'Miasma Chronicles' Is 'Death Stranding' Meets 'Xcom'

Yesterday I wrote about Gunfire Reborn, which I got to play at a gaming preview event hosted by the fine folks at 505 Games. Sure, they plied me with free beer and fried chicken sandwiches, but I’m a serious journalist comedian so I was really there for the games. And friends, today I’m telling you about my favorite of the four games I played. It’s called Miasma Chronicles and it absolutely slaps. 

I got to try out the game for thirty minutes and it felt like five. It’s a turn based strategy game, one of my very favorite genres, but a genre where the truly good games are few and far between. Of course, a meager half hour isn’t enough to truly judge a game by, but it is enough to get totally sucked in and ache for more. And buddy, I’m achin’ bad. You begin play as Elvis, a scrappy young guy who looks a lot like Cal Kestis and holds the key to unlocking the mysteries of the Miasma, a dark force which has decimated the living world and upends the laws of physics. The color palette and some visual effects look a lot like Death Stranding, plus a character named Mama tasks you with healing a battered and broken United States by exploring and unraveling a mystery. The game play is pure Xcom though. Instead of fighting aliens, you’re battling frog monsters and presumably other abominations. 

Usually, I’d be uninterested in the tired, post apocalyptic narrative. It’s played out and in a world with plenty left to save, gives off a sense of defeated complacency. But something about the rich, complex landscape and interesting, real feeling characters made me buy in this time. The writing was great, every line of dialogue giving both a sense of character and further information about the world. Plus you have a quippy, sassy robot buddy. What’s not to like? 

The team at developer The Bearded Ladies has made something really special that I can’t wait to sink some serious time into. The game is currently in Alpha with plans to release in 2023. Next year is going to be stacked with incredible games, and judging from this preview, Miasma Chronicles is one of them.