Notification given of upcoming Next of Kin sequel

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Second retro-RPG-styled mystery, Fidelity, to be the middle installment of a planned trilogy

A year ago, Spelkväll Games dropped players into a serene country village to help a distraught man named Thomas search for his missing wife Martha in Next of Kin. But that wasn't the end of the story, it seems, as the indie Swedish developer has just announced a new game in what will ultimately end up being a trilogy of mystery adventures. 

The next installment, subtitled Fidelity, is set in the same town of Mjölkebo but takes place in 1987, prior to the events of the first game. This time the star is Bjorn, neighbour to Thomas and Martha, who is haunted by nightmares each night due to a "traumatic childhood event [that] has left lasting scars." Unwilling to let go of a memory that "still clings to him like a shadow," Bjorn's life is unexpectedly changed one day when he meets a woman who "resembles one of his childhood friends who disappeared." Curiously, she also has the same name: Leyla. Is this the same woman from so many years before, or is the resemblance purely coincidental? Either way, could she finally be the one to help free him from his perpetual torment? 

In terms of aesthetic and controls, Fidelity is very much like its predecessor, presented more like a 16-bit retro RPG than a traditional adventure, with a bird's-eye view of the protagonist roaming the pixel art environment via keyboard or gamepad. There are some differences this time around, however. While promising another "emotional, story-driven" experience, the sequel's tone will be "much lighter" than before – still dealing with serious subject matter but tempering it with more comedy. Progress will be more linear too, but rather than limit the gameplay possibilities this will actually expand them, offering new places to explore (as well as some familiar ones), each filled with puzzles to solve and various items and characters to interact with. "Exploration is key" to successfully uncovering Bjorn's past throughout a relatively short few hours of play time, as "the more you interact with the environment, the more pieces of the story come together." You'll need to pay careful attention to your discoveries, as you'll have some choices to make as well that lead to one of several different endings. 

There is no firm target release date just yet, leaving a bit more time to catch up on what you may have missed in the original game, though it's not strictly necessary to do so to enjoy the sequel. Next of Kin: Fidelity will be similarly launched on Steam for Windows PC, along with console versions for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch. There will be more where this is coming from too, with a third game still to follow that will tie together all three different Mjölkebo mysteries.