After a legal battle, these devs are back with a new roguelike I'm glad survived

Behind every game, there are the devs who made it. Some small teams see great success, as with Hollow Knight: Silksong, which broke records within hours of release. Other large-scale projects, like Cyberpunk 2077, are stories of feature creep and alleged crunch. The crew behind Immortal: And the Death that Follows claim to be victims of poor treatment at the hands of former employer Limestone Games, but now, after a protracted legal battle, these devs have created a new game from the fragments collected when they quit their previous workplace.

Immortal: And the Death that Follows is the first game from independent studio Mishura Games, which was formed in the wake of numerous employees quitting Limestone Games during the production of Aeon Must Die. Some alleged that they were promised money, some questioned the ownership of the IP, and the YouTube trailer was even copyright struck by the animator because he believed he had not been paid for his work.

It's a messy and complicated situation, but GamesIndustry.biz does a good job of breaking down the allegations and responses in this article if you want the full story. We're not here to talk about Aeon Must Die, however. We're here to talk about the Buddhist Metroidvania with high-octane combat and dating sim elements.

Yes, Immortal: And the Death that Follows promises all of the above and more. The developers describe it as a "Kung-Fu Noir prison escape" based on a Buddhist myth. The combat looks fast and fluid, but it's unclear exactly how the dating sim aspects come into it.

You find 16 mob bosses on your journey, and your choices can lead each to become a valuable ally or terrible foe. Perhaps this is how it becomes a dating sim, as you may have to manage your relationships carefully. Aside from that, the devs describe the game as having Prince of Persia-style platforming (presumably referring to The Lost Crown) as you elude Buddha's personal bodyguard, The Death that Follows.

I don't know loads about Buddhism - like most Westerners, I've read Siddhartha and that's it - but this all sounds very action-packed for a religion that teaches mindfulness. Breaking out of prison, however, is a very apt metaphor for the team breaking free from the shackles of an employer they claim mistreated them.

Immortal: And the Death that Follows launches on Kickstarter and with a free demo on Tuesday, September 16. You can find it on Steam here, ahead of a full release, which is planned for 2027.

That's a long time to wait, so in the meantime I recommend checking out some of the best roguelike games (there's one recent release that you're probably already playing), and our picks for the best indie games on PC.

What do you make of Mishura's remarkable story? Let us know in our community Discord server, where readers and staff chat about everything gaming.