Back in July 2024, former Piranha Bytes creative director Björn Pankratz and his wife, game designer Jennifer Pankratz, launched a new indie outfit called Pithead Studio, which they said would enable them to "keep doing what we love." Today we got our first look at what that is, and I am—with all appropriate caution engaged—very excited.
Cralon is "an authentic 3D dungeon crawler with RPG and adventure elements" about a demon hunter who falls into an old mine and must find his way out—which, in the way of these things, means going deeper. Naturally, there's some bad stuff hiding in the depths of the delve, and you're going to have to get that sorted, with some help from "the creatures of the shaft," before you make your escape.
Today's announcement trailer gave me an immediate and powerful sense of Arx Fatalis, and sure enough, Pithead said its new project is inspired by Arkane's classic dungeon crawler, as well as Ultima Underworld—which makes sense because Arx Fatalis is basically Underworld without the license. Details aside, I am extremely excited by the prospect because the only videogame I want more than a new Arx Fatalis is—maybe—a new Ultima Underworld. (No, Underworld Ascendant does not count.)
- One of my favorite indie RPGs is getting a follow-up made with FromSoftware's 25-year-old Super Mario Maker for first person dungeon crawlers
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's director was 'starving for new turn-based RPGs,' and figured if he wanted them, there would be others out there who'd want to play his game
My caution regarding the project stems from the fact that it's still very early in the process and things can change, and also because Piranha Bytes' previous RPGs—Gothic, Risen, Elex—have tended to be a little, well, janky. That's not necessarily a bad thing—judiciously-applied jank can add real character to a game—and, again, this is not Piranha Bytes, just a couple of its former top people making games that look like the sort of thing Piranha Bytes used to make. So, fair or not, there's no overlooking the connection.
But the upside about everything being in such a preliminary state is that I don't have to care about any of that right now. Pithead is making a game that very forcefully trips my Arx alarms, and I am 100% on board. I'll worry about the details later, when there are actual details to worry about.
Cralon doesn't have a release target at this point, but it's available for wishlisting now on Steam and the Epic Games Store. Check out some early screenshots down below.
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