Fabular: Once Upon a Time in Space, a preview of a weird fighting game

We admit that one of the greatest satisfactions of dealing with video games, at least for the author, comes from encountering titles that until a moment ago he knew almost nothing, but turned out to be incredibly interesting. This happens because there are thousands of games in development at the same time. Ignorance suddenly turns into curiosity, and one begins to expect something of which one has little experience, often indirectly. This situationA preview of Fabular: Once Upon a SpacetimeWritten by the developers after a short demo of the game, which left us with a strong desire to learn more and play the title.

gameplay

Fabular: Once Upon a Time in Space is special from the setting. It describes the theft of the Sun by the Void Lords and a resigning ruling class too weak to do anything. We are in a sci-fi Middle Age, where spacecrafts seem to have emerged from the stables of a castle. They fire missiles and lasers, but look like squat armored warriors who wield swords and clubs with ease. The player plays the role of the last able-bodied member of the royal family who has decided to oppose the Void Lords completely alone. All this is a action roguelike In procedurally generated scenarios, you fight against a variety of enemies. The presentation by Spiritus Games focused specifically on the tools available to the player. From the start, you can choose different combat spaceships, each with unique abilities that can drastically change the tactics adopted to win.

We were especially shown the class knightAs his name suggests, he is very adept at physical combat and can take a certain amount of damage before giving up. The game is entirely based on physics and the maps are essentially two-dimensional, but the fights look extremely technical. The player must learn to control the spaceship with greater or lesser inertia depending on the model and attack at the right time using the available weapons.

In the video, we marveled at the different evolutions of the spaceship with lateral strikes and others from the front. However, each ship is equipped with stronger, naturally slower hits that are weaker but faster than the others. Also shown is the shield, the Paladin class’s special ability that allows you to absorb all attacks.

this conflicts Some of them are open to many attempts by players who can use the harmony of levels to their advantage to apply different tactics, for example using asteroids as cover or as a way to divide opponents so that they can face them. individually. Regardless, a lot depends on the chosen spaceship, which is the basis for determining the adaptive playstyle.

You can of course collect some after each battle. spoilcan be used immediately in the next fight (weapons, armor upgrades, etc.). You also get coins that are used to pay for permanent upgrades, i.e. protected even in case of death (which happens often, especially at the start). By accumulating experience, you also get points that can be spent on increasing the three key attributes of spaceships: power, speed and capacity. Each of these has unlockable skills that must be chosen by the player based on their playstyle.

A few final points

From a technical standpoint, Fabs: Once Upon a Time in Space Time looked really well done considering it was a small independent Kickstarter-funded production. The pixel art is very good and the maps, although procedurally generated, offer very beautiful and inspiring landscapes that are often a sign of a successful artistic direction. The rotation of the vehicles does not disturb, the animations of some attacks are really nice. Some of the fights felt a little slick to us, but it probably depended on the physics engine and the specific setting chosen for the game. Of course, the playable version will have to prove that it can withstand long distances, because the risk of repetition is really tangible, given the rather monothematic gameplay. However, the concept of Fabular: Once Upon a Time Spacetime remains really interesting and definitely deserves exploration. We’ll try when it comes out early access.