With games like Infinity Blade and Dark Meadow, developers have proven that Unreal Engine 3 can do dark and gothic. The colorful adventure role-playing game Lili, crafted by the former Epic developers at BitMonster Games, utilizes the engine's power to create something much more fanciful.
If you screw up your eyes just right you could almost mistake Lili for a CGI animated feature. It's certainly on par with some of the colorful platform games we've seen from the current generation of consoles.
Lili follows the adventures of the titular heroine as she explores the mysterious island of Geos, meeting odd characters, exploring scenic terrain, and toppling oppressive regimes using "an amusing 'non-combat'" combat system. You know, the usual.
It's colorful. It's quirky. Like Epic's upcoming PC game Fortnite, it demonstrates the ravenous passion for whimsy that comes from spending years working on a dark and gritty series like Gears of War, which makes complete sense considering the president of BitMonster is none other than former Epic lead designer Lee Perry.
"Epic has been extremely supportive of our new studio and in helping us build the game of our dreams," said Perry via official announcement today. "We set out to create an adventure that is appropriate for nearly anyone. As a designer, it's exciting to see that the Unreal Engine 3 tools are better than ever, and they provide everything we need to achieve a gratifying and imaginative experience."
So far it looks like they're on the right track.
I'm not sure how Lili plays. I'm not quite sure what a 'non-combat' system is. I'm not even sure when it's coming out — the game is in the final stages of development, whatever that means.
What I am sure of is that this is a game I suddenly have an aching desire to play. Prepare for a sound hounding, BitMonster.