The creative mind behind Mario + Rabbids has unveiled his new studio—and his first game breaks all the rules.
With this game, no one really knew what was happening on screen: At first glance, Bradley the Badger (see the game on Steam) seems like a nostalgic trip back to the era of N64 mascots, but appearances can be deceiving. Behind the unassuming badger is the first project from the newly founded studio Day 4 Night, led by none other than Davide Soliani.
If you still remember E3 2017, you’ll know Soliani as the “Ubisoft Crying Man,” who was moved to tears by Shigeru Miyamoto’s praise. Now he’s back, and he’s brought along some prominent support and a concept that breaks genre boundaries.
We’ll summarize what makes this title so special and why you should definitely keep an eye on the badger.
An all-star team for an unusual hero
A glance at the credits quickly reveals that Bradley the Badger is a master of his craft. Soliani did not found Day 4 Night alone. At his side is Christian Cantamessa, one of the main writers and designers of the first Red Dead Redemption.
But the studio goes one better: the voice of the titular badger belongs to Evan Peters. You probably know the Hollywood star as Quicksilver from the X-Men movies or the Netflix series Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.
Bradley the Badger himself is no shining hero. He is an aging platform mascot who wakes up in a world that no longer makes sense. The levels are unfinished, assets are missing or broken, and the atmosphere abruptly shifts from a colorful children’s game to a dark nightmare that blatantly parodies games like Bloodborne, Cyberpunk, and The Last of Us.
When the hero becomes the developer
According to the initial information and the trailer, players can expect a 3D action adventure that sees itself as a “love letter to video games.” The highlight, however, is in the mechanics: Bradley has to fight his way through unfinished game worlds using the so-called “kit.”
The kit allows you to manipulate the game world in real time, almost as if you were working in the developer engine. The features confirmed so far sound promising:
- You can enlarge or shrink objects. A small stone becomes a bridge, or Bradley shrinks himself to slip through holes.
- You pull geometry from walls or floors to build your own platforms or cover.
- You grab unfinished assets and use them as building blocks to creatively solve puzzles.
On paper, this sounds a bit like the creative approaches we last saw in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, only embedded in a meta-story about game development. So if you enjoy using game mechanics against the game itself, Bradley might be right up your alley.
When and where can you get started?
Day 4 Night is currently keeping quiet about a specific release date. So far, the release for PC (via Steam) has been confirmed.
Whether and when console versions for PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S will follow has not yet been explicitly communicated during the show, but it is quite likely.
The Steam page is already online, so you can add the title to your wish list to make the algorithm – and Bradley the badger – happy.
