Castle in the Darkness is aiming to capture all the best bits about retro platforming - brutal difficulty, charming pixel graphics and huge, unfriendly boss monsters.
Along with the jumping and stabbing, expect light RPG elements and exploration in the vein of classic Castlevania. Developed by Matt Kap, the lead artist on The Binding of Isaac, it's out this Summer on Steam.
You can level up your knight in several different ways, equip him with over a hundred different items and weapons and then then send him off to fight over a hundred different enemies and fifty bosses. Sounds like a decently sized game. Oh yeah, and then there's that soundtrack. I'm all for that. Here's the rather verbose official summary of what to expect:
"Castle in the Darkness recalls a golden, bygone era’”both through its nostalgic aesthetic, and its damning difficulty. Traipse past traps, careen through corridors, and badger belligerent bosses while charting the erstwhile un-chartable Alexandrian kingdom and girding your loins and other important organs with a veritable cornucopia of armor, arms, and sorcery. Alexandria is a kingdom of ancient and byzantine history, and much of what it was yet remains hidden, often behind more substantial ramparts than mere mists of time!"
As long as I get to play as the frog knight dude, I'm sold. Publisher Nicalis isn't being any more specific than Summer 2014 when it comes to a possible release date, but expect Castle in the Darkness to hit Steam soon.