One of a host of new titles to be announced at today’s Nintendo Direct Mini Partner Showcase was a brand new IP from Annapurna Interactive. Titled Lorelei And The Laser Eyes, the game hails from the team responsible for the acclaimed Sayonara Wild Hearts, and just like Sayonara Wild Hearts, Lorelei And The Laser Eyes has its own distinct style, a surrealist look supporting a “chilling tale”, and non-linear puzzling.
From the press release, Annapurna and developer Simogo say “In Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, players linger in a surreal reality alongside a woman wandering a baroque manor in search of answers to a macabre murder. Along the way, players will encounter a strange cast of characters–a ghost, an illusionist, a black dog–that lure them even deeper into the nightmarish, deceptive mystery. Become immersed in a dreamlike world, submerge in an ornate illusion, observe hidden patterns, and untangle the meaning behind puzzling, mind-bending enigmas.”
The store listing paints a more foreboding picture “The stage is set. Imagine an old baroque manor, perhaps a hotel or a museum, somewhere in central Europe. A woman wanders in search of answers. An international auteur. What does he want? An aristocratic artist. Who killed her? A vagabond illusionist. Who is he? And you, the wandering woman. Why are you here? Watch carefully, observe. Numbers. Patterns. Puzzles. Are they all part of a macabre game, a complot, a simple treasure hunt? We invite you to take a journey into the nightmarish surreality, and answer these questions to solve the enigma of ”Lorelei and the Laser Eyes”
Lorelei And The Laser Eyes will be launching on Nintendo Switch and PC in 2023, while the Switch version is temporarily a timed console exclusive for the portable platform. Presumably, PlayStation and Xbox versions of the game will launch in the following months, while a mobile version cannot be ruled out either with Sayonara Wild Hearts being a launch title for Apple’s Apple Arcade initiative.
