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This dark fantasy RPG 'inspired by classic Pokemon' games is giving off Darkest Dungeon and Slay the Spire vibes

Voidsayer is a dark fantasy RPG where players catch and train creatures to defeat dark horrors, drawing inspiration from classic Pokemon gameplay and featuring mechanics from roguelikes like Darkest Dungeon and Slay the Spire.

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Voidsayer walks in classic Pokemon's footsteps in the sense that it's a turn-based game that wants you to "catch 'em all" - the "'em" referring to the world's strange and sometimes cute creatures - but there's a whole dark fantasy twist attached this time. 

Voidsayer's Steam page calls it a "dark and captivating 2D RPG-strategy, inspired by classic Pokemon-style gameplay" where you choose between three starter monsters - a baby dragon, what I assume is an overgrown cat, and a sad, eldritch octopus thingy - shortly before you set off across procedurally generated levels to catch more, restore a settlement, and defeat dark horrors. 

"The Abyss has unleashed its ruthless creatures upon our world," the game's announcement trailer warns. "Catch 'em all and turn them against their creators."

I'm almost immediately reminded of Darkest Dungeon and Slay the Spire, since Voidsayer's structure also seems to borrow heavily from the roguelike duo with procgen paths littered with random events where you might hear cries for help coming out of a dungeon, for example, or an abandoned town's booby traps might wipe out half your health every time you travel along the map's various nodes.

Combat is a little more predictable as it follows not only Pokemon's turn-based, party-centric action, but there's also an entire type chart that'll dictate which attacks are super effective against which creatures. The fire, flora, ground, electricity, water circle goes about as you'd expect, though there's also types for jinn, ghosts, and mediums here. Oh, and your Voidmon (?) can also evolve over time, adding a neat layer of progression on top of the Lovecraftian visuals.

There's no release date yet for Voidsayer, but the game only just tripled its funding goal on Kickstarter a few days ago, which should explain the placeholder art and text scattered across its storefront page.

While we wait, check out some upcoming indie games of 2024 and beyond for more.