I first met Dlala Studios CEO and Game Director, Aj Grand-Scrutton, at Summer Game Fest when I previewed Disney Illusion Island a few years back. He was genuinely delightful—and likes to pretend he is a cranky old guy—and left an impression I won’t ever forget. When he reached out to me personally about Dlala Studio’s own original IP, Murals, I couldn’t say no.
That he remembered me from years ago and sought me out on his own meant something and speaks to the kind of person he is. I don’t know him outside of these two encounters, but he gives off an energy that just makes you feel good. It sounds like an odd story to tell, but it is very relevant to what I am about to say about Murals, and no, it does not affect what I think of the game itself.
Something that was very apparent in Disney Illusion Island was that Dlala Studios—and Aj—want people to feel good about what they are playing. That goes for any kind of player, new or veteran, old or young, pro or novice. I thought that was the case with Disney Illusion Island because it was a game that was clearly aimed at families, kids and casual gamers, but after sitting in on a 20-minute demo of Murals and listening to Aj and Design Director Grant Allen talk about the game and their studio as a whole, it’s kind of their whole philosophy.
I will get to the gameplay in a moment, but a lot of what I took away is about how Dlala Studios has made it a priority to make Murals a great game for everyone. A lot of that comes with accessibility in mechanics or difficulty, and people often tie that to making a game easier, but you can still ramp up the difficulty if you aren’t a filthy casual like me and head into Murals with a bit of challenge.
“Dlala Studios has made it a priority to make Murals a great game for everyone.”
Aj discussed that they aren’t creating a game that is going to make you struggle. If you die, you respawn close by, as there are checkpoints often. When you gain Eeries—we will get to that—you get to keep them for the whole game. New Game Plus will let you go back and get things you missed without starting over. You can stop and come back to a checkpoint at any time; you don’t have to finish the level.
Dlala Studios never wants to punish you in Murals—something they said specifically. Both devs really drove that point home, so if you’re looking for a soulslike that will hurt your feelings, you won’t find that here, but there is still so much to love.
Now, onto the actual game, rather than just the aura that surrounds it and the studio. Murals is an isometric action-adventure—and they were adamant that it is not a roguelike. Each level is a story in a different fairy tale. So far we know about the Mermaid level and a Rumpelstiltskin level. You play as a sort of blank-slate main character who awakens in Sleeping Beauty’s castle, unaware of who you are, with a little 2D character, Loaf, who is your guide and buddy.
I was able to see a bit of the Mermaid level, where you are tasked with finding the mermaid’s voice. There is plenty of charming and corny humour throughout the game through the story. For example, you find the wrong voice for the mermaid at first—a dog’s voice—and she barks, and then a really unfortunate voice after. The game will feature plenty of fairy tales, and they have mentioned Rumpelstiltskin, Little Briar Rose [Sleeping Beauty], Rapunzel, Alice Through the Looking Glass, The Little Mermaid, Hansel and Gretel, and Little Red Cap [Little Red Riding Hood] so far.
They also shared a bit about the Rumpelstiltskin story, where you have to help a spider whose spider-wife is angry after he sells his firstborn, especially since a spider’s “firstborn” is actually a ton of spiders. You get the lovely job of helping get them all back! Any dialogue options are just for fun and don’t change the game, but let you give your character some personality. Overall, it’s a tone that is suitable for any age but doesn’t feel too young for adults to enjoy. Murals is not a game specifically marketed for kids; Dlala believes it may even end up with a Teen rating.
There are various weapons throughout the game, but you will always have access to a melee and ranged attack, including a sword called the Dixie Cut, a hammer called the Wolfhammer, a laser-beam-shooting pendant called Dragon Thee Dallion (hilarious) and Medusa’s shard, which seeks out its enemies. There is a special move called Canvas Clear that I believe you build up, too, that will basically wipe the screen clear of enemies.
The combat looked fast and satisfying, with the freedom to ramp it up or make it easier, not just with difficulty, but with things like no player death, etc. I do have one concern: there is no official “heal” in combat. The team said they tried a few different options but ultimately decided to go with health orbs out of combat.
At one point, we ran into Magic Dave, voiced by Bob Mortimer, who gave us three options to choose from for “combat enhancers”; these are the Eeries I was talking about earlier. You can equip three at any time: one ranged, one melee, and I think the third is a bit more general. There are many to collect, and Grant mentioned that by the time you finish the game, you will probably only have about 50% of them.
Some examples of Eeries include a life leech called Suck ‘Em Dry, Put ‘em On Ice, which can freeze enemies—called Distorted—or Chain ‘Em, which could start an electric chain, dealing damage with each hit. I am pretty excited about the different combinations and seeing how you can change up your gameplay based on the Eeries. It’s one thing to have a few different abilities in a game, but any time you’re not in combat, you can play around and swap things out so things don’t get stale. Grant was hands-on for the demo and made himself a little health build so he didn’t get his butt kicked in front of us. I respect that.
The art style in Murals is something that looks so incredibly Dlala Studios-coded, and I love it. It’s very cartoony and cute, yet a little bit creepy and unique, but there are little touches that mean something to the studio that players may not even notice. For instance, all combat characters are in 3D, but NPCs are 2D, like a true fairy tale story (and Loaf).
With Murals, they also opted to move away from the 2D side-scrollers they are known for and went with more of a top-down action-adventure like Diablo, but a lot more colourful. Dlala really wanted to do something different from the IPs they have been working on for years; that is why co-op is also not available. Murals is strictly single-player. I respect the need for change, but I think adding in a Player 2, maybe even with their own Eeries but upping the number of enemies a bit, could have been very cool. Or even just a second player to jump in and out, so you can have your kid come hang for a bit!
“The art style in Murals is something that looks so incredibly Dlala Studios-coded, and I love it.”
Obviously, it is early, so they are not revealing how many levels there will be aside from the ones already mentioned above. We also don’t know the length of the game overall; however, they did mention some levels could be upwards of 80 minutes. Thank god for the frequent checkpoints.
They have confirmed that Murals isn’t as collectible-heavy as their past game, but that there will be plenty of achievements to complete. New Game Plus will offer more Eeries, and the combinations of them give the game plenty of replayability. Dlala Studios is showing off once again that they know how to make great games that can appeal to any age or skill level. Murals is a brilliant combination of funny, charming and challenging, and I think that even gamers who enjoy a challenge in their games are going to find something to love here.
Dlala—and Aj—just want gamers to be happy and use their art to spread joy. They are certainly achieving that with Murals. Make sure to head to their Steam page to wishlist the game now ahead of its 2027 release date.
