Metroidvania Mariachi Legends is one of my favorite reveals this week

Dance with the Dead

During the weekend’s PC Gaming Show presentation, publisher Freedom Games raised the curtain on an intriguing new metroidvania, Mariachi Legends, which is currently in development for PC at Mexican developer Halberd Studios, the studio behind 9 Years of Shadow.

Mariachi Legends tells a tale of highly-skilled private detective Pablo Cruz, who is chosen by no less than Lady Death herself to retrieve an ancient amulet that has the capability of undermining her rule over the afterlife and bring about an end to Dia de los Muertos, The Day of the Dead. Tasked with this otherworldy case, Cruz must journey through the dark underbelly of the town of Santa Mascota, en route to a showdown with its criminally corrupt mayor, Don Emilio Obregon.

While his enemies will be both plentiful and deadly, Lady Death has imbued Cruz with the powers of La Sombra, which will enhance the hero’s natural swordsmanship, while affording him additional supernatural abilities to help him navigate the environment and get the drop on those who would do him harm. You can check out the very first teaser trailer below, as featured in the PC Gaming Show.

While this early trailer is unfortunately very light on gameplay, we can see the makings of something very cool in Mariachi Legends. While the Symphony of the Night aesthetic will be lost on nobody, the implementation of timeless Spanish culture — from the locales and general atmosphere to the art design and use of Mariachi itself — is incredibly compelling. Halberd Studios is promising deep and precise combat, diverse and intriguing characters, and an adventure dripping in proud Mexican culture and, even more curiously, cuisine.

I really like what we’re seeing here, and Mariachi Legends is already one of my favorite reveals of Summer Game Fest. The game looks positively dripping in cool style, culture, and personality. We could still be a long, long way from taking our first steps into Santa Mascota, given the teasing nature of this trailer, but we do know that Freedom Games aims to launch Mariachi Legends on PC at some point in 2024…

I hope so, as I do not want to keep the fair lady waiting…

Chris Moyse

Senior Editor – Chris has been playing video games since the 1980s and writing about them since the 1880s. Graduated from Galaxy High with honors. Twitter: @ChrisxMoyse

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