Chucklefish is publishing Eastward—a sci-fi RPG with hints of Zelda, Mother and animated whale carcasses

What do you get when you cross Zelda with Mother/Earthbound Beginnings, whimsical animations, and a soft sci-fi-inspired post-apocalypse? In practice, I can't say for sure—but it certainly looks like a Chucklefish game. Eastward is the work of Shanghai-based studio Pixpil, who's spent the last three years growing its debut project.

It's now got an announcement trailer. Look, see:

A single-player, "dual character adventure RPG with puzzle-solving and dungeon elements", Eastward comes to life by way of the studio's own game engine. Pixpil started out as a three-person team, but now stands ten-strong as it works towards launch on PC and Mac at an as yet unspecified date.

As teased above, expect a quirky ensemble of characters, monsters and cities against a soundtrack composed by Hohokum, The Unfinished Swan and Gorogoa's Joel Corelitz. By the looks of it, you'll also encounter a shop/building/repurposed boat with a huge rotting whale carcass atop its roof/deck for some reason. Yes, really:

Again, Eastward is without a hard release date. More information can be gleaned from its official website.