Surgent Studios has announced their next game, codenamed Project Uso, is an “Afro-Gothic RPG” inspired by games like the classic CRPG Planescape: Torment. They are currently in the pitching stage of the game, and "looking for a funding partner to bring it to life."
In an interview with VGC, head of Surgent Studios Abubakar Salim shared a fair few details about the game. Not necessarily a direct sequel to Tales of Kenzera: Zau, but "It's still in the Tales of Kenzera universe, but it's darker, it's more visceral, it's gritty," said Salim.
"The story (with Zau) is that as a shaman you're challenging the God of Death as a way of looking at the idea of healthy handling grief,” he continues, “so I came up with the idea of what if one reader is inspired to defy death itself, so they create this android which is fashioned to cradle the spirits of the dead." So there will be similar themes between the two titles, but other than sharing a world it sounds like Project Uso will be quite different from Tales of Kenzera: Zau.
It’s the shift from the bright and vibrant Afro-Fantasy aesthetic of Tales of Kenzera: Zau to the “darker” and “gritty” Afro-Gothic of Project Uso that I find most intriguing. A departure like this may have some worried, but as a fan of TTRPGs and CRPGs going back to the 90’s, you can’t make a better reference to dark and gritty than Planescape: Torment. "As passionate Dungeons & Dragons players," said Salim, "the Surgent team and I knew we wanted to try our hand at creating our own RPG system. As a way to give Project Uso a fast-paced, real-time feel, we created the Crucible system, which requires players to roll against themselves."
Salim also talked about pricing, saying he imagined Project Uso being priced similarly Tales of Kenzera: Zau, which launched at £17.99/$19.99. "I like respecting the player's money and time," he said, and I think that is something we can all appreciate.
Concluding the interview, Abubakar said "We want to really focus our time and attention on the mechanics, on the gameplay on the feel of it as a whole, because I think that's what's really key, that's what is going to make it really sing.”
With a functional prototype of Project Uso the studio is looking for a partner to help fund the game to release. Since the release of their first game with Tales of Kenzera: Zau earlier this year, the team have had to deal with layoffs in July, and was put on Notice for Redundancy earlier this week.
As someone who really enjoyed and connected with the gameplay and themes of Tales of Kenzera: Zau respectively, and fond memories of playing Planescape: Torment on my dad’s home PC, I wish Surgent Studios the best of luck getting funding for Project Uso!
Check out our review for Tales of Kenzera: Zau!
