Entropy, the JRPG-style game from Dread Delusion developer Lovely Hellplace, has gotten a playable demo on Steam and an early access release date of August 18. I checked out that demo for myself, and things are looking great for the studio’s extremely divergent sophomore effort.
It’s wild how different Entropy is from Dread Delusion on a mechanical level, while still carrying the same vibe and aesthetic as Dread Delusion. The area design, how it feels to move around, the system for equipping and leveling up your characters, it all feels like it was lifted directly out of a mid-2000s JRPG. The demo areas have the simple level design I associate with games like Final Fantasy 10 and Lost Odyssey.
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And I don’t mean “simple” in a bad way at all: It’s an extremely effective bit of nostalgic design, evoking the period’s games in a way I don’t often see. That sort of nostalgia fishing can’t stand a game up on its own, but it’s a great touch when executed well, and Entropy pairs it with more daring and fresh ideas elsewhere.
The combat system is funky and a bit complicated at first glance, but it won me over. You can build a much bigger party than in most RPGs—up to 14 active members, with benchwarmers in reserve. From the demo, it looks like there will be a healthy mix of written, story-centric characters and hireable mercenaries to fill out the slots. There’s permadeath too, and it feels like a dash of Fire Emblem or XCOM in what would otherwise be a more mainline Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy-style experience.
Fights see you and enemies lining up in two rows: Backliners can hit anyone on the field with a ranged weapon, while melee front liners can only smack each other until they have a clear path. In the intro area, with only one or two characters, it’s a bit slow to get going, but I was quickly rocking with a squad of four, then five guys, and things really started to click.
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The positioning mechanic adds complexity without overcomplicating things. By the time I was in a real groove, crunching through fights, the demo was already over. C’est la vie, an hour and forty minutes is still very generous as demos go.
The last winning feature was the thing I was least worried about after playing Dread Delusion: Entropy’s storytelling, art, and atmosphere. We’re in a new, different fantasy world from Dread Delusion, but it’s got the same freakish and unsettling spirit. Instead of pointing North-South, Compasses in Entropy point towards or away from the forsaken city at the center of the world, “Tourmwards” or “Voidwards.” Now that is some goddamn worldbuilding.
The crunchy PS1 graphics show a sickly yellow world, its medieval architecture infested with mushrooms and magitech industrial hardware. Instead of elves, the pointy-eared folk of Entropy are some kind of bat-kin (please let me play as a bat-boy). The non-binary character creation option is presented as an in-universe cultural development with its own associated struggles, rather than the well-meaning but incongruous phenomenon of Baldur’s Gate hobgoblins being super-sensitive about pronouns.
Entropy has an awesome intro: Your character is a shithead actor recovering from a nasty hangover and struggling to recall their lines. The dialogue you choose to “remember” determines your starting stats: Was the tragic king you’re portraying known for being strong of fist or quick on his feet?
Entropy has been one of my most anticipated games, and its first demo did not disappoint. You can check it out for yourself and wishlist Entropy ahead of its August 18 early access launch on Steam.
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