Mandragora has up to ten active abilities and a souls-worthy move set

The action RPG and metroidvania genre (or rather the fusion of the two) has undoubtedly produced some of the most interesting and well-made titles in recent years. Metroid Dread, the Ori series, Hollow Knight, Tails of Iron or Death's Door are just a few examples of success and it's those two qualities that we also find in Mandragora, the future contribution from the Hungarian studio Primal Game. We had the pleasure to chat with them for a while about the game during the last Gamescom in Cologne, where they left us a couple of very interesting details that reflect the depth and personality they want to give to Mandragora. Check out the full interview below.

As you can see in the video, the game looks spectacular in terms of art, but beyond that there needs to be a solid enough gameplay foundation to make the game enjoyable and challenging, and it looks like we'll have plenty of that in Mandragora, as game design lead Gabor Szabo tells us, because we'll have up to 10 active skills in the game and a very complete combat move set.

"You're going to have a lot of moves, and I mean combat moves. You're going to be able to walk, you're going to be able to run, you're going to be able to roll, defend, counter-attack and parry, defend, jump (and there's also double jumping), charged attacks and area hits. Basically, it's a lot of moves and animations. And you'll also be able to cast spells by spending mana and perform combos. So you're going to have quite a handful of resources at your disposal. Even if you only have one at the beginning, then you can build up to eight or even ten active skills to learn."

With such an arsenal, it seems that the combat and the flow of the adventure indicate that it will be quite a feat to complete the game, but in fact its progression is also set apart from the rest, incorporating different ways to progress, with a class system and crafting of tools and weapons.

"There are many ways to progress through the story. The first is to learn the basic controls, on a simple level, with simple enemies to get used to the controls. Defeat the first boss, learn skills and from there learn how to craft materials and meet the first NPCs. We can hire a blacksmith or a FaeLord, and then use the materials obtained to craft swords or new equipment. Gradually, as we progress through the controls, we can spend points to upgrade attributes."

There are still many secrets to be uncovered about Mandragora, but expect more details on a confirmed release date and platforms, other than PC, from Primal Game Studio very soon. At the moment, the studio is funding the game through Kickstarter, and you can access it and contribute if you want from right here.