Sony's big State of Play address for October 2021 was comparatively short and modest with its games and details, but there is still plenty to be excited about. With many first and third-party games such as Horizon: Forbidden West being delayed to early 2021, the holiday 2020 season is now looking pretty slim. Many of the games showcased during the October 2021 State of Play are also not scheduled for release this year. The show's closer, Little Devil Inside, is one such example but its latest trailer did reveal a lot more details about the title. Perhaps the most striking thing about Little Devil Inside is its very unique blend of disparate themes.
Independent game developers tend to be a lot more experimental with video games than the largest names in the industry. Great indie games like Hades, Celeste, and Stardew Valley prove that a fresh take on existing ideas can be very successful. Developers Neosteam appears to be attempting exactly that with Little Devil Inside. The latest trailer treated fans to a very cute art style mashed together with wildly imaginative enemy designs in a survival-RPG shell. While Little Devil Inside had some controversies in the past and still has no official release date, it's shaping up to be an interesting take on a somewhat tired genre.
Little Devil Inside's Unique Visuals
The most striking thing about Little Devil Inside is certainly its presentation. When exploring the open world, the game's characters become little jelly bean shapes more reminiscent of a traditional Matryoshka doll than a human. The characters wobble around the stunning hand-crafted world at a snail's pace. They simultaneously fit in perfectly while also standing out as somewhat odd and funny creations. Once the player interacts with another person or object, the game's style shifts into what has been showcased thus far: a rather simple but still comedic view of the characters. Whether this is enough to stand out among other indie games like To The Rescue! is unclear. The story and plot of the title seem to be banking on this comedy working as it focuses on the everyday life of people who don't have normal jobs such as hunting monsters.
This style clash becomes the most apparent partway through the State of Play's trailer as the protagonist is seen fighting a large tentacled monster that is straight out of a Lovecraftian nightmare. The strange thing is that these monsters, as well as the common enemies, are presented in such a deadpan way that causes everything to blend together as well as games that take Lovecraftian threats seriously. There's something very entertaining about seeing Little Devil Inside's tiny hero, Billy, battle grotesque and terrifying monsters like it's just another day in the office. It will undeniably be a very unique experience, especially when considering its Victorian setting which has the potential to further aid Little Devil Inside's strangeness and out-of-the-box humor.
It's crucial for indie games to stand out among not only their other indie competitors but also larger triple-A game experiences. Most small studios don't have the budget to compete with the hyper-realistic graphics seen in Call of Duty or Horizon: Forbidden West so they tend to experiment with unique art styles. Little Devil Inside is taking an unusual approach to its style as it blends the more traditional and very cute indie games style with Lovecraftian monsters, which few would say are cute. Whether or not these different styles can come together to create a cohesive whole will be easier to assess once the game is finally released. However, Little Devil Inside is sure to provide an extremely unique version of the survival RPG genre with a focus on deadpan humor.
Little Devil Inside is in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, and Xbox One.