Zorya: The Celestial Sisters reveals a short clip of the concept and inspiration behind the game from the development team as the release date is less than a month away.
Back in November, CGMagazine was able to sit down with TLM Partners and MadLife Divertissement for their new award-winning cooperative puzzle game Zorya: The Celestial Sisters. Today, they are proud to release a new video vignette that highlights the design choices in the wintery lands of Vyraj where the sun is constantly out.
The Level Designer, Julien Grimard added, “The levels in Zorya: The Celestial Sisters revolve around puzzles and shadows, but the key elements are really communication and cooperation. We wanted to make sure each player feels involved in the game. Each having their own perspective to the game and having their own elements they can interact with—so they can both communicate with one another what they see and coordinate their actions to solve the puzzles together.”
The Art Director, Catherine Benoit, stated, “Our objective with the art direction was to present a story of a world frozen in time accompanied by the soundtrack that would offer a relaxing experience for the players as they progress through the levels.” Indeed, the music from this new trailer is just as relaxing as the music revealed in the first look trailer back in November.
Essentially, the levels of the game are not meant to stress the players out as they would in games like Snipperclips or Overcooked where there is a lot of chaos and faster-paced music to partner.
It can be compared to more visually zen, tranquil games like Gris or Abzu while still containing puzzle game elements from Portal games or The Turing Test.
Zorya: The Celestial Sisters is about two sisters, Aysu, goddess of the night, and Solveig, goddess of the sun. Aysu is trapped in the sunny lands of Vyraj so Solveig must help create a shaded path to complete levels by collecting artifact pieces that will help Aysu return home. But there are also enemies called the “Aries” who add some difficulty to Aysu’s journey. This is why the game is a two-player game because it really requires the help of a friend or partner, similar to It Takes Two.
Zorya: The Celestial Sisters comes out on Nintendo Switch, the Epic Games Store and Steam on PC on February 8, 2022. Anyone interested can put it on their wishlist on Steam, the Epic Games Store and Nintendo Store, so they can be reminded when their journeys across Vyraj will begin.
