Bogdan's Cross is an action-adventure tale of a humble shepherd turned legendary Templar knight amidst the terrible time of the Crusades. "Traverse stunning landscapes, uncover hidden tales and mysteries, and confront shadows of doubt and despair," the Steam page says, before slipping in the load-bearing caveat: "While grounded in historical accuracy, the game takes creative liberties to weave a captivating fictional narrative."
And yes, it sure does, because as we saw in the new trailer that appeared in today's Future Games Show, Bogdan is not just a Templar, he's also a teddy bear.
And I don't mean a large, cuddly guy with a heart of gold—I mean, literally a teddy bear. Quite possibly the grimmest teddy I've ever seen, yes, but that's understandable. This bear has seen some shit, and it's left him changed: He'll deal with "internal struggles and moments of faith, redemption, and transformation" as he embarks upon "an epic story filled with unexpected twists and profound themes."
As a videogame backdrop, The Crusades is fraught with peril: A period of brutal religious warfare that echoes to this very day. To some extent, it sounds like Bogdan's Cross will sidestep at least some of that potential thorniness—enemies will include "sinister dark entities and strange, otherworldly creatures that lurk in the shadows," and Bogdan will wield special abilities unlocked by ancient artifacts—but otherwise developer Federico Moreno Breser appears to be playing it straight. Bogdan's extremely boopable nose notwithstanding, this is clearly not a cute, "cozy" game.
It's a combination I find fascinating. I'm not a Templar junkie by any means but the visual style of Bogdan's Cross is immediately appealing, and I find the juxtaposition of cuddly forest animals and a mournful, bloody world torn apart by religious strife intensely intriguing. A big part of me just wants to know, why? What's especially curious is that there is literally no reference to Bogdan being a bear in the Steam listing: Take away the screens and video clips, and Bogdan's Cross sounds like a straight-up story of a knight questioning his faith. It's enough to make me wonder, "Am I missing something here?"
But no, I'm pretty sure I'm not.
That is 100% a teddy bear with a sword.
I'm definitely eager to get my hands on Bogdan's Cross, to have a better understanding of how it will handle the historical setting and why (why?) he's a teddy bear, but that opportunity is still some time off: A release date hasn't been announced but it's currently not expected to be out until sometime in 2025. For now, you can wishlist it on Steam and the Epic Games Store.
