Developer of "Life is Strange" announces action RPG

Life is Strange. Image: Square Enix

Fans of 2015's delightfully twee romance adventure game Life is Strange may be a bit thrown by this news. Developer Don't Nod, best known for low-stress, choice-based games like the Life is Strange series has recently revealed what they're calling "Project 12", a "brand-new large-scale action RPG." Quirky teenagers having supernatural coming-of-age stories in small towns must not be paying the bills. In today's game industry, "action RPG" more often than not means either "Dark Souls ripoff" or "shallow excuse for a predatory loot/microtransaction system" – so we'll see which one Don't Nod feels more like doing. Interestingly, this isn't Don't Nod's first action game. Their very first project as a studio was Remember Me, an adventure through a futuristic Paris that, ironically, no one remembers. Mixed reception and disappointing sales informed their pivot to the style of game they're known for now – for their sake, I'm hoping history doesn't repeat itself.