CALX Is The Journey-Looking Action-RPG Soulslike I Never Knew I Needed Until I Played It

There’s a very specific genre of indie game I’m very fond of, but I’m not quite sure what the name of said genre is. Journey, Sable, Sword of the Sea, Jusant, Europa–all exploration-focused third-person adventure games, I guess? But that’s not it. There are light puzzle elements too, and yeah, they all have banger soundtracks… but whatever it is, I just don’t know the word for it.

The “it” in this context is an antonym for cramped and congested. Expansive, beautiful, wide-open areas that, ultimately, serve no purpose, yet were made with purpose. It’s a comfy feeling of looking out onto a shitload of nothing. Look, whatever “it” is, I know what “it” looks like when I see “it,” and “it” looks like CALX.

I was trying to remember how I even found CALX. This is going to sound like the lead-in to a creepypasta, but I just remember getting a Steam notification that the demo for it dropped earlier this year and thinking to myself, “What the hell is CALX?” I’d obviously wishlisted it, yet somehow, I’d never heard of it. Still, I played the demo anyway, and while it was a bit rough around the edges, CALX had some sauce–the undefined “it”–so I let the mysterious game sit in my wishlist.

Turns out, CALX used to be called XTAL. It’s an action-adventure RPG from a small Italian team called True Colors, who have been working on the game since 2021, set to release in just a couple of weeks on June 4. I’ve seen people refer to it as “Hyper Light Sable,” but the character designs feel a bit more Journey to me, and the soundtrack reminds me more of Risk of Rain 2 than anything. In fact, that was my main takeaway from playing the original demo for CALX back in February: it’s like a lot of games, but as a result, it didn’t feel wholly unique.

Thankfully, CALX’s demo on Steam received a relatively hefty update last week, so I hopped back in to give it another shot, and in the process, I think I finally figured out what separates it from its contemporaries: CALX is kind of a Soulslike.

I’m not really sure how I didn’t clock this the first time around, because it was painfully obvious the second time around. There’s bonfires, a dodge roll, limited healing, boss fights–hell, there’s even a sad NPC named “Warrior” who waffles a load of cryptic nonsense. Really, the fact that CALX even has combat is what sets it apart from the likes of Sable and Journey, but the fact that said combat also feels slightly challenging makes it stand out even more.

It’s a strange blend. CALX wants to evoke that same feeling of an endless, sprawling world and simultaneously chill you out with its IDM-inspired soundtrack, but it doesn’t want you to relax to the point that you can’t lock in for a boss fight. I can’t think of another game like that off the top of my head. Elden Ring’s Limgrave certainly felt borderline calming at times, but CALX almost feels hypnotic. It’s like the game is trying to lull me into a false sense of security, and I’m having to actively fight against the serene vibes just so I don’t get dogpiled by half a dozen enemies.

I think that’s the main thing I’m hoping for in the full release of CALX. I want it to really lean into that difficulty, so it’s not just another entry in the undefinable genre of Sable-likes with that “it” that I so love. That genre feels far from oversubscribed, but Journey meets Dark Souls isn’t a game I knew I wanted until CALX came along, so I’m hoping that its potential success could lead to something special down the line. Maybe, in ten years time, I’ll be back here writing about how the next CALX-like is trying to set itself apart from the competition.