Indie video game publisher, Playdigious, has brought two very memorable games for players to demo at PAX East 2024. The first one I played was Fretless by Ritual Studios, a colorful and musical adventure I won’t forget.

Fretless

Fretless is a “music RPG” with colorful pixel art and head-boppin’ beats. I spoke with the sound and art developer who were more than happy to share their experience developing the game.

Jeff- Sound Design

Inspiration for the music behind Fretless include several rock and metal bands like Knocked Loose, Loathe, and Jesus Piece. However, he looks to incorporate several styles of music in the game. More importantly, much of the music is reimagined versions of Rob Scallion’s work.

Connor- Art Design

Connor jumped in and pointed out that the character you play as is modeled after Rob. Connor’s journey with Fretless was that he self-taught pixel-art and was inspired by retro Zelda games. He’s proud of the detail that leveraged modern sensibilities with retro style, such as four-way movement, but the eyes look in eight different directions. Details such as these showcase passion and hard work.

The Fretless developers wanted the game to be accessible to all gamers, even ones that shy away from music-based games. We both acknowledged that most music-based games have a rhythm mechanic; however, that is only one small slice of the gameplay. Instead of upgrading your armor, you adjust mods to your guitar. All the aspects of upgrading and growing in Fretless surround musical instruments and accessories.

The demo for Fretless honestly blew me away. The controls were smooth, the colors were bright, and the unique spin of incorporating music hooked me. The developers confirmed that the game is mostly done, and any tweaks between now and release would be any necessary touch-ups. They say to expect Fretless to release sometime this year. Be sure to wish list it on Steam, and if you are at PAX East, visit them at Booth 18097.

Thank you to the devs and Playdigious for your time. Looking forward to playing Fretless in its entirety soon!

Piqued your interest? Check out the trailer and summary below:

Fretless summary:

In this turned-based RPG, wield powerful legendary instruments, gather mighty riff attacks and save the land from Rick Riffson’s devilish goons and musical hybrid monsters!
Play as Rob, a friendly musician trying to restore harmony in an off-tuned world where wacky villains are corrupting music.

Rick Riffson, boss of the evil Super Metal Records company, is using the Battle of the Bands contest to extend his hold on every last note, chord, and song by trapping the best musicians with deceptive soul-binding contracts.

Embark on an adventure with Rob and his zany rock-loving friends to end SMR’s plans. Stay alert during your journey: Riffson’s devilish goons, monster-instrument hybrids, and legendary musical animals will try to get in your way!

Explore this musical land to add sick riffs to your deck, and wield your mighty guitar to unleash powerful crescendo attacks in epic music battles!

Carefully composed by Ritual Studios, Fretless is a pixel-art adventure set in Rob Scallon and his friends’ diverse musical rock world.

–Playdigious

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Source: Fretless – Playdigious Originals