Opus: Prism Peak hands-on preview: When magic comes through your camera's lens

Even today, so many years later, I still remember much of my Firewatch gameplay vividly. But it wasn't just because of its unique narrative style or art design, at a time when indies were starting to take off in a big way, but had yet to catch on with the mainstream. Firewatch was one of the titles that helped independent developments to have the weight they carry in the overall video game space in 2025. And its creators, after that, have practically disappeared from the map.

Fortunately, a game like that opened a path for other narrative games to follow, with their stories and themes, over the years. Now Sigono and Shueisha Games are giving us a new story, emotionally charged and with a depth that seems memorable, in Opus: Prism Peak. I was able to try out a demo of about 40 minutes before its release this autumn, with just a couple of gameplay scenes and an introduction of its main characters, and I think it's one of those simple but soulful titles that will help combat the cold and dreary days of winter to come.

Opus: Prism Peak comes from the creators of the Opus series (The Day We Found Earth, Rocket of Whispers, and Echo of Starsong), a series of stories that have a lot of depth to them, and you have to look closely to unravel their secrets and true backstory. These are great titles that have sold over 13 million copies, and now aim to touch even more hearts with Prism Peak. It's the story of a man in the midst of a mid-life crisis, separated and without a life plan, who decides to return to his hometown to attend the funeral of his grandparent, his real parental figure. It was this person who instructed him in the art of photography, and who encouraged him to seek out the special things in the world around us.

But while on his way to his old home, Eugene almost runs over a teenage girl and together they end up lost in the forest, in a kind of magical place populated by animal spirits, as they try to reach the top of the mountain. Their stories, as well as the places and the characters that inhabit them, seem to be more intertwined than they appear to be. Everything is surrounded by an atmosphere of magical realism that is constantly reminiscent of Spirited Away, while Eugene interacts with other characters and objects, mainly through his grandparent's old camera.

It feels more like a linear story than a puzzle adventure, and there are really few options for getting lost, from what I could see. The interface couldn't be simpler, with just 2-3 actions. However, the photography seems to have an extra point, with options to manually change shutter speed, focus, and more. The trailer ventures that a zoom lens can also be found, so this demo only lets you see a small portion of the total. There are also consumables for the camera, such as cleaning kits, so there are still a lot of unknowns about what Opus: Prism Peak can give us.

The discordant note (although this is an early test build, so I'm not particularly concerned) is that movement and light exploration feels clunky with the current keyboard controls. The controller controls also didn't work (which will no doubt be in the final version, as it's also coming to the Nintendo Switch family of consoles), and in general the menus and options for customising the experience still have some work to do. What's really important is that I found the brief time I spent with Eugene and his young travelling companion to be delightful, and I think this new game in the Opus series will be a hit again.