Game Rant spoke with the sole developer behind Cuddling Raccoon Studios, Azurexis, who also goes by Nick. Azurexis is bridging the gap between the two seemingly disparate types of games with accessibility options including a casual mode. Fans of cozy games and those who enjoy the variability of roguelikes but find the challenge to be too unforgiving should keep tabs on Paper Animal RPG.

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Dungeon Delving and Camp Crafting in Paper Animal RPG

While it can be hard to conceptualize Paper Animal RPG’s diverse influences, Azurexis breaks down the title’s core loop into two primary phases.

Paper Animal RPG is intended to be a comforting and fun experience, so a rhythm of adventure and relaxation is fitting. Camp crafting mostly consists of cooking dishes to buff the party of adorable animals (Azurexis recommends cooking onions with fish bones), though players can also dabble in dinosaur husbandry once they find a dinosaur egg. In dungeons, the player’s party will fight enemies and search for treasure with a wide variety of skills.

Each run starts with a single character, and as players progress they can recruit up to three additional members. Combat has nods to Paper Mario and the Thousand-Year Door, including an audience that cheers as characters duke it out. Players can also modify their characters with stickers that act like passive equipment, similar to Super Mario: Sticker Star. In true roguelike fashion, players will lose all of their skills and stickers when a run concludes.

Paper Animal RPG’s Skills for Thrills

Skills function like job or class commands in turn-based JRPGs and tactics games. Azurexis broke down the interactions between skills, classes, and characters with an example using the Brawler.

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The classes form a familiar triangle. Brawlers are up-close and personal damage dealers who do deal consistent DPS. Casters have high crit chances, and deal ranged burst damage. Support class characters are typically meaty tanks or nimble dodgers; ideal for snatching treasure and escaping danger.

In terms of Paper Animal RPG’s roster, players will be able to choose between three protagonists at the beginning of the game, and two more starting characters will become available over time. Depending on who the party encounters, players can also recruit two secret characters, and Azurexis promises this pool of heroes will expand upon the release of the full game.

While a party loses all of its gear and abilities at the end of a run, the game does feature a persistent collectible system in the form of cards. Players will unlock booster packs that contain digital trading cards with art and lore of different in-game artifacts, like characters and objects. It is unclear whether these cards will have any effect on gameplay, or if they are just for fun. It’s also important to remember that Paper Animal RPG is still in the thick of its development, and Azurexis said backer and fan feedback can still impact the game.

Paper Animal RPG is expected to launch in September 2023 for PC, Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.

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