Winter Ember - Victorian-esque isometric stealth game

[LESS T_T]

https://www.skymachine-studios.com




https://af.gog.com/game/winter_ember?as=1649904300

Spoiler

This 2 years-old trailer is more useful than the above non-gameplay trailer, when the game was apparently called Ghost:

With all that special arrows of course.

Set in a Victorian-esque world, Winter Ember follows the story of Arthur Artorias, a faceless man in pursuit of answers and revenge. Returning after a near-decade of exile to the city of Anargal, where he was stripped of his family, fortune, and past, Artorias clashes with Greater Heaven, a tyrannical religious militant faction that has seized control of the town in his absence. To survive his homecoming, Artorias must rely on his wits and use the darkness to his advantage.

Infiltrate and explore vast Gothic sandboxes brimming with treasure and mysteries to uncover. Move quickly and quietly through the shadows while surveilling the environment, peering around corners and through keyholes in search of lurking enemies and hidden passageways. In Winter Ember, there are multiple paths forward and solutions to every problem. Stalkers are rewarded for studying their surroundings and identifying less obvious modes of entry or egress.

Even when backed into a corner and seemingly forced to use a weapon, Artorias can evade combat by crafting one of more than 30 specialty arrows to escape the situation. Water missiles, for example, can douse flames and create dark new hiding spots in which to disappear.

 

[Life of the Party]

 

[Life of the Party]

Blowfish Studios announces new isometric stealth game Winter Ember

Fans of stealth games may want to pay attention to what the team at Blowfish Studios is bringing to Los Angeles Comic Con this weekend. The publisher has announced that it’s working alongside the developers at Sky Machine Studios on a new game called Winter Ember. It has an isometric setting and promises players a thorough stealth experience.

Taking place in Victorian times, the game follows Arthur Artorias, a man who’s hellbent on getting revenge. He’s put up with quite a bit of exile over the past decade, where he’s managed to lose his family, his fortune, and even his past.

Now, while hiding his face, he finds himself going head-to-head against Greater Heaven, a merciless religious militant faction that has taken control of the city he once lived in. In an attempt to fight back, he’ll need to use all his resources – and the darkness – to slowly regain what he lost.

Using the darkness to your advantage

Winter Ember gives you ample opportunity to use the environment to your advantage, hiding in the shadows and keeping a close eye on where to go next. You’ll have the ability to move around quickly to avoid detection. In addition, you’ll tab enemy locations and even pinpoint passageways that lie just out of sight.

Each level actually provides more than one path to get to your destination. If you manage to get everything accomplished the right way, you’ll earn rewards for your trouble. This includes opening up Arthur’s arsenal of weaponry, with 30 different specialty arrows available. For example, water missiles. You can use these to create new dark hiding spots, as well as douse fires to create more shadows. It never hurts to adapt to your environment and change it to your advantage.

“Sky Machine has crafted an immersive stealth game that makes wonderful use of lighting, verticality, and a deep toolset to allow players to sneak around however they see fit,” said Ben Lee, the co-founder of Blowfish Studios. “We look forward to showing more of Winter Ember soon.”

A release date for Winter Ember isn’t announced yet, but it should launch sometime in 2020. Again, if you’re in the L.A. Comic Con area, be sure to check it out! And until then, be sure to check out the game’s trailer below.

https://www.pcinvasion.com/blowfish-studios-announces-new-isometric-stealth-game-winter-ember/

 

[J1M]

Sneaking around in plate armor.

 

[RNGsus]

There's no suffix in the world more annoying than esque.

 

[LESS T_T]

Steam page:

You are Arthur Artorias – the sole survivor of a massacre that devastated your family’s legacy and tore them out of the history books. Thought to be dead, you emerge from exile 8 years later, the faceless man kindled by the flame and seeking vengeance.

Embark on an adventure unravelling a dark tale filled with twisted characters, centered around a militant religion hell bent on keeping control.

Key Features:
A True Stealth Experience

As Arthur, you must stick to the shadows, infiltrate homes and explore hidden passageways; but, be careful not to be spotted! Choose your playstyle: knocking out enemies may keep them quiet for some time, but they will eventually wake up; a quick slice to the throat may be a more permanent solution, but the bloodstain you leave on the carpet might be a dead giveaway! Keep your wits about you, dispose of bodies, peek through keyholes and pickpocket unsuspecting victims.

Deep Arrow Crafting System

Prepare for your mission by planning your loadout. With over 30 arrows to craft, experimentation is key to your success! Do you craft a smoke arrow to blind your opponent, or do you add on a poison element to create poisonious gas? Use your arrows offensively or defensively: break down weak walls with a blunt arrow to surprise your enemy, or use a rope arrow to reach a higher place and take out your enemies from a distance.

Skill Tree

Customize your playstyle from 3 distinct skill trees – stealth, combat, and utility. Unlock over 70 unique passive and active skills to choose from and seek vengeance your way.

Explore A Dark World

Return home to the cold Victorian town of Anargal, on the verge of technological breakthrough. Infiltrate and explore vast environments brimming with treasure and mystery. From rival gangs to unique characters, approach each scenario in a myriad of ways. Take advantage of the environment, find solutions to every problem, and move past any challenge standing in your way.

 

[HoboForEternity]

will there be rope arrow

 

[LESS T_T]

will there be rope arrow

The description says yes.

Deep Arrow Crafting System

Prepare for your mission by planning your loadout. With over 30 arrows to craft, experimentation is key to your success! Do you craft a smoke arrow to blind your opponent, or do you add on a poison element to create poisonious gas? Use your arrows offensively or defensively: break down weak walls with a blunt arrow to surprise your enemy, or use a rope arrow to reach a higher place and take out your enemies from a distance.

 

[Terenty]

centered around a militant religion hell bent on keeping control.

How about coming up with something more original? How about centered around a militant liberal regime hell bent on keeping control? Sounds much more plausible to me

 

[LESS T_T]

Demo for Steam Next Fest:

 

[Abu Antar]

Last time I played, I wasn't really impressed by this. I'm not trying again, but would be interested in impressions.

 

[J1M]

Screenshots with no UI equals no buy.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

 

[Parsimonious cook]

Tried the demo.

The most positive thing is that the game starts with a threesome of the protagonist and two (not that hot) bitches, the house then gets stormed by a bunch of dudes who look like they walked out of Assassin´s Creed: Syndicate and things go badly - the protagonist decides to seek revange as a combination of Garrett and Corvo. The intro cutscene is done very well.

Unfortunately the game itself is meh at best even though I tried really hard to like it. I would love to get a good isometric stealth game - Seven: Times long gone had a great stealth demo, but then the game itself consisted of average combat and platforming, Winter Ember is at least more upfront. The stealth is there (even with a lockpicking minigame), including Hitman style hiding in closets, there are rope arrows, but you can only use them on few areas where the devs intended so, combat is lame (which would be OK in a stealth game), but the biggest problem is that the game itself feels very clunky and corridor-iey (there are tons of places that should be climbeable, but you can only climb in specific places etc).

The devs are trying, but isometric Thief this is not. Given the quality of the cutscenes it would be probably better for everyone if the devs did animated porn instead...

 

[LESS T_T]

Given the quality of the cutscenes it would be probably better for everyone if the devs did animated porn instead...

Probably there's a reason that all four trailers the publisher posted to this date are animated cinematic trailers with no gameplay.

 

[onemananadhisdroid]

Game's gonna be released today, so the reviews shall start coming pretty soon.

 

[Abu Antar]

Initial user impressions aren't great.

Not really surprised.

 

[Tyranicon]

Given the quality of the cutscenes it would be probably better for everyone if the devs did animated porn instead...

Winter Ember contains sexual references as well as references to both drugs and alcohol. These instances are few and far between and as such only conveyed through dialogue, allusions and innuendo.

 

[LESS T_T]

Well this is sad and funny at the same time that both indie stealth games recently released turned out buggy and unfinished. (The other one is Abermore.) Likely too ambitious for their own good.