Designer Mason Lindroth released the first Hylics back in 2015, the culmination of his various experiments combining abstract claymation with JRPGgame systems. Hylics 2 has been in the works ever since, and as the latest preview trailer shows, it seems to be coming along nicely.
While the presentation of Hylics 2 is reminiscent of the SNESās Clayfighter on acid, it is a pretty conventional JRPG at heart. Thereās an overworld map where you can explore and interact with other people, objects, and enemies, as well as a battle mode for when youāre actually fighting stuff. If youāve ever wanted to play something like EarthBound but somehow 10 times weirder, youāre in luck.
The trailer seems to show off the gameās broader scale and refined graphics; I especially like the bit where youāre battling a car as it tries to kiss you to death. t At least, I assume thatās whatās happening.
Kotakuās Heather Alexandra called the original Hylics a ātangled conundrumā because of the gameās procedurally generated text and disorienting mood. But that was also part of the fun, like many other classic JRPGs whose true nature and objectives are completely divorced from the non sequiturs spoken by non-playable characters. In this regard, itās a different animal than something like Undertale, even though both games aim to reimagine a classic genre.
While thereās no set release date yet, Hylics 2 is supposed to show up sometime before the end of 2018. Meanwhile, you can always play the first game over on itch.io or check out Lindrothās latest art over at the gameās development blog.
