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Joy Way, the developers behind high-flying parkour shooter STRIDE (2020), released a new look at a game prototype that aims to fuse rhythm, shooting and slicing. If the studio intends on keeping the new aesthetic, it’s also going to feature some bloody cartoon violence too.

Update (11:40 AM ET):  Joy Way released a statement regarding its development on STRIDE in relation to its new prototype:

“It’s also necessary to mention that the rhythm game that we recently teased has no impact on STRIDE development: it is made on Unity, and STRIDE is made on UE4. There are 2 different teams working on the games.”

The unnamed prototype was first seen back in December 2020, which we’ve linked at the bottom of the article. Attached was the message: “Upvote or downvote? Would you play it daily?”

Now VRFocus has obtained a peek of the revised prototype, and it seems to have done away with the low-poly aesthetic in favor of a more graphic novel-based vibe, which reminds us of Venom and possibly even a bit of the gritty environments featured in Sin City.

The earlier prototype (seen below) shows off a bit more of the game’s proposed mechanics, which include directional cutting instructions, world-shifting jumps, and more gunplay. The studio hasn’t said whether it intends on keeping these elements or not as it explored a grittier, more bloody gameplay style.

Joy Way seems to be combining a few key elements with its prototype, namely the swordplay of Beat Saber, the action hero-style gun kata from Pistol Whip, and the cartoon violence from its most recent title Time Hackers, which is currently in Early Access on Steam.

We don’t know anything else for now, but we’ll be keeping our eyes on Joy Way in the coming weeks. The studio has proved it’s capable of putting its unique spin on just about any shooter sub-genre. Putting together a rhythm game will require a lot more than developer chops though, as assembling music that people actually want to hear is a big undertaking.

Anyway, here’s what it looked before when it was a low-poly deal: