which naturally evolved into a cowboy narrative. However, this is blended with the surreal and unexpected elements found in the Adventure Time cartoon, leading to a world populated by cowboys alongside ghosts, robots, and aliens.
Plot Twist aims to pack Erosion with over 100 different abilities and weapons, with the team continuously developing new additions. The creation of these elements prioritizes synergy and fun, with a system in place to identify and fill gaps in potential character builds. The game will also feature numerous factions, with relationships that can be dynamic. Players may inadvertently create permanent enemies, but regaining reputation with certain factions is possible through quests for opposing groups or by completing tasks for those with whom reputation has soured.
The development team, comprising 17 people dedicated to Erosion out of a 30-person studio, has found the voxel art style particularly enjoyable due to its agile asset creation process. This freedom, likened to building with Lego, allows for rapid iteration. However, the unique nature of many of Erosion's aspects presents a significant challenge, as clear design references are scarce, requiring the team to rely heavily on playtesting and player feedback to refine the experience.
Erosion is slated for a 2027 release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.