Othercide
A tactical roguelike set in a black-and-white nightmare dimension.
Othercide is a horror-themed tactical role-playing game from French indie studio Lightbulb Crew, published by Focus Home Interactive. It launched for Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on July 28, 2020, with a Nintendo Switch version following on September 10, 2020. Critical reception was generally positive.
In the game, players command a group of female warriors called Daughters, who battle nightmarish enemies known as the Suffering within a dimension called the Dark Corner. Combat uses a dynamic timeline system: characters and foes take turns, but players can use skills to delay enemy actions or speed up their own Daughters. Each action costs action points; spending too many exhausts a Daughter, forcing a longer wait before her next turn. Three classes are available: the melee-focused Blademaster, the high-health Shieldbearer, and the ranged support Soulslinger. Each class has unique abilities that can be chained together, and skills are extensively customizable. Player choices also shape each Daughter’s traits and personality.
Roguelike elements are present. Battles occur on small maps, and if the player’s squad is wiped out, progress is not lost; instead, new items called Remembrances unlock, improving combat efficiency and survival. Healing a fallen Daughter requires sacrificing another Daughter, with the survivor gaining altered traits for further customization.
Development began in 2017. Art director Alex Chaudret aimed to make the game visually distinct from other strategy titles, drawing inspiration from *BLAME*, *Berserk*, and *Claymore*. The setting was initially a city inspired by Paris, where Lightbulb Crew is based, but the team chose an otherworldly dimension—the Dark Corner—to avoid grounding the game in reality. Chaudret described the Dark Corner as “shaped by broken psyches and trauma.” The color palette is mostly black and white, with red used to highlight key lore and gameplay elements.
Publisher Focus Home Interactive announced the game on February 21, 2020. The PC and PlayStation 4 versions received generally positive reviews on Metacritic, while the Xbox One version got mixed scores. On OpenCritic, 68% of critics recommended the game.
Quick Facts
- Title
- Othercide
- Developer
- Lightbulb Crew
- Publisher
- Focus Home Interactive
- Released
- Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One · July 28, 2020 · Nintendo Switch · Sep 10, 2020
- Director
- Anders Larsson
- Artist
- Alexandre Chaudret
- Platforms
- Microsoft Windows · PlayStation 4 · Xbox One · Nintendo Switch
- Genre
- Tactical role-playing
- Modes
- Single-player
- Producer
- Jérôme Smidt
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The game is set in a dimension known as the Dark Corner, an otherworldly realm shaped by broken psyches and trauma. Players control a group of female warriors called Daughters, who fight against nightmarish enemies known as the Suffering. The artistic direction was inspired by the manga BLAME, Berserk, and Claymore. Initially the setting was conceived as a city inspired by Paris, but the team decided against a reality-grounded setting and instead placed the game in the Dark Corner. The color scheme is primarily black and white, with splashes of red used to highlight important elements of both lore and gameplay.
Reader's Guide
Othercide is a tactical role-playing game featuring a dynamic timeline system where players can use skills to delay enemy turns or speed up their own Daughters. Actions cost action points; spending too many exhausts a Daughter, forcing a longer wait before her next turn. Three classes are available: Blademaster (melee), Shieldbearer (high health), and Soulslinger (ranged support). Each class has unique skills that can be combined into chain reactions and extensively customized. The game incorporates roguelike elements: battles occur on small maps, and when the player's squad is defeated, progress is not lost and new items called Remembrances are unlocked to improve combat efficiency. The only way to heal a fallen Daughter is to sacrifice another Daughter, which alters the surviving Daughter's traits. Development began in 2017. Art director Alex Chaudret aimed to make the game artistically distinct from other strategy games. The game was announced by Focus Home Interactive on February 21, 2020. On review aggregator OpenCritic, the game received strong approval, recommended by 68% of critics. IGN awarded the game a 9/10, praising its combat and difficulty. PC Gamer praised the combat system as 'a pleasing puzzle' and the art style as 'striking', noting that the roguelike elements may not suit impatient players.
More in Role-Playing Games of the 2020s, Part 3 1-24
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