The Pale Piper is Silksong with no combat, a wondrous Playdead-style world, and all the hope bleached out

Friends, I deliberation I person unearthed the adjacent Hidden Gem, though Hidden Arrow Trap mightiness beryllium the much due framing. It’s a 2D precision platformer called the The Pale Piper that reminds maine of Limbo, Hollow Knight and VVVVVV. It’s the enactment of FreeTimeDev, who is besides known for Godot tools and synthwave jams connected Itch.io. It’s retired contiguous connected Steam, and the demo has killed maine eleventy cardinal times.

The Pale Piper is simply a sequel of sorts to the German folktale (folktail?) astir the Pied Piper of Hamelin. The Pied Piper of Hamelin was a philharmonic exterminator who utilized his magic ditties to lure distant each the rats infesting a village. When the villagers wouldn’t wage him, helium unleashed his Satanic melodies to pb each the section children distant too. The motivation of the communicative is: termination bards connected sight, particularly erstwhile they’re dual classing. It turns retired the Pied Paper communicative whitethorn person been inspired by a existent humanities incident.

The Pale Piper invites you to “silence the cursed melody” of a post-Pied world. Typically, erstwhile videogames effort to physique connected people legends it results successful stories of the “What if Goldilocks mastered the leaf and overthrew Porridge Inc” variety. FreeTimeDev’s attack seems comparatively elegant truthful far. You are immoderate benignant of resurrected wraith with glowing bluish eyes and an extendable jump. You are exploring a metroidvania labyrinth of crushing blocks and spike pits and things with glowing reddish eyes that termination you instantly.

“Looks similar Silksong!” screech we pitiful header writers, similar chicks aft worms, but alas, not quite, due to the fact that the Pale Piper is unarmed. Your lone defence against the labyrinth’s galore terrors is simply a operation of fantabulous signifier reading, adjacent excellenter timing, and the capableness to dice repeatedly and respawn astatine the country entranceway without pulling your ain ears disconnected successful consternation.

You tin stitchery coins successful each area, if you privation to marque beingness adjacent harder for yourself. There are immoderate traversal abilities to unlock, arsenic well. From the trailer, it looks similar they’ve got post-Dreamcast Sonic’s homing onslaught successful there, and a section saltation connected Metroid’s morph ball.

I’m not definite I person the fortitude to support plugging with The Pale Piper, but the softly crumbling concern phantasy mounting decidedly grabs my gizzards, and I similar the needling menace of the writing. Early connected successful the crippled you escaped a antheral from a cage and are asked to way down and slay the Rat King. He remarks that soundlessness is "the lone instrumentality that inactive obeys him". I volition stake you respective of those optional collectible coins that the caged antheral is the Pied Piper, and that the protagonist is really 1 of the abducted kids, and that the Rat King is really 1 of the bully guys.