Dlala Studios’ newest and first independent game, Murals, puts players in the place of a regular person inside of an irregular world.
While Dlala Studios has previously developed games like Battle Toads and Disney Illusion Island, Murals is set to stand out from them in quite a major way. That major way is a fully new IP set in a world of fairy tales that have been twisted far beyond their original scope. Rapunzel’s hair is now a violent enemy seeking your doom, and beloved original characters like Alice and the Cheshire Cat have had to adapt to their new world.
The story follows Brie, an insomniac woman who wakes up with no memory inside Rapunzel’s castle. Following an almost deadly encounter with Rapunzel’s hair, she sets off on a journey throughout numerous classic fairy tales, including The Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Red Cat, Hansel and Gretel and many more that have not yet been revealed.
Now, of course, these twisted stories have plenty of enemies to fight, and Brie has a coterie of weapons to fight them with. The loadout Brie can use consists of dual-wielding both a melee and ranged weapon; the cool part is that there are no weapon upgrades, just a gigantic assortment of weapons to play with, from a dragon head that shoots lasers to your basic sword.
These weapons are boosted by the enhancements and augments that Eeries offer. Eeries are the collectible bits of stories that you gradually obtain throughout the main story, with their effects being so varied that you could go from a beginner-level character to a spinning ring of death. Players will also be able to unlock many new eerie slots throughout the game, but some will be missable if you miss some side content.
This is still a game set inside of a storybook, though, and the art style reflects that. Tying together both 2D and 3D art styles reminiscent of Psyconauts, Murals looks like a picture book jumped from paper onto a screen. This storybook of Murals is available for wishlisting now, with an expected release date sometime in 2027.
