Touhou Luna Nights developer Team Ladybug will soon be launching 2D side-scrolling action game Record of Lodoss War. The launch will be via Steam Early Access, with a full release eyed by early spring 2020.
Based on the successful Record of Lodoss War series of fantasy novels, Record of Lodoss War is a metroidvania styled action platformer that lets players assume the role of Deedlit, a beautiful elf who is the main protagonist of the original light novel and anime series adaptation of the franchise. As of now, no gameplay video has been released yet, except for the one unveiled in April of 2018 during its initial announcement. Sporting a 2D pixel art style, we can see Deedlit slashing, throwing, jumping, dashing, and dodging throughout a constantly changing dungeon.
Team Ladybug is currently one of my go-to developers when it comes to 2D side-scrolling action titles, so it’s a safe bet that I will get and most probably enjoy Record of Lodoss War. All I’m looking for from the studio is for them to be able to match what they did for Touhou Luna Nights, then I’ll be set.
The Record of Lodoss War franchise began from a series of fantasy novels, then spawning an anime adaptation and numerous successful manga runs. The Record of Lodoss War’s first foray into games was through a bunch of role-playing games made from 1989 up to 1998, with a Record of Lodoss War RPG released as a 30th anniversary revised edition in Japan. An MMORPG, Record of Lodoss War Online was launched in 2016, although it received mixed critical reception. This is the first time the franchise has deviated from the RPG genre to an action platformer.
As for the developer, Team Ladybug has been known to be in the niche of platformers and Metroidvania type games, with titles like Shin Megami Tensei: Synchronicity Prologue and my personal favorite Touhou Luna Nights under their belt. With this type of specialty that the developer possesses and the dedicated fanbase that their material already has, Record of Lodoss War is already looking like a sure success.
Record of Lodoss War will launch via Steam Early Access this fall. No announcement has been made yet whether the upcoming platformer will also see a console release.