Since you’re sure to see plenty of retro-styled NES RPGs in the modern indie scene, those who develop them have to come up with clever twists on the formula in order to pique folk’s interests. This latest indie game, crafted by a one-man team called Candlelight Studios, promises just that.

Titled Untold Story, it tries to deviate from the standard NES style it appears to emulate and become more “modern” and story-based. Reading the developer’s blog, it seems that much of the focus will be on the narrative, with a combat system that plays out more like the later Final Fantasy games. An “active time battle” system, perhaps?

The story of Untold Story, and the way it’s told, is quite different from that of NES RPGs. Unlike NES RPGs, Untold Story focuses on heavy characterisation and telling an engaging story with those characters, rather than presenting a broad picture of the world and its characters.Untold Story features a faster and slightly more complex battle system than most NES RPGs. Much like the SNES Final Fantasy games, characters and enemies in Untold Story act independently of each other with each individual unit having its own speed stat which determines whether or not it can make an action. That’s pretty much where the similarities stop.

Unlike NES (and well pretty much any other) roleplaying games, players have a rather limited selection of moves. This small selection of actions requires the player to use what moves they do have wisely, striking enemies at the right time. Enemies also hit hard and fast so the player will need to keep on their toes and make sure they don’t miss time their character’s actions. If you miss a heal or hit the wrong enemy with a certain attack, it could be the difference between life and death.

Untold Story is set to debut sometime this first half of 2015. Although no platforms have been formally announced, it should at the very least hit PC. The studio’s previous game, Tiny’s Grand Adventure, is currently on Greenlight.