A “dark fairytale and third-person adventure with a fantasy and sci-fi fusion” is quite an ambitious way to describe a game. Drakkar Dev defines their latest game, Mirage 7, in this way: I didn’t quite fully grasp what a ‘dark fairytale’ with a ‘fantasy and sci-fi fusion’ would look like until it appeared in front of me when I previewed Mirage 7 firsthand.

I’m starting to grasp what their “dark fairytale” is going for, and it’s looking like it will go beyond a simple journey through the sands.

In an isolated desert, a search drone crashes near a top-secret military base, the explosion effectively waking a strange entity. The entity beckons for another to awaken, in seemingly another world. Nadira, a young girl, wakes from her slumber in a makeshift camp in an arid desert of her own. Alongside her pet lizard, Jiji, I explore the oasis of Jala, looking for answers on how to resurrect Nadira’s sister.

However, Nadira will come across more than she bargained for, and an impending mystery is about to unfold.

Journals hinting at a failed experiment, “Project Mirage”, and the presence of the cyber-like entity that would materialise momentarily on occasion made me question the reality that Nadira seems to be living in.

The preview gave a relatively decent tease of what’s to come from using a combat dagger to fend off massive centipede-like critters, exploring the environment for resources while using “lizard vision”, and crafting tools to collect supplies.

I would have liked to see more of the puzzle-solving element, but I’ll be introduced to more complex tasks as the game progresses. My favourite element was controlling Jiji, the lizard, to gobble up bugs and defend Nadira from scorpions while she slept. It added that extra oomph to gameplay variety that stood out as something different.

So far, the unveiling story is keeping me intrigued. While Mirage 7 has left me with more questions than answers, I’m looking forward to braving the desert on release to see the whole vision.

Written by: Yasmin Noble