PAX East 2020: Skyhill Black Mist Is An Evolving Follow-Up From Its Predecessor

One ambition that developers aim to meet for a set goal with titles is to be unique. Either when entering a genre foreign to the team or to best what the studio already started with a preceding project. For the sake of Mandragora, the Russian game developer when creating the upcoming follow-up to 2015’s Skyhill wanted to go the extra mile to introduce a new perspective whilst preserving what fans of the initial game liked.

Coming PAX East this weekend, I made it over to the game’s station at the Indie Games Polska booth to feel what difference were made contrasting the original title. For those unfamiliar with the first entry of the series, Skyhill came as a simpler game only offering a 2D perspective as you make your way through the scaling building. Disregarding the game’s rudimentary-structured gameplay, there is a layer of strategy that players must hone to make it to the bottom floor of the overtaken hotel.

The title’s implementation of crafting mechanics and engaging atmosphere resulted with a “Mostly Positive” reception according to the game’s Steam page, and that was enough to sway the team to return with a successor. But where does the team go exactly from there? According to Klabater, the publisher’s Community Manager Bartosz Slodownik explains that the developer wanted to make a sequel that showed evolution for the property.

Reinventing the progression of Skyhill, Black Mist reintroduces the company as an apartment condominium that the protagonist must tread through in search for his missing daughter. Unsure of how, who, or when Agata was taken, you must go head first through the different portions of Skyhill to uncover the story behind this enigmatic storyline.

Contrasting elements that you can pick up from just a glimpse of the game is that the title now rocks a new perspective in the third dimension. Prior work before Skyhill like Freaky Awesome were still branded to the 2D realm alike the 2015 game, so this being a first for the studio stacked more stress on bringing a fresh experience like never before from Mandragora. While still translating the core gameplay elements like crafting and survival technique to the game, there is more to that was expanded upon for how that can be utilized at hand.

What was not prevalent in the first game is a form of stealth for players to strategize how they choose to play. This is illustrated in the game’s announcement trailer: you have the option through a slew of different ways to play the story. You can either plan an intricate and well-timed stealth strategy or use outright sheer violence that will grab the enemy’s attention. The option being there is what Mandragora intended for the player to have an option over a straightforward, linear game.

Talking more with Slodownik after the demo, he shares that the team’s ambitions wanted to align with making bigger title overall. Transitioning the story from a downfall hotel to a condominium not only expanded the locale immensely, it also introduced diverse settings that you would expect from such a location. Ranging from the embedded parking lot at the building’s foundation to the towering restaurant at the structure’s peak offers unique atmosphere and also restructures level layout for the game to keep player’s attention.

Regarding the impression left from playing the demo, I found myself having a fairly direct experience when it came to story progression. Given the option to either be a hidden threat or gun-bearing maniac, I leaned to be stealthier this time around. However, that was not always an option with the level structured or lacking the components to pursue the instance quietly and resulted with bullet casings littering the ground. The same can also be said for larger enemies who could not be taken down directly and required a louder alternative.

Thankfully, when approaching these foes, there are planted traps that can be turned against the wicked monsters and deal more damage to help preserve my inventory. After the demo I asked Slodownik on his preferred playstyle where he cited that running with a knife or shiv is an effective option. While not using guns in particular, using a shank in an open fight brought satisfying results, he confirms.

For those interested in learning more about Skyhill: Black Mist, you can head to the game’s Steam page for more details on the upcoming title. Make sure you wishlist the game while you’re at it!

Skyhill: Black Mist is said to arrive in Q2 2020 for PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.