Secrets of Grindea announced

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This one took me by surprise. With a name like “Secrets of Grindea,” I expected to find a generic jRPG with (what else?) endless grinding. Not exactly. Developer Pixel Ferrets describe the upcoming 4-player-cooperative action RPG like so:

Secrets of Grindea is an old-school RPG, with co-op support for up to 4 players. In the world of Grindea everything is determined by one thing – how big you collection of stuff is. You take on the role as a young hero (or heroine) taking his or her first steps to become a famed Collector and help collect the most valuable rares in the entire kingdom!

The game features zelda-ish gameplay, but with deep character customization and skill systems. We have no classes, you build your hero from scratch putting skill points in almost anything you want, with no level caps holding you back!
We have a lengthy main story with dungeons in all shapes and colors, as well as multiple side-quests and hidden secrets! All this can be played with up to 4 players co-op, or just by yourself if you’re more of a single player guy!

It is, in short, something very much like a modern day Secret of Mana, minus the (mostly incomprehensible) plot. That alone would be cause for excitement, but check out the smooth original pixel animations on this puppy:

I hate it when sites give games coverage based on their visuals, but this one genuinely looks like fun–the beautiful art is just icing on the cake. Fred Ström says that his team does not yet have a proper website, but for now, you can follow the game’s TIGSource developer log here.

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8 Comments »

 
  • Gee says:

    Hey there,

    Nice article, the game looks promising! But you say:

    “It is, in short, something very much like a modern day Secret of Mana, minus the (mostly incomprehensible) plot.”

    An incomprehensible plot? I certainly enjoyed Secret of Mana (even regard it as THE best game made), but I do have to challenge you on that sentence. What makes you think the plot is incomprehensible?

    • Craig Stern says:

      It’s been a while since I played the game, but I definitely remember numerous aspects of the plot making little sense. For instance: the hero is the child of a tree? Really? Thanatos is randomly a lich? The mana seeds create a futuristic flying fortress with a giant death beam? You fight Santa Claus? Etc.

  • Gee says:

    Can’t deny that those facts are true. It bugged me as well that there were some weird encounters, like Santa Claus or the fact that a male human could have a child with a tree. Don’t forget that Claus was transformed in a monster, not that it all matters.

    But even though the plot had some random twists, I don’t think it was incomprehensible. Having said that, this game also reminds me of Secret of Evermore. The Secret of Mana with the more comprehensible plot 😉

    Any lights on a release date?

  • Craig Stern says:

    Not sure about a release date–the game is still fairly early in development, from what I gather. (The team doesn’t even have a website yet!)

    Once they announce a release date, though, I’ll certainly post about it. Keep checking the site. 😉

  • J.W. Wartick says:

    Really awesome find here. I’ll have to keep track of it. I read the forum topic and someone complained about the music, which I thought was really fun!

    Keep us updated.

  • […] we’ve got new footage showing off combat mechanics in Secrets of Grindea (last covered here), as well as a battle against an awesome-looking (if somewhat ineffectual) dragon in Shadow […]

  • […] of my more veteran readers may remember me posting about a very exciting-looking cooperative aRPG with some strong visual influences from The Secret of Mana. That was some three years ago, about a […]

 

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