Prisma first preview — A spectacular snapshot

Cris Tales was a delightful throwback to beloved RPGs like Chrono Trigger. However, Dreams Uncorporated’s next title, Prisma, looks to be doing its own thing, and after getting a quick hands-off glimpse, I’m all for it. Prisma follows Alma as she teams up with… Alma, Alma, and Alma? Receiving strange powers from an old camera containing something called a Prism Shard, our Alma finds herself in a world filled with other Almas. While Alma can team up with other Almas, some Almas aren’t so friendly…

Protagonist Alma (let’s call her Alpha Alma) doesn’t participate in the turn-based battles herself. Instead, she can recruit four alternate Almas out of a total of seven to fight her battles for her. Each Alma has different abilities in battle, learning or forgetting skills through their respective Prism Shards as they level up. For example, Shaman Alma can fire a projectile that can go through multiple enemies in a line. But where things get interesting are the lenses Alpha Alma can view the battle through.

Alpha Alma can apply one of four lenses to her camera, affecting how the combatants’ abilities play out. Applying a Fish Eye lens to Shaman Alma’s projectile will allow it to curve and hit even more enemies in a row rather than a column. On top of that, some enemies may have reflective shields, which may sound bad initially, but you can reflect attacks off the shields to hit even more enemies, with attacks reflecting up to seven times in a single move. There’s a lot more to the battle system, but just those few things got me very excited at the possibilities.

While your main rivals will be other Almas, Almas can also be NPCs and normal enemies are inspired by Latin American folklore. The game also takes inspiration from anime and manga, with stylish Japanese lettering used to accentuate the already stunning animation and artwork. Dreams Uncorporated’s specialty is their artwork and animation, and that skill is on full display here.

The game is absolutely gorgeous, both in battle and out. The world of Domacon has some great, unorthodox perspectives, which plays into Alpha Alma’s ability to take pictures on the overworld to see normally invisible things, solve puzzles, and more. The magical realism of the world is further accentuated by the vibrant color palette, though the game also isn’t afraid to use black and white for some extra style points.

Speaking of style, each Alma I saw has a fantastic design that makes them feel totally unique, while still retaining something… Alma about them. There’s a Robot Alma, a Witch Alma, and even what I think is a Capybara Alma too (though it could be a different kind of animal, I’m not sure). All the character designs I saw in the preview were fantastic, and I can’t wait to see more.

Whichever Almas you choose to team up with will affect the story. Each decision will make Alpha’s bond stronger with one of her party members, which in turn affect Alpha’s personality and future dialogue options. Stronger bonds will also open up new combo moves in battle, allowing for even more variety per playthrough with different teams of Almas. It’s a system that holds a lot of promise, though of course we’ll have to wait for the full game to see if it delivers.

Prisma’s Kickstarter will start soon, and you can be notified when it goes live here. The game seems to be a big passion project for the team, and I’m excited to see how it develops.

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