What would happen if Fromsoft and Icepick Lodge combined to make a game, but made it for the PlayStation 2? Well, for a start no-one would ever manage to complete it. The restricted format alone would cause problems.More importantly, it might look a lot like False Hero, an upcoming Souls-like with a delightfully bizarre and otherworldly aesthetic.

If you love the Souls genre, but you’re sick of seeing another crumbling medieval kingdom beset by a curse, then False Hero might be for you. (Not that we dislike crumbling medieval kingdoms here at Gamezebo, but we can see how you might get feudal-era fatigue after a while.)

A Surreal Landscape

Instead, False Hero takes place in a weird, liminal space landscape more akin to the Void in.. The Void, Icepick Lodge’s weird resource-management adventure game set after death.

False Hero itself deals with death, or rather Death, and its influence. The lands have fallen to Death. Corrupted creatures roam the cities and the forests. The world is doomed… unless someone were to stand up to the corruption in the name of Life.

In False Hero, you choose your path. You may aid the Gods of life, or walk the way of darkness and bring death with you. Either way, you have your work cut out.

There are areas to explore, bosses to fight, and magical powers to master. This is, of course, presented in a low-polygon style that makes the entire thing feel like a wander through the Uncanny Valley. Soulslikes should always set out to make you feel uneasy and unsafe in the world, and it’s certainly hard to feel safe when you’re taking a stroll through a massive liminal space.

It’s all been created by one solo developer over the course of several years. We can’t wait to see how this title shapes up.

Want to check False Hero out for yourself? You can wishlist now on Steam so you’ll know exactly when the game drops.

In the meantime, want some more weird and wonderful dreamscapes? Take a gander at our news on REKA.