Game Description
Sliding Hero, a dark, top-down Metroidvania puzzle game, takes you into the mysterious atmosphere of an 18th-century Venetian villa. The main character is Luca Sicomoro, a fleet captain who, after a shipwreck, comes to his senses on a mysterious island. He will have to explore an ominous estate to uncover the secret of his imprisonment and find a way to salvation.
The world of the project is imbued with carnival aesthetics, and the character designs are inspired by the masks of the Italian commedia dell’arte. Sliding Hero’s visual style features hand-drawn pixel art and suspenseful animations that create a unique atmosphere. The exploration of this world is accompanied by an original soundtrack in the spirit of Italian Baroque, which enhances the feeling of mystery and grotesqueness.
The villa is a tangled labyrinth of interconnected rooms and secret passages. In keeping with Metroidvania conventions, progression will require finding new tools that will open up access to previously inaccessible areas. Along the way, you’ll interact with the estate’s eccentric inhabitants and solve puzzles to find hidden passages and piece together all the pieces of the mysterious story.
The basis of the gameplay is the sliding mechanics, in which the character moves in one direction until colliding with an obstacle. This system turns every movement into a strategic task requiring precise calculation. Combat encounters are implemented through ramming enemies, where the outcome depends on the characteristics of the weapon, as well as through the use of traps and environmental hazards to eliminate opponents.
