Indie developer Refractive Entertainment has been making waves since his post about Luminary, his promising new fantasy action RPG.

His now-viral post described how he lost his job working in media production and has now shifted to dedicate himself entirely to making Luminary.

Since that post the game has been wishlisted over 30,000 times on Steam and its playable demo has become wildly popular with a mostly positive rating.

Luminary has been in development for Windows PC (via Steam), and an early access release is set for sometime in Q2 of this year.

Here’s a rundown on the game, plus its latest trailer:

Luminary is a solo or co-op OpenZone Action RPG that creates a balanced experience for everyone. Using a unique world and character progression system, explore vast hand-crafted lands together, uncover hidden treasures, level up your town, and push back the darkness with light.

The Story

Centuries ago, a primal magic surged from the earth’s depths, fueling empires but twisting it’s inhabitant and the world into corruption’s grasp. Forests blackened, skies bled shadow, and rivers turned to poison.

But a less prevalent radiant energy was also born, and hidden within pure warriors, the Luminaries. Armed with the light, their goal is to reclaim the land, hurling back the blight.

Yet the Luminary’s gift is double-edged, immortality that tempts the soul. Every 80 years, Luminaries must yield their light to a successor, or risk eternal decay. Defiant ones hoard it, swelling into godlike tyrants of darkness, the Ebonarchs

As a new Luminary, rise in power. Shatter the Ebonarch’s abyssal power source to strip their immortality, and strike them down. Together with your fellow Luminaries, push back the Darkness with Light.

Exploration and Adventure

A dense hand crafted world to explore, with a robust fun locomotion system that allows you to go anywhere. Climb the tallest mountains, brave the deepest waters, glide to distant lands, with many hidden treasure to uncover

Forgiving Skill Based Combat

A real time skill based combat system, where you can switch between fighting styles at the press of a button. Melee, Ranged, Magic, Blocking, Dodging, Enjoy! and swap to different weapons during fights to keep it dynamic

Solo and Co-op Multiplayer

Drop in Drop out, 3 players online, with a planned 2 player local couch co-op option. No Hassle and No Problems. The Character you’ve been progressing in your Solo game, is the same one you will use and progress further in Co-op

Custom Character

Use a simplified Character Creator to make your unique character from multiple fantasy races to truly stand out.

Continued Progression

Your progression stays with you, from solo, to co-op and back through multiple playthroughs. And even your town upgrades go with you into New Game +. You will Unlock new Tier levels of difficulty every time you beat the maps end boss, and those higher Tiers are where the enemies are tougher but the rewards and XP are even greater.

Job Skills and Roleplay

There will be mining, fishing, animal catching, and other things to enjoy. And in Multiplayer you are not tied to your Host’s location, you are free to play your way, even in their game. You can be the team’s miner, searching for the best ores, and trade them to your friends for their precious GOLD!

Town Vendors and Upgrading

Save the towns people and use gathered resources to help them rebuild to their former glory. The Blacksmith, Armorer, Arcanist and Chef can level up as well, granting the ability to sell and craft better equipment

Features

• Forgiving Combat and straight forward game mechanics to bring newbies to the genre
• No Fuss Drop In Drop Out Co-op Multiplayer, simple for friends and family
• Character Creator with 6 Races, Hair Styles, Beards, Make Up, etc.
• Continued Character progression across your solo game OR friend’s games and back
• Half of 2km sq OpenZone Map to explore with multiple modes of traversal (Larger Map Planned)
• Quick Swap Different weapon types for dynamic combat, Sword/Shield, Bow, Magic Staff to start
• Enemies to fight and camps / bases to destroy, Large towers to liberate
• Mini Bosses, Main Boss fight to “Beat the Game” will come later when we release the map’s back half
• Experience can be replayed at harder difficulties to continue fun and progression