It's not hard to pique my interest these days—stick a soulslike full of weird eldritch beasts near me, and I'll probably play it. So with that in mind, it goes without saying that I'm excited for Tombwater.
This soulslike is set in the cursed city of (surprise) Tombwater, where hordes of eldritch monsters roam the streets looking for their next victim. However, their luck has run dry because here you are, a gunslinging cowboy ready to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and I'm pretty sure there's no bubblegum in this game.
As you work your way through the town, which has a map similar to The Binding of Isaac in that it is essentially a top-down dungeon crawler, you'll uncover secrets, face deadly enemies, and meet strange NPCs who will give you quests to take on. I'm actually not too sure what we'll find in Tombwater, but I know that it has some skeletons in the closet.
"A cursed town, a mining disaster, a missing sheriff, and eldritch influence permeating everything," Tombwater's Itch.io description says. "Uncover the secrets that Tombwater's inhabitants are trying to keep buried."
You'll also be able to create a unique build that will help you take on your deadly foes. There'll be an "arsenal of firearms" up for grabs, as well as blades, apothecary items, spells, and charms to use to your advantage. "Perhaps you will strike quickly with a light cavalry sabre before dashing away to cast a spell, or maybe you will prefer to equip a flame-imbued shotgun and a heavy mining pickaxe," the description says. "No matter the build you create, you will need to fight with everything you have to survive against your foes."
It wouldn't be a soulslike if it weren't full to the brim with difficult enemies for you to take on. Luckily, we got a pretty decent look at some of these pixilated goons and bosses in the trailer that was released during The PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted.
Scattered throughout Tombwater's cemeteries, forests, and mines, there are wendigos, spiders, mummified villagers, and the aforementioned eldritch horrors. Some enemies turn into amalgams of flesh that sort of resemble a human body except with more tendrils; other monsters can engulf entire rooms with their own skin. It may sound a bit strange, but I honestly can't wait to jump in and face all of these monsters head-on—Tombwater is definitely one to watch, albeit with a building sense of dread.
