The Lantern of the Laughless Saint, an RPG that draws inspiration from the world of Morrowind, has launched into early access this week, quickly capturing the attention of players with its unique and often humorous dialogue camera. The game immediately immerses players in a peculiar world, beginning with a disorienting awakening on a beach and an unsettling encounter with a clay-faced man.
This initial interaction sets the tone for the game's distinctive presentation. The dialogue camera oscillates between extreme close-ups of the player character, Bob, and the equally bizarre visage of the interrogator. At times, it shifts unexpectedly, focusing on odd angles of the characters' faces or even looking past them, creating a visual style that the developers describe as "tech-averse" and reminiscent of old phone camera footage. Bob's desire to escape the conversation is palpable, with his dialogue expressing frustration with the "madman."
After this initial encounter, the madman departs to pursue his own agenda involving a tower. However, the unsettling dialogue camera persists. As Bob navigates the starting town of Magdal's Rest and interacts with its inhabitants, the camera remains largely conventional until a sudden and jarring activation during a conversation with a merchant named Pichess. This quest-giver, tasked with retrieving lost goods from a skeleton-filled area, triggers the erratic camera, which randomly zooms in on his ear. The quest itself offers Bob a reward: a key to a shack, providing a safe haven to plan further exploration of the island.
Early impressions suggest that The Lantern of the Laughless Saint merges the mechanical depth of Morrowind with the eccentric tone found in the Shivering Isles expansion of Oblivion. While the gameplay leans heavily into Morrowind's style, the community of cast-off characters and the general atmosphere of the island evoke a similar sense of delightful strangeness to the Mania side of Sheogorath's realm.
Developed by NerveLabs, the game is slated for regular updates during its early access period, with new content planned every one to two weeks. The full release is anticipated in less than a year. Players interested in experiencing this unique RPG can wishlist it on Steam.