Soft Ruin Parkour Game Cuts Combat to Focus on Movement
Soft Ruin is being shaped around a movement system that root has stripped of most combat, and the year-long Early Access period is where player feedback will tune that system.
Reporting from 1 source: Automaton.
Independent developer root announced the Steam store page for Soft Ruin on August 28. The 3D parkour action game has players run through massive ruins, kicking off walls and wire-swinging to keep momentum. root plans an Early Access release lasting about a year, with roughly half the final map explorable at launch. root has said it intends to almost entirely remove combat and focus on movement, and will adjust the system based on player feedback.
Soft Ruin sends a small character through grassland ruins and a vegetation-covered fortress, with cylindrical shafts so deep the bottom is out of sight. Movement is the point: players kick off walls, leap across gaps, and throw a purple sphere to anchor a wire for swinging. root says the design aims to avoid obstacles that only hinder progress, keeping a sense of openness with cohesive level design. The store page lists solo play and play with friends.
root has also mentioned earlier concepts for a roguelike or Metroidvania structure, and a July plan to almost entirely remove combat. The full release is expected to add locations, creatures, NPCs, mini-games, battle arenas, and boss fights, with the price rising at launch.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.