Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP

Overview

Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP is an artistic game set in a fantasy world, which is filled with beautiful nature vistas, wild animals, and magic. The player takes control of a character called The Scythian and embarks on an adventure for the so-called Megatome. After reclaiming this artifact The Scythian is granted the ability to use magic, and can also literally read the thoughts of other people (and a dog). The game relies heavily on strong audio and graphical design. Players can also post various lines from the game to Twitter, but this is entirely optional (a small circle on the right during a text pop-up allows you to tweet the on-screen text). Some sections of the game are dependent on the lunar cycle, with certain puzzles only available during a full, half, or crescent moon.

Combat

Combat in this game is initiated by tilting the device into the portrait orientation. This causes two buttons to appear: attack and block/evade. Combat itself is timing based, requiring the player to correctly read visual and audio clues and react accordingly. Some fights are multi-staged and connected directly to the escalating music (meaning the timing of the required attacks and blocks are in beat with the music).

Visuals and audio

The design of Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP is highly evocative of older games. The combination of the simple pixel art graphics and ambient soundtrack is generally a very calming experience, although there is some high tension during combat and several other sequences. Many great details help the immersion; for example, spooking a deer in the forest causes it to flee into the bushes, producing a specific magic-like sound. These ambient sounds have no gameplay relevance and exist solely to make player feel connected to the world. I Come to Shanghai and A Life Well Wasted's Robert Ashley voices the character Logfella, though he has few lines throughout the game. In the Japanese release of the game Logfella is voiced by Suda 51. Canadian musician Jim Guthrie created the score for the game, an extended version of which is available for download and vinyl purchase.

Controls

Because the devices you can use to play this game lack buttons, Superbrothers and Capybara have designed it to take advantage of the touchscreen and tilt sensor. Movement is done by touching and holding the screen in the desired direction or by a double tap to set a waypoint for the character. Double tapping on interactive objects either uses/picks up the item or brings up text to explain it, which is a primary way of storytelling. Zoom can be controlled by pinching as per most iOS software. As said above, combat is initiated by tilting the device to portrait mode. Also, reading in the Megatome is done by opening the inventory, selecting Megatome and then tilting the device as prompted on the screen.

PC System Requirements

Minimum:

• OS:Microsoft® Windows® XP / Vista / 7
• Processor:AMD Athlon 64 2800+ @ 1.8 Ghz and Intel Pentium IV @ 2.8 Ghz
• Memory:1 GB RAM
• Graphics:Graphics Card with 128 MB of RAM
• DirectX®:9.0
• Hard Drive:500 MB HD space
• Sound:DirectX 9.0 compliant sound card

ATI cards older than the HD series are not officially supported but may be compatible in many cases (e.g X300, X800, X1300, etc.).

Recommended:

• OS:Microsoft® Windows® XP / Vista / 7
• Memory:2 GB RAM
• Graphics:Graphics Card with 256 MB of RAM
• DirectX®:9.0
• Hard Drive:1 GB HD space
• Sound:DirectX 9.0 compliant sound card

Mac System Requirements

• OS: OS X version Leopard 10.5.8, Snow Leopard 10.6.3, or later.
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.4 Ghz
• Memory: 1GB RAM
• Hard Disk Space: 500 MB Free Space
• Video Card: Graphics Card with 128 MB of RAM