Doublefine’s Keeper May Have The Most Endearing Videogame Double-act Since Banjo And Kazooie

It’s been a while since Tim Schafer’s done property briefings, he admits. The caput of Double Fine, a workplace champion known for nan Psychonauts series, is trying to explicate Keeper, a puzzle escapade crippled wherever you are, literally, a sentient, stepping lighthouse. Double Fine is now 1 of respective studios bought up by Microsoft and nan squad apparently took nan opportunity to thin into each nan resources disposable and, he said, “make thing weird.”

It’s decidedly that. The colors and ambiance of Keeper person astatine slightest nan touch of Psychonauts DNA. Keeper puts players successful power of nan aforementioned lighthouse, awakened (and joined) by a curious, occasionally aggressive, vertebrate named Twig. Interestingly, nan lighthouse presently has nary name.

Double Fine's creation director, Lee Petty came up pinch nan conception for nan game, apparently inspired by his clip spent hiking during nan COVID-19 pandemic. This is reflected successful a batch of ways, whether its nan rolling hills and landscapes that nan anthropomorphised lighthouse roams, aliases nan truth that there’s not a azygous connection of dialogue. The interactions betwixt nan vertebrate and building, which look to capsicum some cutscenes and gameplay, are for illustration Pixar shorts.

The environments person a drippy surrealist style to them to, and nan deficiency of a map, wellness barroom aliases immoderate HUD astatine each intends you’re not distracted arsenic you research and lick puzzles.

In immoderate early gameplay footage, I saw really nan lighthouse's main shape of relationship comes from its ray beam. Not only does this thief you activity retired pathways and objects, but it tin besides beryllium focused connected nan countless skittering creatures. Sometimes this causes creatures to flee, while different times they’ll connection up magical orbs willingly and unwillingly, which unfastened up later areas aliases bring towering creatures (structures?) to life. In Double Fine fashion, things look weird, too, pinch melted upland peaks pinch much than a dost of Dali.

You don't have to onslaught everything, either. During 3 different gameplay demos, I watched each kinds of creatures hide, run, and conscionable beryllium successful this world wherever humanity has agelong since disappeared. Oh there’s concisely a elephantine flying whale too.

Using nan lighthouse’s beam connected definite things will time off an twinkling spark behind, meaning that Twig nan vertebrate tin interact pinch it. During a later segment, nan lighthouse tin manipulate time, turning its vertebrate companion backmost into an ovum while a building repairs itself — and frees up a pathway. Twig remains an ovum for a while until later, erstwhile nan lighthouse tin fast-forward time. Abilities for illustration this look location-dependent, alternatively than a Metroidvania postulation of skills built up complete nan game. At different juncture, nan lighthouse walks into a unreality of pinkish fluffy mist, unlocking nan expertise to jump and float astir levels.

Schafer says nan themes of life-changing and metamorphosis will proceed to bubble up during Keeper and the lighthouse and vertebrate duo is intelligibly cardinal to each of it. It reminds maine a small of Banjo Kazooie (the second was a bird) but besides Ico; astatine 1 point, nan seemingly impervious lighthouse loses its footing, but Twig willfully tries to resistance their partner to safety. Did Twig moreover help? Maybe not, but nan sentiment was there.

Keeper will motorboat connected Xbox Series S|X and PC connected October 17th, including Xbox Game Pass.