Though I haven’t played the first act of Ambrosia Sky, the footage I saw of it to prepare for the Ambrosia Sky: Act Two preview event piqued my curiosity. Immersive sims are always interesting, and the fact that developer Soft Rains – which features an impressive pedigree of devs who worked on everything from Fallout to Batman: The TellTale Series – is based in Toronto gave me an extra little patriotic push to see what the game was all about. Though I didn’t play it myself, the sections I watched featured some pretty creative gameplay mechanics that I’ve yet to see in other games.
Throughout the Ambrosia Sky: Act Two event, I got to see how the main protagonist – Dalia, whose story will be wrapped up in Act Two – navigates through an abandoned space colony whilst dealing with invasive fungal species that have pretty much completely devoured the place. Some of the fungus radiated electricity, making it hazardous to touch and necessitating cutting it away with a spray Dalia has on hand. It’s got that satisfying and almost relaxing feeling that cleaning in games like Power Wash Simulator and House Flipper have, despite being decidedly more deadly.
Credit: Soft Rains
I asked about the process behind imagining and designing new fungus for Act Two, as it features a number of new fungal species. I was told that the team is always thinking about what would make the game’s world feel more alive, as well as what would “disrupt the patterns that players are used to.” All this goes into the process, while the team also considers what would align with the world they’ve created, creating a delicate balance.
Freaky fungus and “Weird Gravity” are Ambrosia Sky: Act Two‘s big features.
The other mechanic that caught my interest was described by the devs as “weird gravity.” Gravity played a big part in each of the sections I saw, as a combo of swappable gravity and a grappling hook of sorts is how Dalia would maneuver through vertical columns. Another impressive instance came from when she was floating around the outside of the colony. Being in a zero-gravity environment and trying to solve a puzzle on the exterior of the facility, which has its own artificial gravity, looks like a blast. It’s always a cool feeling when a game has areas with gravitational pulls to mess around with, so seeing that integrated into puzzle-solving intrigues me.
Credit: Soft Rains
Speaking of puzzles, Ambrosia Sky: Act Two seems to have quite the abundance of them. In addition to figuring out how to deal with the different fungi, I got to see a puzzle that involved rerouting electricity through spinning panels to cut the power and make a wiry area safe to travel through. An abandoned space colony offers plenty of opportunity for inventive and deadly puzzles even without the crazy fungus, so I’m down to see what sort of challenges the full game’s going to offer.
I came away from the preview intrigued by what I saw and the many different gameplay mechanics on display. I’ll have to check out Ambrosia Sky, as Act Two is set to release for PC via Steam on August 6, with it being a free update for those who already own Ambrosia Sky. Otherwise, the full game’s price will be raised to $24.99 after Act Two’s limited-time launch discount.
