Indie developer Studio Fawn are working on a action-adventure-meets-RPG game titled Bloom—a game, they say, that is focused on the theme of love between a mother and her child. In their description of the game, Studio Fawn say:
Bloom strives to capture the innocent feeling of adventure and discovery (taking lessons from such classic games as “The Legend of Zelda”) while at the same time pushing the experience deeper with a heartfelt story of love and sacrifice.
Bloom’s gameplay is meant to support its story and themes, Studio Fawn explain. One example of this is the game’s “Linked Heart Mechanic,” by which both the mother and child character share each other’s pain. Both characters have five hearts each, which heal over time. The mother’s hearts allow her to protect the child when at a distance when he needs her most. Meanwhile, the child’s characters can be used to give him extra strength to “rise to the challenges of the world”.
Moments of emotional pain break both characters’ hearts, and it seems as though this can only happen so often before a heart “gives up completely”. Meanwhile, Hearts are separate from the two characters’ health. Both share a single Energy/Health bar.
Combat in Bloom draws from older games like Castlevania, Mega Man and Metroid in that it will be challenging and the goal is to not allow it to get “old” after repeated playthroughs of the game. More on the devteam’s combat goals here.
Bloom is initially slated for release on PC and Mac, but will eventually be released on other platforms as well, the developers say. You can read more about the game and check out artwork and music samples on the Bloom website.
