Chibig gets serious with Bel's Fanfare, its new, darker adventure launching on Kickstarter

The new project from the creators of Mia, Koa, and Mara tones down the colours and taps into early 2000s nostalgia.

Chibig, the studio responsible for light-hearted adventures such as Mia and the Witch's Mountain, Summer in Mara and Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara, had already announced a change of direction towards "more personal narratives" with Elusive, unveiled almost a year ago. And while Elusive could still be considered "charming" in its approach, the new project now on display is clearly committed to a darker story, although it retains a likeable character design.

We are talking about Bel's Fanfare, an action RPG adventure that claims to be inspired by the first 3D Zelda games and pays homage to slightly twisted classics such as Undertale or, especially judging by this piece of concept art, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.

Although the first teaser for the game reveals little about its mechanics, the studio assures us that they are adding a touch of bullet hell to the usual dynamics of the genre, which traditionally combines exploration with puzzles and action. And as can be seen in the first screenshots and video of Bel's Fanfare below, the visual finish leans towards a pseudo low-poly style halfway between the Nintendo 64 and Gamecube generations. However, it is considerably darker than the studio's previous colourful and sunny adventures.

According to the official synopsis, the protagonist Bel wants to free her father, Belceboo. From the press release:

"In Bel's Fanfare, we play as Bel, a little imp carrying the Ukoback shield-gong, who is tasked with cleansing the aura from all the rooms of the once luxurious cruise ship The Witch of the Sea.

The aura is an unpleasant substance that arises from negative emotions, but is delicious to imps. Sometimes, it will hide treasures and secrets to be discovered by exploring every corner of the ship, while the most persistent aura will lead us to challenges and confrontations that will test our skills."

Bel's Fanfare is set to be released on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and Nintendo Switch 2&1, but first it wants to complete a Kickstarter campaign that starts on March 3.