Enigami has launched a Kickstarter campaign for Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom, the French indie studio’s new Unreal Engine-based fantasy RPG inspired by manga like Dragon Ball and Naruto.
Shiness, which is seeking $100,000 in funding, is set across the Sky Islands, in a world where every land strives for power. Chado and Poky, of the Waki race, accidently touch down on a dangerous island while traveling by airship, separating the two. But as Chado, in your search for Poky, you’ll become wrapped up in a story “that will reveal a far more important destiny.”
Some of the game’s features include:
- Exploration – Shiness will task players with exploring “many areas” through “quests, resolving puzzles, fighting against enemies, bosses, notorious monsters and hunting animals to get items.”
- Battle System – Shiness uses an action-based battle system that happens directly on the main map “with barely no transition between the fight and the exploration modes.” Magic and close combat have been mixed to allow for “many strategies” in defeating enemies.
- Quests – “Considerable time” is being spent to present a “great storyline” with each quest, including investigation and interrogation quests, as well as those where players are tasked with defeating difficult enemies and facing tough challenges.
- Gear and Martial Arts – In Shiness, martial arts are more effective than weapons. You can learn three types of arts: physical, magical, and supply arts. Each character also carries his own gear, such as bracelets and necklaces, which change the look of the heroes as well as their stats.
- Magic – In Shiness, the Shi is used to power magic. You can cast several during a fight such as damage and defense spells, or even status effect spells.
Unique to this game is a custom language, created by graduate students of linguistics at the University of Bordeaux. You’ll hear a lot of it in the trailer below.
Shiness is planned for release across PC and Mac, with “more [platforms] if we’re able to,” according to the team. The official website lists PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions, but notes that they’re “subject to approval by the platform holder.”
Watch the trailer below. Read more and back the project on Kickstarter.