Cult game designer American McGee is back, with another twisted take on a classic fairy tale. The developer behind titles like Alice and Grimm is working on his take of Little Red Riding Hood in the form of Akaneiro: Demon Hunters, an action RPG set in feudal Japan, and Kotaku got an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming title.
The game is played from an isometric perspective and features a distinct "hand painted" style. As part of The Order of Akane, it"s your task to rid a village of boogeymen called yokai. You can collect "Karma Shards," which are turned into weapon upgrades.
The game also takes a lot of inspiration from Japanese history, since it"s set against the backdrop of Commodore Perry"s arrival and a period of great change. According to Ben Kerslake, the Creative Directory at Spicy Horse, American McGee"s Shanghai-based development studio, one of the game"s major themes is how the new supplants the old.
The game will also be exploring new platforms and business models for Spicy Horse. Not only will it be available for tablets as well as PCs, but they"ve decided to go with a free-to-play approach, although the developers promise not to be "spammy."
Akaneiro goes into beta later this year, with no official release date given.
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