Retro Studios might be best-known as the Metroid Prime developer, but over the years it’s dabbled in various other series and even some concepts that were never released. One of these was the cancelled 3D platformer known as Harmony.
It’s believed this “linear 3D” game was in development during the Wii U generation and was supposedly stopped in its tracks when the Austin, Texas-based team was tasked with saving Metroid Prime 4.
So, where are we going with this – well, the mysterious title has reportedly been streamed on Twitch last week by a user named ‘Stumblyn’ for “more than four hours”. The footage shared was allegedly “for preservation purposes” and was based on a “work-in-progress version” but it’s believed to have been the “best look” at the game yet – with the recording also uploaded to YouTube and quickly blocked.
As described by Eurogamer, this game was set to star a “red-headed female hero” who was supposedly capable of “encouraging nature through the power of song”:
In one sequence, she can be seen singing to coax out a variety of forest friends, who then join together in song to create a spiny vine you then leap along to progress.
The power of song can also be used to call forth larger animals you can ride and take charge of during combat. One example is a mossy troll character that looks a bit like Sully from Monsters Inc. This chap packs a punch, but can also be used in puzzle solving for picking up large items.
In another sequence, we see the hero riding this forest troll to pick up a large acorn, which she then sings and grows into a large tree for her to climb.
This isn’t the only mysterious slice of Retro history we’ve seen over the years – with the talented Nintendo-owned developer also working on multiple other projects (including Zelda) that never saw the light of day.
Retro Studios, as already mentioned, is currently applying the finishing touches to Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, which is scheduled to arrive later this year on both the Switch and Switch 2. It will also include some new features like Joy-Con 2 mouse support.
