Draft:Rune Fencer Illyia

Rune Fencer Illyia is an upcoming action-adventure platform game developed and self-published by Nootbox Games for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, Xbox and Playstation 4. It is scheduled for a 2024 release.

Gameplay
Rune Fencer Illyia is an action-platformer wherein players control Illyia, a young runist with the ability to conjure arcane weaponry as she searches for her missing twin sister on a cursed island known as the Sunken Kingdom of Ithos.

The game mechanics, mood and visuals are inspired by Konami's Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda series, Fromsoft's Dark Souls, and Playstation 1 Action-RPG games from such as Squaresoft's Brave Fencer Musashi.

Illyia explores the ruined island kingdom while finding upgrades that boost her versatility in combat and movement. A core feature of the game involves stealing enemy abilities and using them as weapons and spells in combat.

Development
The lead developer, Alex Miller-Okiyama, began the game as a solo developer in early 2018 using the Unity engine. Shirley Miller-Okiyama joined after the project was elevated from a hobbyist project to full-time, as the game's lead artist and animator, as well as becoming co-founder of Nootbox Games.

After several years in development, the game launched a Kickstarter campaign in May 2023, with Nootbox Games reaching their initial goal of $35,000 in less than 6 hours, and ultimately raising $178,493 from almost 4,000 backers. Among the goals reached was Nintendo Switch, Xbox and Playstation ports of the game.