Skinwalker: Be A Beast For Your Daughter
Team17, best known for its iconic Worms saga among many other titles, will soon publish the first game from indie developer SISMO Games. It’s Skinwalker, a very original pixel-art action-platformer that presents an emotional story in which we swear loyalty to a formidable beast to save our daughter from a terminal illness. This fearsome creature will unleash its untamed fury in exchange for its freedom and the promise of a cure for the person who matters most to us in the world.
Skinwalker will follow a path already explored by other titles before, such as Carrion, to mention at least one. In this peculiar mechanic known as “reverse horror”, we’ll play the role of the “monster” or “antagonist”, although depending heavily on the context and the story, there will often be more than justified reasons. And speaking of good reasons, what better one than saving our daughter’s life from a terminal illness? Don’t just imagine it! Here’s the Official Reveal Trailer for Skinwalker, straight from the GameTrailers YouTube channel:
Would You Sacrifice Your Soul to Save the Person You Love the Most?
Obviously our first answer is YES, otherwise the whole story wouldn’t even begin, but this is the kind of moral dilemma that Skinwalker will present to us. In this side-scrolling pixel-art action-platformer, we’ll play as a member of the scientific team of a research facility that happens to belong to his father. There, he’ll swear loyalty to a mysterious captive being in a desperate attempt to save his daughter’s life from a terminal illness. With our help, the protagonist will have to forge a peculiar symbiosis with the creature, in exchange for its freedom and the promise of a cure.
There we’ll experience duality in its purest form. We’ll explore the research facility as a modest human scientist, interacting with our co-workers and with the environment to gather information and gain access to different areas and paths. And on the other hand, we’ll transform into the beast’s monstrous form to move through ventilation ducts and break our way through soldiers and other creatures in the laboratory.
“A father facing a heartbreaking situation requires acts of desperation and sacrifice. Unleash the beast within and save your daughter by any means necessary.
One nightmare cures another.”
As we mentioned, duality will be a vital part of Skinwalker’s gameplay: here we’ll constantly assume two roles, the human and the beast, strategically choosing the right form for each situation. Neither one nor the other will be able to go through or complete every level entirely; the beast will always need its human side, or the human a touch of brute strength. But we’ll have to remember that both forms will actively contribute to the narrative: whoever we kill as the beast will have a significant impact on the ending of our story.
Sooner rather than later we’ll notice the important ambiguity between both sides of the protagonist, sharply contrasting the vulnerability of the slow human form with the devastating executions and agility of the beast. Still, the human side will have to give in to reach their shared goals, since the innocent blood spilled will grant passive upgrades and unlock executions, but that level of power won’t be reached without carrying heavy consequences along the way.
And beyond the visceral violence and the gore that Skinwalker promises, we’ll have to remember at all times that we’ll be completely responsible for our decisions, which will affect both the fate of the monster and that of our daughter. We’ll face moral dilemmas that will demand thoughtful answers at every moment, through short but meaningful dialogue options that will allow us to go deeper into the story and uncover secrets, creating emotional connections with the characters along the way.
So…
Skinwalker doesn’t have an official release date yet, but it’s scheduled to arrive sometime in 2026. Either way, we can visit its Steam page and add it to our Wishlist. These reverse stories in the style of Venom fascinate me, and the fact that it’s presented in pixel-art only makes it more appealing; maybe that’s why I enjoyed Carrion so much, the two or more times I played it all the way through. And of course, now we want to know your thoughts! What do you think of this new proposal from SISMO Games and Team17? Are you a fan of pixel-art reverse horror platformers and immersive stories as much as I am? We’ll be waiting for your comments. You know gamer, we’ll be reading you! 🙂
Images Source: GameTrailers Official YouTube Channel, Skinwalker on Steam
