Lands of the Ancient Lords: A 'Soulsborne' Celebration

👋 Hi there! Welcome to the latest edition of SUPERJUMP Weekly. This week, we're delving into the worlds of the Soulsborne games - from Demon's Souls and Dark Souls to Bloodborne and Elden Ring. In this issue, we also showcase the works of Leah Isobel and feature Citadelum in our latest On the Radar update.

We hope you enjoy this issue. Please consider becoming a Backer if you would like to support our unique brand of independent games journalism. Thank you.

IN THIS ISSUE

✍️ Story Showcase: Soulsborne Games
⭐ Author Showcase: Leah Isobel
📡 On the Radar: Citadelum
📅 This Week on SJP
🏆 Backers

Once Again Through the Long Dark Hallway

Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, and the joys of being lost

SUPERJUMPBrandon R Chinn

Dark Souls: Depression and Victory

There’s a surprising (and useful) connection between the world of Lordran and real-world depression

SUPERJUMPJonathan Thornburg

Learning to Love Bloodborne

Advice from two super-fans on how to appreciate the PlayStation gem

SUPERJUMPBryan Finck

A Cold, Dark, and Very Gentle Place

Dark Souls, and the struggle toward sanctuary

SUPERJUMPBrandon R Chinn

The Art Of Exploration

Elden Ring has made the humble map essential and artistic again

SUPERJUMPAndrew Dickinson

Elden Ring Elevates Souls-likes Further Than Before

The Souls-like genre goes open-world

SUPERJUMPJosh Bycer

The Virtue of Alienation

Exploring how games alienate the player, forcing us to contemplate why we wish to escape into these virtual worlds

SUPERJUMPLeah Isobel

Omocat’s Comforting Fantasies

Omori’s complex tale expands the world of its source material

SUPERJUMPLeah Isobel

How a Two-Person Team Made the Most Interesting Farming Sim of the Year

Interviewing the creators about their journey of making Before the Green Moon

SUPERJUMPLeah Isobel

To Understand Zelda’s Future, Look to its Handheld Past

All the world’s a dungeon

SUPERJUMPLeah Isobel

Aqualounge is the Coolest Streaming Channel You Aren’t Watching

The person, and the concepts, behind the streaming destination Aqualounge

SUPERJUMPLeah Isobel

City builders and strategy games have been some of the most consistently successful titles in recent years, but they're not easy to make. Now, Abylight is making an ambitious attempt to wed the two genres with their ambitious Roman-themed strategy game Citadelum.

Citadelum takes place in a Classical-inspired world in which the Olympian gods are real and walk among the mortals. The goal is to expand from a city-state into an empire while staying on the good side of the divine. This begins by developing the player's city - gathering resources, constructing buildings, training soldiers, and currying favors with the gods.

Once the player is ready to expand, gameplay shifts to an overworld map with a 4X design. The player has access to the usual diplomatic options one would expect from a Civilization-style game: Trade, alliances and conquest. When combat starts, whether it's a skirmish with a barbarian tribe or full-fledged warfare against a rival empire, gameplay shifts to a third layer with auto-battler elements.

The developer suggests that there will be a narrative element as well, one based primarily on relations between mortals and Olympus. Greco-Roman gods are a capricious, self-centered lot, and there may end up being more to gaining favor than simply building temples and making offerings. Gaining the favor of one may mean incurring the wrath of another, and conflicts between empires may be driven by divine allegiance as much as by plunder.

Citadelum will launch in 2024.

💻 Created by Abylight Barcelona
✍️ Andrew Johnston

My Quest to Find a Specific Demo Disc from 1997

Tracking down “Harvey Norman: The CD-ROM”

SUPERJUMPGavin Annand

FFXIV: Dawntrail Job Guide

Everything there is to know about the jobs in this epic MMO

SUPERJUMPRachel Alm

Phantom Fury and the Beauty of Homage

Satisfying our boomer shooter cravings

SUPERJUMPJared McCarty

Hands-On Preview: Ace Attorney Investigations is More Essential Than I Remembered

A preview of the first three cases from the remake

SUPERJUMPJames O’Connor

Live Service Killed the Suicide Squad

How the necessities of live service squashed the Squad

SUPERJUMPAlex Kubodera

Crafting Mystery and Magic: An Interview with HeR Interactive

Learning the secrets of a good mystery - the Nancy Drew way

SUPERJUMPRachel Alm

Thank you to Berke, Brandon, CT, Cathie, Claire, Geena, Lexi, Nick, Oren, Peter, Troy, Radha, and Wes for supporting independent, cynicism-free games publishing.