Based on an official Dead by Daylight license, 'Identity V' has long been beloved as an asymmetrical survival horror game, boasting a unique visual presentation distinct from Dead by Daylight's photorealistic approach. In particular, doll-like characters with button eyes have become the signature design of developer Joker Studio.

Joker Studio's next title retains that familiar doll-like charm and signature aesthetic while carving out a much broader world: Sea of Remnants. At Gamescom 2026, alongside a massive booth, visitors were able to experience actual gameplay hands-on. The demo covered fighting the boss Mermaid Morian and exploring a bit of the surrounding island.

The game boasts expansive content, from creating wooden puppet characters to freely sailing across wide oceans, exploring diverse islands, and discovering new things. Compared to that, this demo focused heavily on combat—a slice of the game featuring a brief island stroll followed by a boss fight. Yet the combat proved so immersive that most of the 30-minute session was spent on that single boss battle.

Indeed, the depth of the mechanics—so intricate it was hard to grasp every system in one sitting—was more than enough to raise expectations that Sea of Remnants will deliver exceptional depth in its combat alone.

The demo begins after a four-person party drops anchor at an island. A cave right in front of them is marked as the objective, leading into a scene where they enter the dream of a slumbering mermaid inside. The mermaid's upper body alone towers far larger than the protagonist, and her fish-like lower body stretches out even further, exuding an air of deep mystery.

In line with the game's overall design direction of framing characters as wooden puppets, annual growth rings line the skin like wrinkles, while vibrant makeup and accessories layered on top showcase rich colors reminiscent of a Disney animation. It possesses a distinct uniqueness that is difficult to compare directly to any single title.

Inside the dream, an awakened Morian swims freely, exhibiting a beautiful presence fitting for a mythical mermaid. Sunlight filtering through the ocean depths adds a subtle glowing effect, heightening the mystical atmosphere.

The battle that follows is a traditional turn-based RPG fight featuring a four-person party. Turn order for both allies and enemies is displayed in the top left, and players conduct battle using each character's unique skills.

The basic concepts are familiar. However, throughout the demo, a wide array of mechanics continually intersect and intertwine, making combat surprisingly complex—to the point where one feels they have barely scratched the surface.

For starters, each character's skills utilize different stacking mechanics. One character might build hunger stacks, another glyph stacks, and another shadow stacks, triggering passive abilities once enough are accumulated. When these stacking mechanics interplay with other party members, they connect to secondary passives and trigger follow-up passives from allies, creating a chain-reaction trigger.

Normally, characters can perform only one action per turn—such as attacking, buffing allies, or healing. But when the aforementioned passive synergies stack on top of this basic structure, a single attack could trigger an extra hit from Ally 1, which leads to a passive bonus attack from Ally 2, followed by a follow-up hit from Ally 3, which then triggers another passive from Ally 2—unleashing multiple free attacks in rapid succession.

While attacking and using skills form the core layer, deep strategic thinking is required to map out how to link those actions with other characters' passives and stat boosts. Due to limited time during the demo and continuous attacks, it was impossible to read every passive and skill description, making it hard to gauge just how deeply these mechanics can synergize across a fully tailored team.

However, it was clear that with the right combination of synergizing characters, the flow of battle could drastically change depending on the level of strategic planning.

Layered on top of these fundamentals is a dice mechanic that adds further variation. When attacking, players can manually roll between one and up to three additional dice. Depending on the total sum rolled, the outcome yields various benefits such as damage buffs, bonus attacks, or turn manipulation. Rolling dice is entirely optional, allowing players to spend their limited pool of dice rolls strategically when needed to tip the momentum in their favor.

In the demo, the party was given fairly generous stats, allowing players to sustain comfortably using healing skills and buffs without facing much risk of defeat. However, that did not render strategic play unnecessary, as defeating the boss proved much more challenging than merely keeping the party alive.

In the demo, Morian swims alongside two mermaid statues. By default, players can only target these statues; both must be destroyed to bring Morian down and open a window to deal direct damage. Once her health bar is completely depleted for the first time, the fight transitions into Phase 2.

Echoing the split-personality concept seen in Identity V, Morian transforms as if her personality has become twisted before Phase 2 begins. In this stage, Morian launches direct attacks at the party.

Once Morian is defeated through a combination of skills and stat synergies, the screen transitions. Even though some time was spent reading skill descriptions, clearing the boss alone took nearly 20 minutes. It underscores that boss encounters demand significant time, pushing players to seek optimized strategic party compositions to shorten clear times.

The scene then abruptly shifts to reveal a shared memory: Morian bound by a group of pirates, her chest pierced by the pirate captain's spear. Moments later, the game loops back to the moment the protagonist first entered Morian's dream. The game conveys her suffering and memories entirely through visual direction and combat, without a single line of dialogue.

At this point, the player is presented with a choice: knowing both her tragic past and the threat she poses while she lies asleep, do you leave her alive and depart, or end her life?

The reward after combat consists of new skills that can be equipped onto characters. Each skill features distinct attributes and effects. Tailoring these acquired skills to complement team synergy will allow for even more strategic gameplay.

Although the demo provided no glimpse into sailing or broader exploration, even this brief hands-on session made the rich flavor of combat abundantly clear. The game is scheduled for release in 2027, with playable opportunities coming sooner at G-STAR and a global closed beta test in December.