Arcadian Atlas announced

Becca Bair, one-half of the brother-sister team that makes up Austin indie studio Twin Otter, writes in to announce Arcadian Atlas. The devs describe Arcadian Atlas as a strategy RPG intended as “a modern go at the Tactics Ogre & Final Fantasy Tactics game style.”

Even without that description, take one look at this game’s pixelly isometric screenshots and it’s pretty darn clear that they’re angling for that sort of approach.

Meanwhile, the narrative premise here is decidedly romance-y!

In the world of Arcadian Atlas, nothing is more brutal than love. And when a kingdom is at stake, love will rip itself to shreds. Now two people are finding themselves engulfed in a civil war they never wanted, and when sides must be chosen, will they find themselves still standing together – or will love leave anything standing at all?

I’m actually intrigued by the focus on a romantic relationship, as this is an angle we seldom get in (non-dating-sim) RPGs!

Meanwhile, on the crunchier end of things, here is the list of features they plan to have in the final game:

• Hand-painted character art & a pixel perfect world designed by artist Becca Bair (Vidar, Dreamblazers). A labor of love!
• Detailed battle system provides limitless strategy & challenges.
• Epic storyline and 3-dimensional characters fleshed out by writer Taylor Bair (Business of Indie, Planet Destiny) will leave you intrigued & attached.
• Grid-based tactics play style hits all the right nostalgia chords
• Retro-style sound effects & modern, chilled out jazz tunes by Moritz P.G. Katz (Fort Meow, German Wahnsinn) bridge the gap between yesterday & today.
• Innovative job classes with zero filler skills will keep you chasing that AP.
• Marries tried & tested classic tactical RPG gameplay with new customizations & exciting mechanics that help innovate the genre.

Arcadian Atlas is being developed for Windows, Mac, and iOS, with an estimated late 2017 release date.