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Game News E.X.P.L.O.R.™: A New World is a bizarre dungeon crawler 24 years in the making

Infinitron

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Tags: Beem Media; E.X.P.L.O.R.™: A New World

Last month, Codex indie connoisseur CryptRat spotted an unusual looking game on Steam called E.X.P.L.O.R.™: A New World. It's a turn-based first-person RPG that claims to be a "love letter to the classic dungeon crawler RPGs of the 80s and 90s". Now, there are plenty of games on Steam with weird graphics that have described themselves that way, but what sets this one apart is that its development actually began in the 1990s. E.X.P.L.O.R. is the creation of one Jack Blaine Myers, a programmer at Gearbox Software who began working on it as a teenager in 1997. He's actually preserved the game's original websites from back then, including links to ancient demo builds (now sadly broken). Its current incarnation dates back to 2015, and last year Jack decided to finally complete it after suffering from a bout of depression. These are the kinds of stories we like here, so I figured I'd give the game a shoutout when it released, which happened today. It doesn't look like its trailer is on YouTube, so I'll just quote the description here:

Story
When a starship operated by E.X.P.L.O.R., an elite group of space travelers, crash lands on a medieval world, it is up to the crew to discover the secrets of the world, repair their ship, meet a beautiful countess, and kill some things.

About

Developed as a "Love Letter" to the dungeon crawler RPGs of the 80s and 90s, Beem Media is proud to present E.X.P.L.O.R.™: A New World. Featuring classic RPG elements such as exploration, turn-based combat, quests, and narrative, the game is designed to give rise to nostalgic memories. Engineered with a modern feel, much of the tediousness of the games that it takes inspiration from is streamlined so that players can engage in beloved aspects of role-playing such as exploration, strategy, and a sense of wonder.

Features

  • Classic dungeon crawler role playing experience.
  • Party based exploration and combat.
  • Modern 3D engine to create a feeling of really being there.
  • Party member can be exchanged at any time to adapt to different play strategies.
  • Numerous dungeons to explore, each with a unique feel and increasing challenge.
  • Quests such as "Fetch Thing", "Kill Creature", and "Save Population From Extinction"!
  • Turn-based combat inspires decisive strategy.
  • Variety of weapons, armors, and trinkets keep combat fun and interesting.
  • Over 25 different animated monsters to fight, each with unique behaviors.
  • Over 30 spells to obliterate enemies with.
  • Powerful artifacts and other treasures to find!
  • Light-hearted narrative with fun, interesting, and uniquely illustrated NPCs.
  • Straightforward Achievements add a sense of progression while delving into the dungeon.
E.X.P.L.O.R.™: A New World is available on Steam for $8. You can read more about its development history here.
 
Unwanted

Kalin

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"love letter to the classic dungeon crawler RPGs of the 80s and 90s"

"Modern 3D engine to create a feeling of really being there."

"uniquely illustrated NPCs"


shit.jpg


:hmmm:

A true bug-chasing production™ that's for sure.
 

Corvinus

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Engineered with a modern feel, much of the tediousness of the games that it takes inspiration from is streamlined

Here's where you know.
 

Glop_dweller

Prophet
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Sep 29, 2007
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The "E.X.P.L.O.R.™—ing" part reminds me of that Win98 maze screensaver.
(24 years indeed.)
 

Lady Error

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Strap Yourselves In
I suspect there is not much of a story or interactions, but it does have shops at the very least:

ss_d74d263772b9b9c460a2e3d5fde4b0691408c7ab.1920x1080.jpg


The item graphics are much better than the character portraits. He should have really invested in paying someone to do those more properly - just like Cleve did.
 

Lady Error

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It's short and sweet so it doesn't outstay it's welcome. I finished it in just over 7 hours and still have a little of the final map to explore. If you've got an itch for something not too taxing and fancy the thought of exploring a few grid-based maps while levelling up your characters and slaying some monsters then it's worth the cheap price. Just don't expect Wizardry 8 or M&M 6 levels of depth.

Yeah, I think I'm gonna pass.
 

grimer

Learned
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Feb 24, 2021
Messages
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utterly abhorrent art style with gameplay that is too shallow and devoid of content. this is what 24 years of development amounted to? why is this piece of garbage even being shilled here as to deserve its own news post? jfc have some standards
 

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