The Rewinder series moves forward with upcoming sequel 

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Follow-up to Chinese folklore-inspired pixel art adventure to be more action-oriented than its predecessor

Misty Mountain Studio offered players a unique look into Eastern folklore in 2021 with the supernatural adventure The Rewinder. After taking a detour earlier this year for the visual novel-styled Death Trick: Double Blind, now the indie China-based team is revisiting its original franchise with The Rewinder 2, a sequel that features as many differences as similarities with its predecessor. 

In the first game, players controlled Yun, the last of the titular Rewinders, a person endowed with the ability to communicate with spirits, enter people's memories, travel back in time and influence their actions. The protagonist was tasked with investigating the fate of a small village whose Guardian had disappeared, with restless ghosts and monsters now roaming freely, and employing his special powers to change the course of history and restore peace. Few story details of the sequel have yet been revealed (in English, at least), but you'll once again control the only remaining Rewinder, but this time you'll wield the powers of a god named Sizhi, which will allow you to explore accursed villages, enter people's minds and destroy the nightmares trapping them there. 

As with the first game, The Rewinder 2 offers a distinctly Asian-influenced premise in striking pixel art, but otherwise the sequel is noticeably different in a variety of ways. It still plays out in third person, but gone is the side-scrolling navigation, relaxed pace and limited locations of the original, replaced here with a bird's-eye view and a greater variety of settings to explore, from snowy mountaintops to rocky desert plateaus to ancient temples, each with its own "unique set of dungeons." There will still be puzzles to solve in order to manipulate the environment and clear passages, but to succeed you'll now need to "collect different charms to get various bonuses and special abilities." And while its predecessor sprinkled in the odd timed sequence, this game will be much more action-oriented, requiring more dexterity to survive traps, ride animals and engage in combat. Not all of the mythological creatures you encounter are hostile, however, as there are many to meet along the way, all of them with stories to tell and some of whom can be befriended instead of fighting. 

There is no specific target release date for The Rewinder 2, but the full game is due out sometime in the first quarter of 2025 for Windows PC. Before that, however, a demo is expected in time for the upcoming Steam Next Fest beginning October 14th. 

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