A Lovecraftian Nightmare Brought to Life
Ritual Tides is a game that was originally announced back in late 2024. Presenting itself as the first title from Vertpaint Studios, a studio composed of industry veterans hailing from Rockstar among other staple names, Ritual Tides has been shrouded in a veil of shadows since it’s original trailer released. Though this original announcement was mostly carried by the names attached to the project, we finally have some gameplay to show that it’s looking more then promising.
The trailer is relatively short, clocking in at around a minute, but what we get in that time is a glance into the types of gameplay aspects we can expect in the full game. The player can be seen crawling through a small opening in before the text ‘Brinewell Cove’ flashes across the screen. The art style and overall look of the game feel very reminiscent of ILL, a horror game announced in June of 2025 in the same genre, and in that same moment the camera pans to a creature that looks like it was pulled straight from the bottom of the sea.
If a Face Hugger and a King Crab had a baby, would it be a King Hugger? Face King? Either way it surely does make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. Imagine having those beauties climbing all over you at night.
The gunplay looks as if it is going to rely on the premise of Victorian era weapons with the developers own twist added to them. The trailer then gives us a few more seconds of another grotesque looking monster before the scene changes back to the player getting swarmed by our eight legged friends. If you had my interest back in 2024, you now have my curiosity. The game looks like it’s following in the same terrified footsteps of ILL, and I am all for it.
Make sure you check out the trailer below and comment on anything we might have missed.
Ritual Tides will release on console and PC, with no confirmed release date at this time.
