Undertale, Jurassic Park, and Phantasy Star collide in a '90s-inspired time-traveling dinosaur JRPG made by actual paleontologists
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Check out the trailer for Dino Hazard below and you’ll get an idea of what I mean. The art style and character proportions look very much like those ofSega’s classic Phantasy Star series, the dinosaur-infested island setting is straight out of Jurassic Park, and there’s a promise that you “can solve conflicts with either HATE or LOVE strategies that influence the environment around you,” which is about the most Undertale thing I’ve ever heard - plus there are those minigame-driven combat abilities.
You can check out theSteam pagefor more details, including some info on the wild futuristic plot involving a “malicious artificial intelligence system.” Despite the outlandish sci-fi trappings, the game was “developed by a couple of paleontologists who want to share with the world their passion for science and games.”
Literally, it’s a “couple” of paleontologists - the husband and wife team of Tito Aureliano and Aline Ghilardi. In addition to field and academic work in Brazil, they’ve also spent years building Dino Hazard as a low-key multimedia franchise that includes a novel, comics, toys, and now, a video game. That’s about the coolest family business I could ever imagine.
Dino Hazard had been in Early Access for years, and just went 1.0 on Steam on December 22, and it’s 50% off until January 6. The trailer mentions releases for Switch, Xbox, and PS5, but there are no details on those versions just yet.
WithJurassic Park: Survivalon the way, our list of thebest dinosaur gamesis hopefully about to get some new competition.
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