Away From Home Demo Impressions
The Away From Home Demo showcases a quirky, beautifully animated pixel art rhythm RPG.
Away From Home. Cameron Smith-Randick / Squishy
I checked out the demo for Away From Home, an upcoming JRPG and rhythm game hybrid from Cameron Smith-Randick and his indie studio, Squishy. The demo is brief, clocking in at around 30 minutes, but it does a good job showcasing what we might expect from the game.
Its description, from Steam:
A Rhythm based RPG experience. Providing detailed pixel art and expressive animation. Experience a fun world with lots of colorful characters. Come and disrupt their peace!
The plot isn't clear at all from the demo, where you play as Abby, a young girl who sets off on what I assume will be a life-changing journey with her brother Michael. A letter you can find in Abby’s house before you set off alludes to her having nighttime visions of some kind of entity, but that’s all we learn about any sort of backstory here. The dialogue comes off a bit strange and awkward, not in an endearing way, and I feel it could use another pass.
The demo features gorgeous pixel art graphics reminiscent of the Game Boy Advance. Character and enemy sprites are large and beautifully animated. The sprites have real-time shadows that bend as they hit objects behind the characters, a nice detail that gives the art greater depth. I could tell that exploring the world of Away From Home will be a treat in the full game, especially when we get to visit more unconventional and exotic locations.
Away From Home. Cameron Smith-Randick / Squishy
The game’s battles aren’t turn-based as in many RPGS, rather they’re a small, simple rhythm game where you attack and defend on the notes as they hit the center of a bar, building up a combo to unleash a more powerful special attack. I think this can work in theory, but I didn’t appreciate that even fights against trash enemies at the very beginning of the game took so much effort to beat. I hope that the full release more carefully calibrates the rhythm portions to make more sense based on when you encounter them. I wasn’t able to appreciate the game’s battle animations and effects because I had to be completely focused on the small rhythm game beat track. I feel the UI here could also use some improvement to make everything more legible. The game’s description mentions other kinds of rhythm games, but none are present in the demo.
Away From Home. Cameron Smith-Randick / Squishy
I’m eager to play the game when it’s released in October, and I hope the developers are able to polish the battle system and the script by then. If you’re into quirky RPGs and rhythm games, definitely try the demo.
The Away From Home Demo is available on Steam.
Played on: Steam Deck
