Motorslice Preview: Prince of Persia Meets Shadow of the Colossus

Prince of Persia meets Shadow of the Colossus in a brutalist megastructure. That's the pitch for Motorslice, and after watching the latest gameplay trailer, I'm convinced Regular Studio might be onto something special.

What Is Motorslice?

The premise sounds almost mundane at first: a girl named "P" arrives at an abandoned megastructure to do a routine job. Eliminate the machines. Get out. Except nothing about the megastructure is routine, and the "machines" include towering mechanical bosses that require you to scale their bodies to find weak points.

Regular Studio describes Motorslice as a "slice of life action-adventure," which might be the most intriguing genre combination I've heard in years. The studio seems interested in contrasting the everyday routine of work against the extraordinary circumstances of climbing massive industrial nightmares in liminal brutalist environments. It's a game about doing your job, except your job is hunting construction equipment the size of buildings.

Parkour Through Brutalist Landscapes

The movement system draws heavy inspiration from Prince of Persia. Expect climbing, running, sliding, and wall traversal through concrete wastelands that look simultaneously abandoned and somehow functional. The aesthetic commits fully to brutalist architecture: raw concrete, exposed structures, and a color palette that makes every environment feel like an industrial fever dream.

The visual style blends low-poly graphics with pixel art textures, creating something that looks retro and modern at the same time. Screenshots show massive structures stretching into fog, with P's small figure navigating spaces that dwarf her completely. Scale matters here, and Regular Studio appears to understand how to make players feel tiny against impossible architecture.

Physics also plays a role beyond simple platforming. The developers mention solving problems with "physics oriented objects," suggesting environmental puzzles that go beyond finding the right ledge to grab. How deep that system goes remains unclear, but it adds another layer to what could otherwise be a straightforward action game.

Combat That Punishes and Rewards

Regular Studio isn't hiding the difficulty. Their official description states plainly: "You die easily, but you kill easily." Combat is fast, brutal, and unforgiving. This isn't a power fantasy where you mow through enemies. It's a precision game where every encounter demands attention.

The phrasing matters. "Die easily, kill easily" suggests a game closer to Hotline Miami than Dark Souls. Enemies go down fast, but so do you. Mastery comes from reading situations quickly and executing without hesitation, not from grinding stats or learning lengthy boss patterns. Whether that balance holds across the full game will determine if the combat feels satisfying or frustrating.

The boss fights are the main attraction. These massive heavy machines require you to climb their bodies, find weak points, and attack while avoiding being thrown off or crushed. If you've played Shadow of the Colossus or Praey for the Gods, you understand the appeal. There's something uniquely satisfying about conquering an enemy that dwarfs you by treating their body as a climbing puzzle.

A Minimalist Story in a Maximum World

Motorslice describes itself as a "minimalist atmospheric adventure with hardcore challenges." That combination of words tells me not to expect lengthy cutscenes or extensive dialogue trees. The story will likely come through environment, through the architecture itself, through small moments between the chaos of climbing machines.

P's routine job going wrong is classic video game setup, but the framing as "slice of life" suggests the game won't treat its narrative as epic. This is someone's workday. It happens to involve parkour and giant robots. The mundane meeting the extraordinary has been fertile ground for indie games for years, and Motorslice seems to understand that contrast creates tension.

The Developer and Publisher

Regular Studio hasn't released many games, which makes Motorslice a relatively unknown quantity. Their willingness to combine multiple influences (Prince of Persia platforming, Colossus-style boss climbing, brutalist aesthetics, slice-of-life storytelling) shows ambition. Whether they can execute on all fronts remains to be seen.

Top Hat Studios is handling publishing. They have a track record of championing smaller indie titles with distinct visual identities, which suggests Motorslice will get proper support for its launch without compromising the developer's vision. Their catalog leans toward games that prioritize atmosphere and style, which fits Motorslice perfectly.

When Can You Play It?

Motorslice is targeting a Spring 2026 release on PC via Steam. No console announcements yet, though games in this style often expand to other platforms after the initial launch proves successful.

The combination of Prince of Persia movement, Shadow of the Colossus boss fights, and a slice-of-life narrative set in brutalist megastructures sounds like something that could appeal to players tired of the usual indie formulas. It's also exactly the kind of weird, specific vision that tends to either resonate deeply or miss completely. Either way, Motorslice is worth watching.