Prelude Dark Pain Key Art
Image: Quickfiregames & Firesquid

It takes a lot of courage to take a swing at an uncontested king, especially so soon after the release of the Final Fantasy Tactics remake, but Prelude Dark Pain - making its early access debut today - makes a strong argument for itself. Coming from fresh-faced Spanish studio Quickfiregames and published by Firesquid, my initial couple of hours with it reminded me equally of Final Fantasy Tactics and an old PS1 gem that resonated with me back in the day - Vandal Hearts.

Set in a dark, seemingly apocalyptic fantasy setting, there's an interesting mishmash of inspirations on show here. Painted viking-like raiders, gunslingers in wide-brimmed hats, steam-trains, witches, penitents and zealous crusaders. Obviously riffing off history, but putting it in a blender along with some magical monsters and evils from beyond. All of this rendered in lovingly hand-drawn comic-book style art. As you'd expect from the animatic-style cutscenes, but the battlefield backdrops are lovely, too.

Mechanically, the early game isn't quite as gritty as Final Fantasy Tactics and its complex zodiac system or delayed attacks, but high ground, flanking, and other positional elements are important. Rather than let you completely run wild and create a fully custom party, you assemble your small force from a pool of named, distinct characters. Each has their own unique skill trees and gimmicks, but with enough wiggle room to build them towards one of a couple possible roles.

Interestingly, Prelude Dark Pain seems built for replay. Not only do story missions have optional bonus objectives that provide additional rewards, but there are occasional story decisions to be made, with one early mission deciding whether you kill off a minor villain or spare his life. What the repercussions of this are, I've yet to play deep enough to see, but it's an interesting note to open on so early. It definitely has my interest, and I'm eager to see how things pan out in early access.

The current version of Prelude Dark Pain includes the first act of the main story, nine heroes and a bundle of optional sidequests, random encounters and all that you'd expect. Still much more to come, though, with another year of development planned to implement the rest, with over 20 heroes planned for the final release. I also note that Quickfiregames are based in Seville, same as The Game Kitchen, developers of the Blasphemous series. Clearly a hotbed for gothic art and games with themes of religious repression.

Prelude Dark Pain is out now for £16.75/$18, with a 10% launch discount until August 10th, and further discounts available if bought alongside some of Firesquid's other titles, plus last week's Lovecraftian underwater adventure Dive Or Die. The base price is also expected to increase as the game nears its final release.