Jett: The Far Shoreand Sword & Sworcery developers Superbrothers are making a new “2D mystery action pixel videogame”, in partnership with an unnamed publisher. In what feels almost like a pivot away from the developers' previous, magnificently hipster experiments, it’s billed as “satisfyingly finite, immediately legible, entertaining, funny, and generally satisfying for a broad audience”.
Its insincerity is a mask. It’s the most sincere, unironic game I’ve played in ages. If its princess is in another castle, its princess is actually in another castle. It covers it with layers of irony, but it’s based on a sincere belief that this shit means something. It could come across as being embarrassed of what it is, except its more like shyness. As in, what it’s talking about is too important to be approached directly and crassly. You have to joke about it, because if you took it seriously, it’ll shatter.
As for Jett: The Far Shore, it’s a grating but absorbing, inventive and sometimes poetic space shooter. Jeremy Peelsummarised itas “equal parts wonder and frustration, an evocative adventure that feels brilliant under the thumbs, but one whose creative systems feel stifled by rigid story-telling.” I myself really enjoyed the countercultural specificity of its vision of interplanetary colonisation, but was less keen on all the repeated bumping into cliffs.
Superbrothers have also contributed to Sound Shapes, a side-scrolling platformer from Queasy Games in which the levels are synched to the soundtrack. I’ve not played that one, but the emphasis on music is of a piece with Superbrothers' other creations.
My misgivings about Jett notwithstanding, I’m always up for a new Superbrothers project. Naturally, I’m a little worried about the “broad audience” talk but I’m probably being self-indulgent and also, falling back on the shitty assumption that “broad audience” =/= “clever”. Besides, “mystery action pixel videogame” is an auspicious combination of words. Let’s end withmy favourite tune from Jim Guthrie’s Sword & Sworcery soundtrack.
