Fading Skies looks like a modern Jak and Daxter with pet dragons

In the Indie GIF Showcase, we dig up the best-looking new and upcoming indie games and explore what makes them special. Are you a developer with a game to submit? Use this form.

I was feeling a bit down on 3D platformers following Yooka-Laylee, but after A Hat In Time's charming debut, I'm hungry for more worlds to explore and things to collect. Solo developer Marc Fleps may well satisfy that hunger with Fading Skies, an action platformer "with a focus on exploration and interactive storytelling." Which is all well and good, but here's the only story I need to interact with: you get a shapeshifting pet dragon.

Fading Skies is so early in development that Fleps doesn't have a release date in mind, but even in its current state it looks stunning. Protagonist Ryn's crimson ponytail bobs when she jumps as the contrasting blue wings of her little dragon partner do the same. The way they glide and pirouette reminds me of Naughty Dog's iconic duo Jak and Daxter, and I do not say that lightly.

On top of morphing into a sword and boosting her jumps, it seems Ryn's dragon can also grant her neon-lit wings, which makes Fading Skies' floating islands all the more enticing. Who knew dragons were so versatile? I've got to get me one.

Austin freelanced for PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and has been a full-time writer at PC Gamer's sister publication GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a staff writer is just a cover-up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news, the occasional feature, and as much Genshin Impact as he can get away with.