I love stealth games. But I can’t think of too many 2D stealth action games that have really stuck with me. Mark of the Ninja would probably be the only one. It’s just so hard to do right. And that’s why I’m excited to see how Necrofugitive will do. A Kickstarter went live for the game in June and is pretty close to being backed.

‘necrofugitive’ lets me do what?

The selling point of the game is not the 2D stealth. It’s the fact that your character can shapeshift into other in-game characters as a means of that stealth. Created by Black Garden Studios, a small dev team of four, Necrofugitive is set in the Middle Ages, and you play as a “shapeshifting cultist.” I never thought I’d be looking forward to controlling a character described as a cultist. But here we are.

Gameplay involves not just sneaking but some solid-looking combat as well. The enemy AI looks like it actually fights back in a way that doesn’t reduce them to cannon fodder, too. There’s also a transformation involved that turns your character into a room-clearing beast. The Necrofugitive gameplay video touts some advanced enemies as well. They have different personalities. Some will run right up on you for a fight, and others might turn tail and dip.

And as usual, I have to talk about that art style. The animations and environments are beautiful.

“Necrofugitive also features hand-drawn animations and dynamic lighting effects to bring the world of Avencia to life. From collapsed dungeons to sun-kissed forests, the world is made to feel as authentic as possible.”

And every bit of that is evident in the gameplay video. I can’t wait to see how they further refine it. The transformations, attacks, speed, and aggression that are visible in the animations. It all looks incredible. I’ll be sure to keep Necrofugitive on my radar going forward. You can check out the demo on Steam now.