Defender’s Quest II announced

Lars Doucet of Level Up Labs writes in to tell me that a sequel to last year’s delightful tower defense/RPG hybrid Defender’s Quest is on the way. Defender’s Quest II: Mists of Ruin takes place in an entirely new setting with an all-new cast of characters and a story wholly unconnected to what transpired in the last game.

While that might distress those of us who rather liked the setting and characters of the first game (written by a real-life English major!), the premise of the sequel seems to hold some promise of its own:

Mists of Ruin takes place in a new setting — a world whose surface has been covered by toxic gas for all of recorded history.  Humans shelter in crumbling domed cities, sealed tunnels beneath the earth, or small islands of land jutting just above the toxic clouds.  Your party is a domed city scavenger squad, sent into the wastes to recover ancient technology, hoping to keep the systems alive for one more generation…

That reminds me of the plot to the original Fallout in all the best ways. Also heartening: Kevin Penkin (responsible for the excellent soundtrack to the original game) is returning as composer, and Lars has somehow enticed Dean Dodrill to handle animation duties as well. (If that name sounds familiar, it’s because Dodrill is the incredibly talented animator and designer behind Dust: An Elysian Tale.)

Defender’s Quest II is still early in development, with no planned release date as of yet. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t gawk at some mockups and concept art, now does it? Oh, also: you can pre-order the game right now if you like. Lars has been fairly vocal about his distrust of Kickstarter, so he’s decided to alpha fund via his own site. You can participate in that right here.