This is a fairly unique premise for a game. We’ve seen loads of arty horror inclined games, and turn-based strategy games are as popular as they’ve ever been, but Othercide is an intriguing mix of the two. With a highly stylized minimalist aesthetic, some creatively designed characters and environments, and a bunch of grids and numbers for complex strategic scenarios, it’s hoping to bring together fans of horror and strategy games.
You’re taking command of The Daughters, an army of descendants from the greatest warrior that ever lived. You’re humanity’s last hope against “Suffering”, the hideous monstrosities with nefarious intent that are shown being up to no good in this new trailer.
The trailer also highlights the Dynamic Timeline System. During battle, the timeline shows the order that actions will occur in, whether that’s you issuing your units commands, or enemy movements and actions. Different actions can cause the timeline to adjust, resulting in delaying your enemy’s moves or speeding up yours. Throughout any given battle, the timeline will shift a lot, so it’s crucial to pay attention to how to use this system to give yourself an advantage. Some of your moves will deal amplified damage when performed in a combo, so balancing the timeline to allow for that can be a smart strategy.
We also learn about character progression, where each of the Daughters in your army develops skills through battle. As you gain experience, each Daughter gets three classes to chose as an upgrade path, letting you specialize in different aspects of the battle system, whether that’s increased long-range offensive capabilities, new moves for close-range combat, or healing and defensive moves. This lets you customize each of your units to suit your playstyle.
With any strategy game like this, the long term appeal is going to be determined by how interesting the battles are in the long term. Some lesser strategy games don’t have much more depth beyond learning the initial systems. Othercide does have an element of permadeath, where fallen units can be revived, but only by sacrificing another. If all your units die, you’ll have to start again, but with various new items and options unlocked. You will also unlock permanent upgrades any time you successfully beat one of the game’s bosses.
The high contrast black/white/red color scheme is very visually striking, the horrific character designs and themes are fairly unique in this genre, and it sounds like they’ve put some thought into offering something fairly different to other similar grid-based turn-based strategies. We think this is one to keep an eye on when it releases on Steam later this month. With the stark color scheme and intricate designs, this is certainly the type of game that would really benefit from a high-end gaming monitor.