Zeboyd Games, developer of the XBLIG diamond Breath of Death VII: The Beginning has announced its next RPG for the 360 service: Cthulu Saves the World. Geoff mentioned it recently, but we had scant info and no media on the upcoming title at the time. No longer!

Bringing together 8/16-bit style graphics with modern gameplay design, the dev promises “an epic journey of redemption and insanity,” as players take control of the monster from H.P. Lovecraft lore. Featuring a 6-10 hour main quest, post-game modes, a combo system, random encounter limits, unite techniques (one can hope in the vein of Chrono Trigger), branching level ups, and more. Accessibility is part of the game as well, allowing players to save anywhere and collect 1UPs that can be used to retry failed battles.

One of the major gameplay features in Cthulhu is the ability to inflict insanity on your enemies through magic or skills, making them more dangerous but more vulnerable in battle. Zeboyd describes the playable characters players will amass in their party:

“Umi the beautiful heroine with an unhealthy obsession with the ocean, Sharpe the sentient floating sword, October the cute necromancer, Paws the alien cat, Dacre a senile old man, Ember the dark dragon, and of course, Cthulhu from the classic horror of H.P. Lovecraft!”

Cthulhu Saves the World is set for release in August. A battle screenshot as well as the absurdly awesome retro-fitted box art follows.