Sunny California skies, five average kids, and a strange pink stone that creates a schism between life and death set the scene for Fourratic’s indie adventure, Crossing Souls.
Inspired by 1980s flicks Ghostbusters and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, this homage to a bygone decade is replete with pure synthwave pop and special levels that echo the glory of arcade videogames. You play as Chris, Matt, Charlie, Big Joe and Kevin, solving puzzles, fighting creepy ghouls in dynamic, real-time combat, and saving the world from a dangerous government conspiracy.
Although Crossing Souls is largely stitched together with pixel art, all the custscenes are flowing, original 2D cartoons which bridge the gap between television series and videogames. The focus on a gang of kids reminds me of Knights And Bikes, another puzzle-RPG adventure that’s being developed by Foam Sword. Perhaps this is a trend we’ll see more of next year.
A successful kickstarter campaign in late 2014 secured Crossing Souls‘ continued development and marketing, which has almost reached the finish line. Fourratic plans to officially release the game on February 13, 2018 for PC and PlayStation 4.
