Magnus series revived for Lazarus A.D. 2222 finale

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Announcements by Jack Allin
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Fourth part of Sons of Welder's surreal dystopian-future metaphorical adventure series coming later this year

Since 2021, indie developer Sons of Welder has released three different games in their surreal hand-drawn Magnus series, comprising Failure, Imago and Positive Photaxis in that order. You might not know it from its title, but the upcoming Lazarus A.D. 2222 marks the franchise finale that "uniquely combines" elements from all three.

The game is set in a "dystopian world where humanity, as a result of its actions, has brought the planet to the brink of contamination." As the first-person protagonist, you dwell in a city "above the clouds of radioactive dust," where you live an endlessly repetitive, meaningless life "devoid of a sense of purpose." That all changes when you're called upon to descend "beneath the surface of the city to repair the autonomous system that ensures the functioning of the city's inhabitants." It could be just a standard repair job, but perhaps it's the life-altering opportunity you've been waiting for that will finally "answer the question of what your path and truth are."

As with its predecessors, Lazarus A.D. 2222 is presented as a hand-drawn motion comic with its own distinctive aesthetic blending large amounts of black and white with splashes of colour. Described as a "metaphorical journey into oneself," the story will sprinkle moments of levity throughout its "serious quest for the meaning of life and purpose in this world." To progress you must interact with the various other characters you meet, solve puzzles, complete various minigames, and make key choices to cause a "butterfly effect" that will shape the rest of your experience. Although not intended to be a long game, projected to take approximately two hours to finish, it is designed to be enjoyed on two different levels, allowing you to replay the game to search for "a hidden message and a parallel story" that lies beneath the main storyline.

No firm target release date has been announced just yet, but Lazarus A.D. 2222 is due to arrive sometime before the end of the year on Steam for Windows PC, with a playable demo to precede it on October 9th.