Nightmare Nightmare Nightmare Nightmare Nightmare…
The new Indie horror/adventure title “Dap” describes itself as “a feverish dream between Mononoke and Pikmin“, and the game’s trailers certainly carry that vibe. Its forest straddles the line between haunting and enchanting, its sound design is creepy in all the right ways, and those faces… they need no introduction.
In “Dap”, you’ll play as a small creature known as, well, a Dap. You’ll build a collection of friends who are just as small and scared as you, and with their help you’ll run and fight the many horrors that await you on your journey though this ominous realm. Your opposition defies knowledge, resting firmly in the supernatural and bloodied – their harsh reds providing a stark contrast between the forest’s muted blues and greens. You should be careful to avoid what lurks ahead, lest your friends become warped into dark and twisted versions of themselves.
The game promises a balance between fast-paced twin-stick combat and and survival elements as you struggle to find respite against a supernatural, unknowable force. And with this recent trailer, a date has been marked for the game’s release: Dap comes out on Steam this month, on the 29th of September.
The developers behind this work, a Melbourne-based couple going by “Melting Parrot” online, have a very special reason to be excited for this release. Dap is their first dive into the video game scene, and with the game already receiving positive feedback from a variety of sources, the 29th is sure to be an unforgettable time for this fledgling team.
The “small, bright creature fighting through a large, daunting forest” indie game genre is one with a surprisingly large number of entries, but Dap’s angle seems to be wholly unique. The horror elements would feel out of place in Ori and Hoa, but Melting Parrot seems to have captured that haunting spirit in a way no other game can.