Every so often something rolls through my inbox that for whatever reason just really grabs my attention. Today that something is a game called The Greater Good from electronic artist turned solo game developer Sam Enright, who also goes by the handle EnrightBeats. As the story goes, Enright had for years wanted to make a video game that was a callback to the classic RPGs he grew up playing but at the same time had a modern twist and didn’t feel like yet another retro-styled pixel art game. The Greater Good takes place in a futuristic fantasy setting and features stylized visuals and a full soundtrack featuring 29 tracks composed by Enright himself. In fact, being a composer first and foremost before taking a stab at game development means that the music feels especially impactful in The Greater Good. It also just plain kicks ass. Get a taste of the music and the game in the mobile teaser trailer just below, followed by a longer gameplay trailer that accompanied the desktop version’s launch.
Originally The Greater Good launched on Steam back in October of 2018, but according to Enright it was originally envisioned as a mobile game. The Steam reviews are quite positive, but there just aren’t all that many of them, hence this being known as a hidden gem. Something I also find interesting which you certainly noticed if you watched the above trailers is that The Greater Good is a side-scrolling affair, but still offers an overworld map and explorable towns and cities like the more typical isometric RPGs do. To put it in a more mobile context it reminds me a lot of a mix between Sword & Sworcery, which also was incredibly stylized and intertwined deeply with its soundtrack, and the ill-fated Prevail which offered a super accessible side-scrolling open world to explore. I’m really impressed that this is the work of a single person, and I’m also really happy to see a developer trying something a bit different than the many, many retro throwbacks that are already out there. If you’re digging what you’ve seen of The Greater Good so far as well then check it out when it launches on the App Store April 22nd for just $3.99.
