A few years ago, due to the runaway success of the original Legend of Grimrock, it seemed like a new blobber was being announced every other month. That success largely failed to repeat itself, so it's a surprise to encounter a new one in late 2018, coming right after the failure of Bard's Tale IV. Especially when it's being made by Zen Studios, a Hungarian developer best known for their pinball adaptations. The game's title is Operencia: The Stolen Sun, and it's a turn-based dungeon crawler with a setting based on Hungarian folklore and mythology. It actually looks rather pretty, although some will disapprove of the apparent absence of party creation. As usual, here's the announcement trailer and Steam page description:
Zen Studios’ modern homage to classic first-person dungeon-crawlers takes you to the land of Operencia, an unconventional fantasy world inspired by a faraway land referenced in countless Central European folktales. An old-school turn-based battle system combines with inspiration from unexplored mythology to offer an RPG experience that feels unique yet also familiar.
A Tale for the Ages
An unknown force has abducted the Sun King Napkiraly, leaving Operencia in a state of perpetual darkness – and eventual doom. From hidden royal tombs and cursed castles to an ascent up the World Tree to reach the Copper Forest of the Land of the Gods, explore diverse settings throughout the far reaches of the land…and beyond. Each location boasts its own unique atmosphere, visual style, level design and puzzles, and many take place entirely outdoors.
Where History Meets Legend
Operencia is home to an intriguing mix of unexplored mythology and fantastical versions of actual historical locations (e.g., Deva Fortress, Balvanyos) and characters (e.g., Attila, Seven Chieftains of the Magyars), all coming together to form one cohesive new gaming universe. Several of your own seven party members take influence from heroes of forgotten tales told hundreds of years ago, such as the brave knight Mezey and Sebastian the Dragon Slayer.
Classic Gameplay and Exploration
Along with a deeply strategic turn-based battle system full of spells and special skills to execute, tile-based movement encourages thorough exploration of each area. For added challenge, turn on Cartographer mode to plot out each of the 13 maps yourself. How many secrets will you find?
Beautiful Presentation
Breathtaking hand-drawn cutscenes and fabulous 2D character portraits bring the story to life in a style not easily compared to any other game. More than 30 colorful roles are fully voiced through top-tier performances authentic to the game’s Central European roots.
Other Key Features
Explore 13 diverse, puzzle-filled levels
Defeat more than 50 enemy types
Switch between 7 fully upgradable – and memorable – characters
Robust difficulty settings allow you to select options such as limiting saves, implementing permadeath, and disabling auto-mapping to create your own
Stunning visuals powered by Unreal Engine 4
An epic orchestral score composed by Arthur Grosz
Fully 3D environments, enemies and objects, plus high-fidelity advanced effects with dynamic shadows and lighting
AAA Indie production quality and polish with top-tier voice acting, soundtrack, cutscenes and writing
Zen Studios' goal is to create Hungary's own "Witcher moment". I really don't think they're going to achieve that with this game, but hey, might as well put those pinball bucks to good use. You can read more about Operencia on the game's official website. It's supposed to come out sometime next year.
We didn't have to wait long to learn more about The Outer Worlds. Not only were a whole bunch of highly detailed previews published today, but Game Informer got their hands on 14 minutes of gameplay footage. The footage reveals a game that is clearly aiming to be an all but explicit Fallout: New Vegas clone, from its traditional dialogue trees and silent protagonist to its authentically Gamebryo-esque janky combat. There's even a VATS equivalent slow mode called Tactical Time Dilation (TTD). In the scenario shown, the protagonist and his two companions answer a distress call and embark on a short mission to retrieve a corporate scientist's stolen research (on "diet toothpaste") from a group of bandits. There are low intelligence dialogue options, and we get to see the flaw system mentioned in the game's Steam description in action. It's a shame about the two annoying journos talking over it, though.
There's more information in these previews than I can possibly be bothered to summarize on my own, but pretty much any one of them will tell you all you need to know. Obsidian seem to have little to hide, which makes me hopeful that the game will come out on schedule. For the most critical edge, the RPG Site preview is probably the best. They also have a bonus interview with Megan Starks. Oh, and one last thing - there are no romances!
Yesterday was The Game Awards, the annual video game awards show hosted by cheerful industry propagandist Geoff Keighley. As usual, there were a bunch of premieres and trailers unveiled at the event. Even BioWare showed up to remind us that Dragon Age still exists. But we were all watching for one reason only, for that moment when Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky went up on the stage to reveal Obsidian's new RPG, now officially confirmed as The Outer Worlds. It's a colorful first-person sci-fi action-RPG set on a corporate-controlled space colony on the edge of the galaxy. Here's the announcement trailer and the description from the game's Steam page:
The Outer Worlds is a new single-player first-person sci-fi RPG from Obsidian Entertainment and Private Division.
In The Outer Worlds, you awake from hibernation on a colonist ship that was lost in transit to Halcyon, the furthest colony from Earth located at the edge of the galaxy, only to find yourself in the midst of a deep conspiracy threatening to destroy it. As you explore the furthest reaches of space and encounter various factions, all vying for power, the character you decide to become will determine how this player-driven story unfolds. In the corporate equation for the colony, you are the unplanned variable.
Key Features
The player-driven story RPG: In keeping with the Obsidian tradition, how you approach The Outer Worlds is up to you. Your choices affect not only the way the story develops; but your character build, companion stories, and end game scenarios.
You can be flawed, in a good way: New to The Outer Worlds is the idea of flaws. A compelling hero is made by the flaws they carry with them. While playing The Outer Worlds, the game tracks your experience to find what you aren't particularly good at. Keep getting attacked by Raptidons? Taking the Raptiphobia flaw gives you a debuff when confronting the vicious creatures, but rewards you with an additional character perk immediately. This optional approach to the game helps you build the character you want while exploring Halcyon.
Lead your companions: During your journey through the furthest colony, you will meet a host of characters who will want to join your crew. Armed with unique abilities, these companions all have their own missions, motivations, and ideals. It's up to you to help them achieve their goals, or turn them to your own ends.
Explore the corporate colony: Halcyon is a colony at the edge of the galaxy owned and operated by a corporate board. They control everything... except for the alien monsters left behind when the terraforming of the colony’s two planets didn’t exactly go according to plan. Find your ship, build your crew, and explore the settlements, space stations, and other intriguing locations throughout Halcyon.
The Outer Worlds appears to be aimed squarely at fans of Fallout who are disappointed with recent offerings from Bethesda, and it's certainly being received that way. We know the game has been in development since 2016, so it's not surprising that it's scheduled for release next year. Screenshots are available on the Steam page and on the game's official website. It looks like there are also going to be some previews coming out later today, so stay tuned.
Since it was announced back in August, Jagged Alliance: Rage! has done precisely what its title indicates - make people really mad. At least when they bothered paying attention to it, which wasn't often. Three weeks after it was revealed to the world, it was announced that the game would be out on September 27th, further confirming suspicions that it was some sort of half-finished project by bankrupt developer Cliffhanger Productions that THQ Nordic had decided to pick up and shove out the door. I guess things didn't go as planned though, because they ended up delaying it to today just a day before that deadline. Whatever the case, it's out now. Here's the launch trailer, still with the bizarrely, almost fascinatingly unappealing art direction.
There are no mainstream media reviews of Jagged Alliance: Rage!, of course. I'm not sure if it's completely or just mostly terrible, but at this point it doesn't really matter, does it? The curse has taken another victim. If for some reason you want to add your voice to the game's small chorus of negative Steam reviews, you can get it there for $20, with a 10% launch discount until week.
Kenshi is an open-ended sandbox RPG set in a brutal Dark Sun-esque desert world. It's one of those games where you can go anywhere and do anything, including building cities and leading armies. Think Mount & Blade, but even crazier. Which it should be, seeing as it's been in development for twelve years, including over five years on Steam Early Access (beat that, Bannerlord!). As stated, the game is finally out today. The uncut launch trailer should give you a good idea of what the Kenshi experience is all about.
A free-roaming squad based RPG focusing on open-ended sandbox gameplay features rather than a linear story. Be a trader, a thief, a rebel, a warlord, an adventurer, a farmer, a slave, or just food for the cannibals.
Research new equipment and craft new gear. Purchase and upgrade your own buildings to use as safe fortified havens when things go bad, or use them to start up a business. Aid or oppose the various factions in the world while striving for the strength and wealth necessary to simply survive in the harsh desert. Train your men up from puny victims to master warriors. Carry your wounded squad mates to safety and get them all home alive.
Features
Freeform gameplay in a seamless game world in the largest single-player RPG world since Daggerfall, stretching over 870 square kilometers. The game will never seek to limit you or restrict your personal play style.
Custom design as many characters as you want and build up a whole squad to fight for you. Characters will grow and become stronger with experience, not just in their stats but their appearance too.
Original take on the RTS-RPG hybrid genre. No "hero" characters with artificially stronger stats than everybody else- Every character and NPC you meet is potentially an equal, and has a name, a life.
You are not the chosen one. You're not great and powerful. You don't have more 'hitpoints' than everyone else. You are not the center of the universe, and you are not special. Unless you work for it.
Build a base where you can research new technologies, upgrade your defences and craft new gear.
Purchase and upgrade your own buildings to use as safe fortified havens when things go bad, or use them to start up a business.
Variation and possibilities of gameplay. Be good, be evil, be a businessman, be a thief, live in a town, live in the desert, travel alone, travel in hordes, build a fortress, raze a city. Devote yourself to freeing slaves, or maybe end up a slave yourself.
Dynamic, ever changing world. Support or hinder whoever you wish, or keep to yourself, the world won't stop moving. This is not just a "game", you are living and surviving in a simulated world.
Get captured by cannibals and eaten alive, or sold off by slavers and forced to work in the mines. These are not scripted events, just a regular part of this chaotic world that ruins your life by chance. Anything can happen, yet anything can be overcome if you have the strength.
Absolutely no Level-scaling. The world does not level up along with you, and the shops don't change their inventory to only items matching your level. At the start of the game almost everyone will be stronger than you, and survival will always be a struggle. The game won't hold your hand or help you when you're down.
Realistic medical system that affects gameplay. A character with a wounded leg will limp or crawl and slow the party down, wounded arms means you must use your sword one-handed or not at all. Severe injuries will result in amputees needing robotic limb replacements. Blood loss means you can pass out, and the blood will attract predators. A character’s stats are affected by equipment, encumbrance, blood loss, injuries and starvation.
Intelligent AI that allows for characters to reason and work towards long-term goals and desires. Squads work together and carry their wounded to safety. Characters can be setup to take care of micromanagement for you and run production in your base.
Aid or oppose the various factions in the world while striving for the strength and wealth necessary to simply survive in the harsh environment.
Independently developed with no design influences, or alterations dictated by men in gray suits who have never played a game before in their lives.
Original game world. There are no fantasy-knock-off cliches. No magic.
Kenshi isn't the kind of game mainstream reviewers grok, but it's got thousands of positive reviews on Steam. It might just be a new classic of the genre, although I don't know if Codexers have patience for this sort of game nowadays. If it is your type of thing though, you can grab Kenshi on Steam or GOG today for $30.
Today's second release is Two Bits Kid's Aeon of Sands - The Trail. It's a surreal, story-driven dungeon crawler with CYOA elements and a comic book aesthetic, which has apparently been in development for six years. Pretty wild stuff. This is the sort of game the Codex should have paid more attention to, and probably would have if it wasn't a blobber (and a real-time one at that). It's not too late to make amends, though. Zed posted the release trailer back in October, so I'll just quote the game's description here:
Aeon of Sands – The Trail is a retro low fantasy RPG set in a post-apocalyptic world, with first person, grid-based exploration, puzzles, real-time combat, and a fully illustrated, non-linear, choose your story adventure.
The game follows the misadventures of a likeable slacker, who is suddenly thrown out of his cozy home into a terrible, infinite desert that seems to hate him.
Accompany the vain, nap-loving clerk Setrani through his first major adventure.
Guide him on his travels through a dangerous land, ravaged by the weather and by tribal conflicts. Struggle with him as the desert, wickedly, sets trap after trap on his path.
The story is driven by multiple-choice dialogues, in which you are repeatedly confronted with new absurd situations.
Based on your decisions, new areas can be explored while others become inaccessible, you meet new companions or make enemies of them.
It's basically Choose Your Own Adventure featuring Dungeon Crawling!
Press “One of the most brilliant pieces of design I’ve seen in forever“Rock, Paper, Shotgun
Choose your path, or stumble around blindly! Let nonlinearity be your pal!
Replay it! Do it differently all over, and still manage to sabotage civilisation!
Travel the large desert like there's no tomorrow!
Play with magic, which is most often as dangerous to you as to others!
Face multiple endings, and more often, your own!
Real-time combat
20 locations and more than 60 mazes and dungeons to explore
More than 140 dialogues
Completely hand drawn 2.5D environment, 240 hand-drawn illustrations
Up to 2 other characters can join your party during play
Each character’s personality influences the outcome of the story, and opens up new paths
You can grab Aeon of Sands on Steam for $20, with a 10% launch discount until next week. I'd like to hear some impressions - this game could be like the Disco Elysium of blobbers.
Today is the release day of Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden, the post-apocalyptic turn-based-tactics-with-furries game from Swedish studio The Bearded Ladies that was announced back in February. There are many games with similar feature sets that have had no problem calling themselves RPGs, but the developers of Mutant Year Zero have insisted on marketing their game as a "tactical adventure". Certain previews published over the year have helped clarify that decision. Although story-driven, the game is linear and fairly short, with a focus on stealth and tactical combat. It also has no character creation, which would be a particularly crucial feature for an RPG based on a tabletop game. So I guess they've kept expectations low, which is probably a smart thing to do for your first game.
But has this quality-over-quantity gambit succeeded? The reviews run the gamut, but in general the answer seems to be yes. The PC-centric sites approve of the game, and Rock Paper Shotgun in particular are in love with it.
So if you want some well-paced, good-for-what-is turn-based action, you can give Mutant Year Zero a try for just $35 on Steam. This has turned out to be another pretty crazy month for RPG releases though, so you might want to wait a while and see what else is in store.
Gameumentary have followed up on their Larian documentary from October with an additional 50 minute documentary about the making of Divinity: Original Sin 2. This one is more focused on the rank-and-file developers, showcasing the areas where they tried to improve over the first game - writing and reactivity, art and music, combat and area design.
It's a fun watch, but lacking the historical breadth of the first documentary, probably not as essential. The most interesting part begins 35 minutes in, where they talk about the game's last few months of development. It turns out the undead player race really was only added at the very end, something which required a lot of last minute dialogue rewriting.
Shortly after Battle Brothers was released last year, developer Overhype Studios announced that they were ending development on the game and moving on to new things, much to the frustration of fans who felt that there was much left to expand upon. The free Lindwurm DLC they released later that year was small consolation, but it may have been a clue to what was coming. The Beasts & Exploration expansion released today delivers pretty much what it says on the tin. In the four months since it was announced, Overhype have published weekly development updates introducing the myriad of new features it adds to the game. That includes numerous new enemy types such as giant spiders, witches and the mighty kraken, as well as a variety of new items, new mechanics and new scripted events. Overhype have helpfully provided links to all of those updates here. There's no launch trailer for Beasts & Exploration, so I'll just post its store page description:
The 'Beasts & Exploration' DLC for Battle Brothers expands the game with a larger world, full of unique hidden locations throughout that offer new possibilities and rewards to the daring adventurer, as well as challenging new beasts roaming the untamed wilds. Craft your own gear from trophies you collect, customize your equipment with a new system for armor attachments, and engage in profitable beast hunting and exploration!
Features
Legendary Locations - Hidden legendary locations offer new possibilities, lore, unique opponents, and unique rewards for the daring adventurer in a world that is 25% larger.
New Opponents - Five challenging new beasts populate different parts of the wilds, and three fearsome bosses guard valuable treasure. All of them come with unique mechanics and loot.
Crafting - Trophies from slain beasts can now be crafted into cloaks, armor plating, armor for your wardogs, shields, potions and other items to customize the look of your hardened mercenaries and benefit them in combat.
Customize your Gear - Wear cloaks, shoulderguards and more for additional benefits with the new armor attachment system, and use the new paint items to paint shields and helmets in the colors of your company.
New Weapons and Armor - A collection of new weapons and armors allow for new play styles and character builds.
New Contracts, Events and Ambitions - Engage in profitable beast hunting and exploration. Immerse yourself in leading a mercenary company with even more illustrated events.
New Music - Two new music tracks accompany you on your adventures.
New Achievements - Challenge yourself with new achievements.
The Beasts & Exploration DLC for Battle Brothers is available now at Steam and GOG for just $10. Alongside it comes the version 1.2 update for the base game, which you can read about here. Hopefully this will be the first of many DLCs, although realistically I wonder how much longer they can keep working on this one game.
Himalaya Studios' Mage's Initiation was crowdfunded way back in February 2013, during the golden age of Kickstarter. It was part of a trio of crowdfunded Quest for Glory-likes, along with Infamous Quests' Quest for Infamy which came out in 2014 and the Coles' own Hero-U which was finally released earlier this year. The game, in case you've forgotten, is an adventure-RPG where you play as D'arc, a novice mage who is tasked with saving the land. Himalaya have really taken their sweet time with it, having spent 15 months on voice acting alone. A dodgy combat video they released back in 2016 had us worried that the game had gone down a feature creep rabbit hole. However, it looks like things have come together, and today they finally announced a launch date - January 30th. Here's the obligatory teaser trailer and accompanying press release:
Sixteen-year-old D'arc has spent most of his life confined to the Mage's Tower, studying elemental magic under the instruction of Ele'Wold's most accomplished scholars. Now his skills will be put to the test with three quests across a mystical land he knows only from stories and dreams.
But something's rotten in Ele'Wold: the realm's once benevolent winged guardians have turned hostile and restless redcap goblins are on the warpath. Can D'arc pass his initiation *and* rescue a kingdom on the brink of chaos?
Mage's Initiation is an adventure/RPG hybrid inspired by the venerable Quest for Glory (a.k.a. Hero's Quest) and King's Quest series by Sierra On-Line. It's the second commercial adventure game from Himalaya Studios, who have also released four free remakes of classic Sierra games under the moniker Anonymous Game Developers Interactive (AGDI).
Features:
Choose from four character classes -- Fire Mage, Air Mage, Water Mage, or Earth Mage -- each with unique magical spells and puzzle solutions.
Explore a vibrant fantasy world with hand-drawn graphics reminiscent of the Sierra, LucasArts, and Revolution adventure games of the early 1990s.
Select between three point & click interfaces: a Sierra-style icon bar, a LucasArts-style verb coin, or a streamlined compact UI.
Run into combat for an RPG experience, or avoid it for pure adventure.
Automatically gain new strengths, spells, and abilities as your character improves -- no stat grinding required!
Get your money's worth: branching storyline and optional side quests provide replay value.
Fully voiced and lip-synced.
As the gaming world moves on to newer things, it's nice that Quest for Glory fans are getting one last unabashedly classic spiritual successor. Mage's Initation has a Steam page now, so go wishlist it.
It looks like there will be at least one thing of interest at The Game Awards show on December 6th, hosted by Geoff "Dorito Pope" Keighley. Obsidian is teasing a game reveal and it's most likely the RPG spearheaded by industry veterans Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky. The teasing comes in the shape of a couple of faux ads, one for Auntie Cleo's (general goods store?) and one for Spacer's Choice (gun shop?).
Not to be outdone by Owlcat, Obsidian chose today to do a DLC reveal of their own. Today's Fig update gives us our first look at The Forgotten Sanctum, the game's third and final expansion DLC. It's a high-level adventure where the player will travel into the depths of a dungeon formed out of the flesh of a sleeping god at the behest of the archmages of Eora. The expansion is due out on December 13th. Here are a few screenshots:
The more interesting part of the update however is the preview of Patch 4.0, which will be released alongside the new DLC. It turns out that what I thought was going to be a Patch 4.1 is just part of one very big patch. The highlight is the Woedica god challenge mode, which will disable health regeneration and turn all per-encounter abilities into per-rest abilities (AKA "Vancian spellcasting"), effectively restoring IE/PoE1-style strategic resource management. Josh Sawyer provides!
Patch 4.0 Preview
Alongside the release of "The Forgotten Sanctum", the Deadfire team is releasing a new update with patch 4.0. As the team has done with every major update, they're happy to bring new features to Pillars II. Some of the new features that will be arriving with patch 4.0:
One additional sub-class per class - That's right! Every class in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire will be getting one extra sub-class, including the oft-requested Priest of Woedica and Steel Garrote sub-classes!
Respawning ships on the world map - The ships of the Deadfire will no longer be gone forever once defeated. They'll now respawn, giving you the ability to attack, loot, and take down again.
New Magran's Fire Challenges:
Ondra's Challenge
Storms are larger, faster, and more frequent in the Deadfire now.
Enemy Captains are increased in rank and travel faster when chasing the Watcher
Wael's Challenge
All numbers become ??? with the exception being item count, party character Attributes, Skill, and Level.
Woedica's Challenge
All Per-Encounter and Class resources become Per Rest.
Party Health no longer regenerates outside of combat.
While camping, only "Prepared Meals" will recover Injuries and Resources.
Two new Mega Bosses
The Wizard Savant
The Infernal Construct
Unlike the first two DLCs, Obsidian didn't release a teaser trailer for The Forgotten Sanctum's reveal. It does have a Steam page, though. As for the patch, we'll probably learn more about it when the beta comes out in a week or two.
Pathfinder: Kingmaker was released almost two months ago in a disastrously incomplete state and to mixed reviews. That hasn't stopped it from selling about as many copies as Pillars of Eternity II and instantly becoming a new Codex classic, with over 450 pages of discussion as of this writing. We've all been eager to learn what comes next, but it's been hard to figure out Owlcat's strategy. After releasing no fewer than 16 hotfixes to get the bugs under control, they finally released the game's first major patch this weekend. There was also a silly Total War-style Bloody Mess free DLC last month. Now it looks like things are finally coming together, with the reveal of the game's DLC roadmap. The first one is due just two weeks from now. Here's the announcement:
Owlcat Games and Deep Silver announce the upcoming availability of the Season Pass for their critically acclaimed, cRPG Pathfinder: Kingmaker.
Customers who purchase the season pass will receive access to all three upcoming DLCs (paid downloadable content). Each DLC will deliver fresh and exciting content: There are new locations, companions, items, modes and most importantly, new emotions to experience!
Ardent adventurers of The Stolen Lands will soon have the chance to play the first new DLC! Featuring a new playable race Tieflings, a new playable class Kineticists, and of course combining a race with a class, you get a character! Prepare to welcome your new companion, the Tiefling Kineticist who comes, just like every other companion, with her own rich and engaging storyline.
Oleg Shpilchevsky, Head Of Owlcat Games explains, “A new playable race. During the poll to decide which bonus race we were going to add to the game, one particular option was requested a lot (besides the winner – Aasimars): Tieflings, the people with a drop of demonic blood in their veins. They didn’t make it into the base game, but became the natural choice for the first piece of post-release content.”
DLC #2 – “Varnhold’s Lot”
A new bonus campaign. While celebrating your victory at Jamandi Aldori’s mansion, you’ve met another hero of the Stolen Lands: the mercenary captain Maegar Varn. While you’re building your barony in the Shrike Hills and Narlmarshes, Varn and his people are establishing their own nation of Varnhold in the rocky foothills of Dunsward. What did they have to face? Play this new story, and export the consequences of the choices you’ve made there into the main campaign! This exciting new side story is about the size of one chapter of our main campaign and will take 6-12 hours to complete, depending on your playstyle.
DLC #3 – “Beneath The Stolen Lands”
A new game mode. Sometimes you want to play a story with memorable characters, rich lore, and a complicated set of choices and consequences. But then there are days when you just want to grab a sword, cast some spells, and destroy a horde of monsters! This DLC will introduce a rogue-like randomly generated endless dungeon, complete with a new unique boss. You can explore it in a separate game, or as a part of your main campaign. How deep can you go?
The Season Pass and the first DLC “The Wildcards” is due to be released on December 6 2018.
DLC Information (*dates are estimates and are subject to change)
DLC 1 – “The Wildcards” On sale December 6, 2018
DLC 2 – “Varnhold’s Lot” – February , 2019*
DLC 3 – “Beneath The Stolen Lands” – April, 2019*
(All DLC content requires the base game Pathfinder:Kingmaker in order to play)
Stay tuned for more information soon!
Some might find it disappointing that only the second one of these is a traditional story expansion DLC, but hey, the game is probably large enough as it is. Despite what the announcement claims, the Season Pass is already available for sale on Steam for $25. It's a $5 discount if you buy it instead of getting each DLC individually.
Earlier this year we learned about Element: Space, an upcoming RPG from Argentinian studio Sixth Vowel that seems to be a kind of turn-based tactical take on Mass Effect. The press release said it was going to launch in Q4 of this year. Well, it has launched - on Steam Early Access, which may or may not have been the plan all along. The Early Access launch trailer features an intense narrator but doesn't really showcase any gameplay at all, so I'll also post the gameplay trailer the developers put together for PAX West back in August, alongside the accompanying press release.
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA: TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2018 – Argentina-based incubator and publisher Inca Games, today announced that Element: Space, the first game from its in-house development studio Sixth Vowel, is now available for PC/Steam as Early Access for $19.99 USD. In this squad-based tactical RPG where decisions have consequences, players must forge alliances and build loyalty to save humanity from extinction. The full PC version is slated to launch in Q1, 2019 for $29.99 USD, with additional platforms to follow.
Inca Games wants to use Early Access to reward fans who have been supporting the team through the game’s development, as well as getting player feedback, doing final gameplay balancing and polishing, and locking down strategic partnerships to help with discoverability and distribution.
“Element: Space is an ambitious title from a studio of our size and, with it being our first game, we feel our players and community are an important component in making the game the best it can be, in terms of testing and feedback,” said Javier Entelman, President and CEO of Inca Games and Sixth Vowel. "We were simply amazed and overwhelmed by the incredible response from players when we debuted the game at PAX West this year, so Early Access is a way we can let those early supporters enjoy Element: Space while we are in the final stages of development.”
More than two years in the making by a team of 50 developers, Element: Space is estimated to be one of the biggest games solely conceived and developed in the Spanish language Latin American region. The challenges and learnings the team faced during the game’s development was the impetus to form the Inca Games publishing arm to help other indie studios in the region, foster LatAm’s games ecosystem, and shine a light on its games and talent.
The Game
As Captain Christopher Pietham, players must align with an ideology, and strategically select and lead their squad of diverse companions into intergalactic conflict; dealing with the consequences of their choices throughout Element: Space’s deep story and rich combat.
The single-player game has core aspects of a classic squad-based tactical RPG but, rather than procedurally-generated missions, each is hand-crafted, non-linear, contains free-form combat, and is revealed based upon the player’s selection of factions, ideology, companions and more. Players experience 8 of the 24 nonlinear missions or submissions each time they play, determined by their choices, for an estimated 12-15+ hours per playthrough, so the game must be replayed to experience the entire universe and story.
There are 8 faction worlds to explore, each with its own distinct culture and agenda, and building bonds with each may be rewarded with unique bonuses. There are also 8 potential companions from which players may select their squad. Each unlocks different stories, weapons and/or specialized combat skills, and amplifies aspects of the other squad members. Woven throughout the game is the ‘Sixth Vowel’, a power which can best be described as humanity’s capacity for altering reality by manipulating sound, light and motion at will, either to help or harm.
Turn-based free-form combinations of movement, skills and attacks enables a team-based approach to the Element: Space combat system. A wide selection of melee and ranged weapons, some unlockable based on faction relationships, is available. Not only does each companion have unique skills, with no two characters having the same combination of archetypes, but each set of enemies combine their abilities to challenge the player in a new way that adds to the replayability of the game.
Element: Space Early Access for PC can be downloaded on Steam, on the game’s website, and soon on Humble Bundle for the discounted price of $19.99 USD while the full version of the game will be $29.99 USD. Early Access players will be automatically upgraded to the full game at launch. For additional information, please visit www.element-space.com.
As the press release says, Element: Space is available on Steam for $20, and it's also 33% off until next week, which is pretty damn cheap. The final release is now scheduled for Q1 2019.
Microsoft's acquisition of Obsidian was the subject of rumors for months before it was finally announced, but their acquisition of inXile came to us a complete surprise. Many are wondering why Microsoft would be interested in Brian Fargo's troubled studio. Today, Robert Purchese from Eurogamer has the first post-acquisition interview with Fargo. I wouldn't exactly say it provides a satisfying answer to that question, but otherwise it's a surprisingly interrogative piece. Here's an excerpt:
How long has the deal been in the offing?
Brian Fargo: I'd have to think about when the exact day was it became very real, but the conversation started back in April, and as you might imagine with Microsoft, it's an incredible vetting process you need to go through, both as a person and a company. Yeah, it takes quite a while.
Who approached who - what was the reasoning behind it?
For me, it's always... My goal is to always get my company in a safe harbour so we can spend as much time as possible working on our games and honing our craft. That can come if you sell 2 million units - that's a great way to get there which everyone hopes for. Or, a deal like this. But at the end of the day that's all I ever cared about.
How was the studio doing before the sale - were you in good health? Could you have continued to operate indefinitely without Microsoft's involvement? Because Bard's Tale 4 didn't set the world on fire, Torment: Tides of Numenera didn't seem to do well commercially, and Wasteland 3 isn't due until next year. Were you on the rocks?
Brian Fargo: Well listen, I'm a clever guy and I'm a survivor, so I always have a plan B, C and D at all times. There were a few companies wanting to give us big contracts recently so I always had that as an option, and some of the projects were really interesting. I would have had to continue to adjust my business model; right now we're primarily crowdfunding and publishing ourselves, so perhaps I would have had to mix it up a bit and continue with things like Wasteland 3 but maybe do a work-for-hire contract at the same time.
I found with inXile I've been constantly flexing both our size and our business strategy to survive, so I would have continued doing that.
Anyway, presumably alongside Wasteland 3, you're beefing up to make something new for Microsoft?
Brian Fargo: Yeah, we will be.
Are you working on something now?
Brian Fargo: Well, we've had a project in development for some time we haven't announced that they're quite keen on, so we'll be looking at that and saying, 'Okay, what does this product look like now we're going to be given extra time and resources?' Evaluating how we could make it better.
Was that game part of the deal? Or was it more Microsoft acquiring inXile and then looking at what you could do?
Brian Fargo: They were certainly looking at what we had in development as an indicator of where we were going. They were interested in us because we are a self-sufficient company that can do good product without hand-holding which they could see, with a little extra resource, could really be pushed up a notch. That, as a general sense, was a motivator, and then in addition they were able to look at what was in the pipe and say, 'These guys are really doing some interesting, innovative things.'
So what sort of size are you looking to bulk up to?
Brian Fargo: In the short-term we talk about increasing it 30 per cent or so. We're not trying to become multi-hundred-person teams but just filling the holes we've been desperately wanting to: having a full-time audio person, having a full-time lighting person, having a cinematics person - these things that could help us improve what we're doing.
For the last few years you've made isometric games but presumably Microsoft wants you to make something flashier? I always thought The Bard's Tale 4 was a good indication of where you could go, and what you could do in 3D with Unreal Engine. Is that the direction the one you're going in? Are isometric games off the table?
Brian Fargo: Ultimately we get to decide what we're going to make - they've been very clear on that. They've not once said 'we'd really love you to do more of this or less of that' - that's never been a conversation. Really it's going to be up to us, and very much us talking to our fans about the things they'd like to see. We're not necessarily walking away from isometric at all. There's still some great things you can do with it that haven't been done yet.
Just to be clear, and I believe Microsoft has said something along these lines anyway, but inXile being similar to Obsidian Entertainment does not mean you're going to be lumped together, or does it?
Brian Fargo: There's absolutely no plans to lump us together or have us work in the same office or anything of that nature. What could come out of it, of course, is we're going to have a tighter relationship. We're going to be less competitive and more like brothers, and as we compare notes I'm hoping there could be some synergies so we can help each other across town. Any number of things could happen, but that will be for me and Feargus [Urquhart] to talk about, for something we think is good for both of us. But ultimately, no, we're not being merged out.
Other topics mentioned in the interview include the PS4 ports of Bard's Tale IV and Wasteland 3 (still happening) and the fate of Fig (if it dies, it dies). In the short term, inXile's plan is to keep on doing what they were doing before, except with bigger budgets, better graphics and hopefully smoother launches. The unannounced title that Brian is referring to is undoubtedly the Wasteland: Frost Point/Frostpoint VR game that the studio has been working on since last year. As for Obsidian, Robert plans to interview them also, but apparently it's been "trickier to organize".
The Realms Beyond Kickstarter successfully concluded today, having raised €120,709 from 2,653 backers. The community really came together in the final hours, busting through the second & third stretch goals and securing the participation of writers Casey Hollingshead & Scott Hamm and composer Kai Rosenkranz. Here's the victory update from Ceres:
Phew, what a month! Those last thirty campaign days have been a proper rollercoaster ride and felt more like half a year. But losing sleep, going a bit more grey and not seeing much of the world outside has all been worth it. The show of your support just knocked our socks off!
We’re lost for words to thank everyone. We’ve said it so many times, but can’t really repeat it often enough: THANKS!
Without all the 2648 backers from the US, Germany, UK, Canada, France, Australia, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Belgium, China and many, many more countries, nothing would have happened. But with all of you, this campaign has been a resounding success! We still can’t believe that the campaign has been funded 120%. It was fully funded three days ago and we smashed three stretch goals! We’re more than excited to get stuck in to carry on working with our team, including Edwin Pickett and the people at OnlySound, and of course with Francesca on the map, Casey and Scott on the writing and Kai on additional sound tracks.
All your comments, questions and feedback have been invaluable.
Now begins the long wait for the combat beta, early access and final release. I'm told that there are more updates planned that Ceres didn't have time to get to during the campaign, but in the immediate term, they intend to set up a Backerkit site so that people can continue pledging. Maybe we can still get that Monk stretch goal at some point.
Ctrl Alt Ninja have finally released a trailer for Druidstone, and we didn't even have to wait until Christmas! As its shiny new Steam page reveals, the game is due out in Spring 2019. There are also details about its story, gameplay and inspirations. I quote:
The druids of the Menhir Forest are troubled. Not only has the Archdruid disappeared, a darkness in the form of purple cysts has fallen upon the forest. It is up to Aava, the daughter of the Archdruid and her new-found companions Leonhard, a mysterious man with no past, and Oiko the mage, a dropout from the guild of Red Priests, to rescue the Archdruid and find out the truth behind the sinister events. As if this wasn't enough, a murderous maniac impersonating Leonhard is at loose in the forest....
Druidstone: The Secret of the Menhir Forest is a labor of love from the makers of the critically acclaimed Legend of Grimrock series. Druidstone is a tactical, single-player, turn-based roleplaying game, which combines the best qualities of modern RPGs with the elegance of tactical boardgames. Every action, every turn counts as you control your party of heroes through handcrafted, challenging missions with varying objectives.
Druidstone is set in a unique fantasy world, Elo Sphaera, filled with ancient, lush forests, standing stones, snow-topped mountains, deadly creatures and puzzle-ridden ruins. The epic story about love and death is centered around the main characters Leonhard, Aava and Oiko, who will along the way meet up with unexpected companions and villains, each with their unique personalities and abilities.
Get ready to venture forth and uncover the secrets of the Menhir Forest!
Key Features
A tactical turn- and tile-based battle system where every action, every turn counts.
Upgrade the abilities of your heroes as you see fit using power gems obtained by completing missions and discovering hidden treasures.
Challenging, hand-crafted missions with playtimes ranging from 15 minutes to 45 minutes.
Solve devious non-combat puzzle levels to obtain rare equipment.
A gripping, fantastic story of love and death centered around the main characters Leonhard, Aava and Oiko.
A unique fantasy setting combining elements from western RPGs, JRPGs and tactical boardgames in unexpected ways.
Play custom missions created by others or make your own campaigns with the upcoming Druidstone Level Editor available as a post release update.
Looks pretty slick. Sort of like Divinity: Original Sin meets JRPGs. I know lots of people will appreciate those fast animations.
The consolidation of the RPG industry continues! IP-gobbling publisher THQ Nordic announced today that they'd acquired Logic Artist's Expeditions franchise. They'll be publishing the next game in the series, to be revealed "in due time". Here's their brief press release:
Karlstad/SWEDEN, Vienna/AUSTRIA, Copenhagen/DENMARK, November 15, 2018: THQ Nordic today announced that the acquisition of the intellectual property “Expeditions:...” has been finalized with Logic Artists, based in Copenhagen, Denmark. The deal comprises of “Expeditions: Conquistador” and “Expeditions: Viking” and its respective DLCs. Furthermore, Logic Artists and THQ Nordic have agreed to start development of a third game within the “Expeditions:”-Universe. More information will be announced in due time.
The acquisition itself is being handled by THQ Nordic AB, based in Karlstad, Sweden, and daily operations (sales and distribution, evaluation of sequels & new content etc.) will be done via THQ Nordic GmbH in Vienna, Austria.
Expeditions: Viking was criminally underrated, so I'm happy Logic Artists will have another shot at making their mark. The studio itself appears to be remaining independent.
Nearly four and a half years after it was first announced, Underworld Ascendant was finally released today, with more of a whimper than a bang. This game's development is truly one of the most shameful events of the Kickstarter era. It's one thing when a group of respected developers from the old days (and there are few who were more respected than this bunch) fail to recreate the magic and come out with a disappointing game. God knows we've seen plenty of that. It's quite another thing when they reveal themselves to have had no idea how to even make a game.
To be sure, Ascendant is janky, buggy and incomplete, but its real problem is quantity rather than quality. It's been cut down to the absolute minimum. With enough patching, its gameplay could perhaps become acceptable, but we didn't need to bring Paul Neurath and Tim Stellmach out of retirement to create what is basically an Early Access indie dungeon survival game of the sort that three-man teams from Eastern Europe release on Steam every week. Frankly, it's kind of hard to believe that the game even exists. It's the sort of project that's supposed to get cancelled and rebooted before ever seeing the light of day. The really sad thing, though, is that there aren't enough people who care to have even made much of a fuss about it.
Naturally, there are no reviews of the game, only a flurry of interviews with Warren Spector and a few "sponsored" previews on YouTube. It won't be long before the fun begins, though. If for some reason you'd like to experience it first-hand, Ascendant is available on Steam for $30 with a 15% launch discount until next week. Apparently GOG have refused to stock the game, which really tells you all you need to know.
The Realms Beyond Kickstarter campaign is in its final 24 hours. Yesterday it reached the world map stretch goal and the writing team stretch goal looks like a sure thing. It doesn't look like Ceres are building up towards a big conclusion, though. Today's Kickstarter update brings us more lore. This time it's about Kvenland, the totally-not-Scandinavia of the Realms Beyond world. Kvenland is inhabited by four tribes - the mercantile Vadians, the rustic Vestani, the warlike Gauds and the piratical Vresians. I'll let you figure out which real-life ethnic groups they correspond to.
Vadians
At the southern shore of lake Kallvatn, right in the heart of Kvenland, at a point where several rivers convene, a trading post named Vadaheim was built. After the Great Cataclysm, the sky had darkened for several years and the cold north missed out on a couple of summers. This led to large masses of ice forming in the mountains, and once the climate normalized the ice melted and raised the water level of the lake, flooding parts of Vadaheim. An enterprising people, not willing to give up their city and stop their profitable trading operations, the Vadians converted their ships into rudimentary homes. Still today many of them live in house-boats and use these mobile homes on their mercantile journeys, traveling down the rivers with their entire families. Most Vadians are in the service of one of the two powerful families ruling the city of Vadaheim. Those who live in the town are better off joining one of the two families than staying neutral – which risks attracting the wrath of both the Ingvarsons and the Grimharsons. For independence is only an option for those who can assert it. But since the long-running feud between the two houses had adverse effects on commerce, they agreed to an armistice and divided the city amongst themselves. But if there is an opportunity to siphon the other family’s profits into their own pockets, they always take it – there may be an armistice between them, but in business, everything is allowed.
A common saying among the Vadians is, "By Valon’s golden apples!" which is an expression of surprise over an unexpectedly profitable business transaction that pulled more gold out of their customer’s pocket than they anticipated.
Veštani
The Veštani are a peaceful people who value a honest heart over a sharp sword – for which they have little use, anyway, as they prefer to use spear and shield in combat.
Around the village Kvilu, which is located at the eastern end of the Lurking Forest, they herd their flocks of sheep and till the earth of their fields in peace. Their evenings they spend in community, listening to the music of the flute and stories of strange creatures and ominous events, which might stem from their tendency for superstition which their priests can only shake their heads over, try as they might, they cannot drive it out of them. It might be encouraged by their elders, whom they highly respect, as they warn the younger generations of all the dangers lurking in the depths of the forest, amongst the shadows of the trees.
But Kvilu is not as peaceful as it may seem, as the Veštani regularly fall victim to raids of the Gauds, a tribe they share a bitter enmity with.
But voices of reason no longer manage to calm those who lost their loved ones and their homes to the Gaudian raids. Especially the younger generations either support an escalation of the conflict to strike back at the hated enemy in force, or think of leaving their homes for greener pastures. From Vadian merchants they heard stories of prosperous towns and lives without hardship beyond the forests of Kvenland, and now grow weary of the simple and uncertain life in Kvilu.
Gauds
The Gauds are known as the most feared and remorseless warriors of Kvenland, settled in the rough lands to the north of the great lake. Ever since he had slain a dragon on the mountain of Dauganrög, they worship their king almost as a god. After his heroic deed the Gauds hailed King Odulf’s under his new name – Sigimer the Dragonslayer. Together with his retinue he founded the town of Güldinheim, which today has become the most important city of the Gauds.
The king’s treasury is filled to the brim with all kinds of riches, but also with plenty of curiosities – a collection he constantly seeks to expand. He is especially fond of artifacts from a long extinct tribe, whose king Hodar, for whose exploits there are no sources but the songs of bards, is said to have ruled the entirety of Kvenland and even projected the power of his kingdom deep into the lands of Cormac. This legendary king is, to Sigimer, an example to follow. He wants to forge a kingdom to rival Hodar‘s, and he is ready to ally with the Vresians and mercenaries of Vadaheim to take the rich lands of Cormac’s north under his control. But he will never make peace with the Veštani, as his son Sigurt lost his life on a cattle raid against them. Had he the resources for it, he would long ago have marched against Kvilu to raze it to the ground. But the day will come when his wrath will triumph over the worldly concerns of logistics, and for this day he is already prepared.
Even his daughter Siglind he kept from a woman’s comfortable life of home and marriage, so her sword would always be ready for war and not dulled by the need to care for offspring. So he declared her to be a sword maiden, and any men who dare touch her will be condemned to death by stoning.
Vresians
On a northern bay of the Galtan Sea, Vindeborg sits as the largest town of Kvenland as well as the most important settlement of the Vresians, who are known to be excellent shipwrights and seafarers as well as fearless explorers. The fishermen not only set out to drag their nets through the deep waters, but add to their catch by raiding and looting other ships. Their reputation of engaging in piracy is widespread and almost sealed their fate 200 years ago. Too long they provoked Cormac on the waters, which culminated in a crushing blow against their tribe. Once, they had reveled in their independence, their leaders chosen by election and ready to step down whenever the people grew unhappy with their rule; following this horrible defeat, they put their fate into the hands of the most charismatic among them. Unnar Usbek became the first king of the Vresians and swore on the ruins of old Vindeborg to take revenge on the Cormacian attackers, even if it took generations to pay them back for what they did.
Ever since, the Vresians have worked at erecting an impregnable fortress and training a formidable fighting force to bring the fire of vengeance against Cormac’s shores. They suffered a major setback thanks to the Great Cataclysm, but Bjar Rabek, the most influential advisor of king Hjör, claims that the time has come to make true the promise of the forefathers. He feels obligated to fulfill the old oath of vengeance, whereas the people are fearful of a war they consider to be hopeless, while a longing for the old freedom spreads through their hearts, symbolized by a white albatross – the animal that adorned the Vresian banners before they had a king, and which has now become a call for open resistance, scrawled on the walls in white chalk.
Check out the full update for three new screenhots and a fun little parable about Valon, the Vadian god of merchants, which I didn't have room to include here.
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