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Well, that was unexpected. Sega has just revealed that it is publishing ACE Team's SolSeraph next month, and it's the closest thing we're going to get to an ActRaiser sequel in 2019.

Placing you in the role of Helios, Knight of Dawn, the child of god and man, and all-round good egg, SolSeraph mimics the dual gameplay modes of Quintet's 16-bit classic.

In strategy mode, you'll "guide each tribe to expand their territory, building new homes, farms, roads and other means of daily life, while also manipulating the weather to the village's benefit", which sounds jolly nice. In the action mode, "Helios will delve into the creature lairs where he'll need to fight his way through utilizing his sword, shield, and magical archery". If it all sounds a bit familiar, that's because it is – pretty much the exact same format was utilised in the SNES gem from 1990.

As if to make the connection even more obvious, ACE Team has enlisted the assistance of video game music legend Yuzo Koshiro, who created the epic soundtracks for ActRaiser 1 and 2. He's only contributing the opening theme this time around, but it's nice to have him involved. Meanwhile, Jonas Kyrazes of The Talos Principle fame is writing the game's story.

Chilean studio ACE Team is clearly a big fan of the original game, and its previous titles – Zeno Clash and the Rock of Ages series – show it has a strong track record. It's all looking pretty swish, and will certainly scratch the itch we've had since ActRaiser 2, which sadly omitted the Populous-style strategy sections when it launched back in 1993.

SolSeraph comes to Switch, Xbox One, PS4 and Steam on July 10th, with a download cost of $14.99. According to Sega, the European price will be very similar.