Not really making a secret of that: we started with Synty assets (and a few others), then remade most of our hero assets in-house.
Are they really? Sure, if you hang out in dev forums and Unity store you'll have seen it, but I find it hard to believe that the average gamer would find issue with that...
Why is the lead character a mercenary captain when he can't even decide if he wants to grow long hair or keep it shaved?
That might be because he is not, in fact, a mercenary captain, but a regular mercenary when the game begins.
Announcing Shores Unknown: The Old Guard
Hello, Mercenaries!
On this day of days, we're excited to announce Shores Unknown: The Old Guard.
Inspired by classic RPGs of our youth: experience the lush world of Shores Unknown like never before!
Other than that, the first content update is still being worked on and is actually shaping to be even bigger than expected, bringing not just Archery, but a whole new magical ability group with it called Conjuration.
From arcane shields, to summoned servants and magic missiles: we hope you'll have as much fun using these spells as we had designing them!
We'll be announcing the release date for the update very soon, so stay tuned!
Finally, a reminder that for a limited time, you can still get the game with a 15% discount - the offer lasts until 6th of April!
Thanks, and that's a nice artifact from the days of the yore you got there! A little correction: At GDEX, it was probably our publisher Hitcents you met, they were showcasing the game there. We're based in Japan and Russia so going to US for game events wasn't really on the table for the dev team.
SHORES UNKNOWN – HANDS-ON
Hardcase August 14, 2021
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“A cold rain began to fall,
and the blurred street-lamps looked ghastly in the dripping mist.”
― Oscar Wilde
Usually I don’t write preview or review of some sort, simply because it’s not in my chords, but sometimes comes up a game that is able to immediately catch my attention for some reason (the gameplay, the art style or even the setting). Shores Unknown is, indeed, one of them.
Almost a year ago I wrote a “First Impression” based on a limited demo version, but, since then, Shores Unknown has come a long way, so I decided to update my impression about it.
What follows are my thoughts about the game and its new contents…
TELLING STORIES
First thing first, let’s talk about the story and the setting of the game.
Everything takes place in a fantasy world ruled by the Crown with the help of its military arm: the Inquisition. Being on the wrong side of the law, in “Shores Unknown”, is not pleasant, also considering that, in addition to these fearsome forces and to a perpetual war, every single human being has to face the MURK.
What is the Murk, are you wondering? Well, have you ever read the Stephen King’s short-story called The Mist? Ok, try to think of something like that, literally a wall of fog which conceal dark creatures and from which nobody has ever retuned.
In the mi(d)st of this inhospitable world, we will play as the leader of a mercenary company who will have to venture through the Murk, involved in some kind of conspiracy and in search of truth.
As you will have understood, the story, at this stage, is still partially shrouded in mystery, but it already shows very good ideas, supported by characters always nice, well-defined and, abobe all, quite ironic.
Obviously, the importance of the story directly affect the gameplay. The game is heavily story-driven and this is not necessary a drawback. It’s clear that in this game every single inch of the maps is hand-drawn, so if you, just like me, are not an elector of the P.G.P. (Procedurally Generated Party), then, well, Shores Unknown is simply a game that you cannot miss.
Mind you, that story-driven doesn’t necessary mean “no space for player’s choices”. I know that many games promise the same feature, but in Shores Unknown the impact of some decisions on the story can be REALLY important.
IF NOT NOW… THEN WHEN
About the graphic, we can safely say that the recent updates really improved the aesthetic of the game. The wonderful low poly art style is still there, but now the frame rate is stable, and the animations are smoother, especially when we talk about the fights.
Indeed, during the combat phase it is really a joy to watch what happens on the screen: the characters and the mobs fight simultaneously with different animations, giving you the impression of a real fight, instead of a classic “chess” play. Besides, the way the scenes are directed and filters are used makes clear the intention of the developers to adopt a cinematic approach to the whole thing.
But not everything it’s perfect in this regard.
On the negative sides, maybe it’s just me, but I didn’t like the use of the “depth of field” setting in the game. Mind me, usually I really like the use of this graphic option, but in Shores Unknown it seems how to say… overused. The result is that often the background is so blurred that the game seems a “myopia simulator”
THERE ARE GOOD REASONS FOR BEING IN JAIL – FOR PROTESTING
Now let’s talk about the gameplay and the combat system.
Like I said, the game is quite straightforward, at least at this stage of development, so forget what you usually find in open or semi-open world RPGs, here your goals and your path is always clear. In the last update, the developers added a bunch of sub-quests, but don’t despair (!), the game is still in heavy development and, relying on roadmap, the future should bring us more variety.
Overall, we can safely say that, under certain aspects, the game plays more like a JRPG than a western RPG, but this not necessarily a drawback if it has, like in this case, a strong story to tell.
Except the story-driven structure, there are many other aspects of Shores Unknown that lets you think you are playing a JRPG. So for example, when your characters level up you cannot decide how to distribute the stat or the skill points. Or, again, the exploration of the map and the combat phases are clearly separated from the exploration section of the game (like in the old Final Fantasy games) and there is almost no real loot outside the battles.
Talking about the combat phase, I found the battles interesting and strategic enough, but not all the mechanics seems clear. For example, it is not always possible to predict if your action will give you a bonus hit for a “side attack” or not, nor it is clear what happen when you disengage from an opponent.
In other words, a more deep tutorial is absolutely necessary.
Even the impossibility to move your characters on the field is something good and bad at the same time. On one side, this gives you the feeling of the confusion/unpredictability of a real battle, but, on the other side, the result often seems too much random.
Maybe it’s just me, but, more than once, I thought “Why can’t I directly tell to my characters where they have to go?”
Last but not least, we have to report that the last update introduced the new feature of the “hideout”, with the consequential sub-quests. At this stage it is not possible to say much about it, because even this feature is under heavy development, but for sure, although it isn’t something really revolutionary, it remains a good addiction to the game, capable of giving more opportunities and variety to the gameplay.
NEW BEGINNING
In conclusion, even if Shores Unknown has a long way to go, it cannot be denied that it has very solid foundations: the art style, the setting and even the story contribute to give it a strong and unique charm.
Let’s just hope to see more content in the near future!
Shores Unknown: Content Update #2 - Now Available!Welcome to the City of Carrines Bay!
Greetings, Mercenaries!
We're happy to announce that the second major content update for Shores Unknown, which introduces the City of Carrines Bay and continues the main story of the game, is now available to download!
Note: save files from the previous versions of the game are compatible, but can cause some unforeseen issues. As always, we recommend you start a new game when a big update like this drops for optimal experience.
Below, you'll find the patch notes for Content Update 2 (version 0.8.0.0) - please be wary of potential spoilers.
New Additions
- Continuation of the main story: explore the sprawling port city of Carrines Bay and uncover the secrets of the mysterious Alchemist.
- 7 new side-quests taking place in a number of new (and some old) locations, including companion quests for Reginald, Ashya and Sheila.
- 17 new advanced classes: bring your characters to new heights! Advanced classes unlock automatically when the characters progress enough in their ability groups. Some of the classes require progress in multiple ability groups (e.g. a weapon stance and Destruction magic).
Note: please keep in mind that not all classes are obtainable with any character. We originally planned to include new ability group unlocks, allowing to learn magic schools for the main character, in this update, but the events needed to support this will be added in the next incremental update instead.
- Weapon specialization abilities: using a certain weapon type in battles continuously will now eventually unlock a new powerful ability for that weapon type. These abilities can differ drastically depending on what weapon and stance are being used, but we can promise they're all pretty strong and provide some valuable utility for the characters, so experiment away!
- New weapons and items available from vendors and quests in the update.
- New respawning enemy encounters added to Mountain Forest and Abandoned Iron Mine locations for all your grinding needs.
Combat Improvements
- Ranged attacks will cause the character to automatically move away from the target if it is too close.
- Using buff/preparation abilities that result in engagement break will cause the character to automatically move away from the engagement, similar to disengage command.
- Characters performing support actions will be less prone to moving into melee.
- Mages, archers, and other classes focusing on ranged combat will now prioritize ranged over melee when reassessing to a new target if their original target is already down when they act.
Note: We received feedback that combat, especially prolonged battles, would often devolve into chaotic skirmishes with everyone, even archers and mages, jumping into melee combat. These changes aim to improve the situation, and ranged characters will now attempt to keep some distance from the enemies.
- Reworked debuff system: instead of each ability available to party members applying a unique debuff that often stacked with each other, we now have a set of core debuff types. Core debuffs of different types (e.g. Hobbled and Chilled) will stack, but the same core debuff applied from different sources will not (the newest application will overwrite). Core debuffs will also now show the numerical value of their effect in their descriptions.
- Some of the core debuffs that previously existed as unique ones have been reworked: for example, Broken Armor now applies its effect to Block values as well and only affects physical defences; Bleed also works as healing absorb (healing taken by a character affected by a Bleed DoT will first be used to remove the stacks of bleed, and only the remaining value will be applied to HP),
- Battle support mechanic: this is available as part of some advanced support classes' kits and allows the character to use support actions without breaking engagement, regardless of whether they have any engagement slots left. Want your Ren to tank the enemies while still throwing heals around uninterrupted? Now you can!
Balance Tweaks and Fixes
- Archery: Barrage - first 3 arrows now deal damage with a reduced multiplier.
- Fencer: this class now longer has access to Riposte passive, which has been moved to Duelist (advanced class). Fencer instead gained Finesse passive (increased Critical rate).
- One Handed Combat: reduced the damage multipliers for Piercing Lunge, Butterfly and Riposte. Reduced the critical chance of Riposte.
- Shield Stance: reworked Assault ability. It now deals less single-target damage but has an AoE component, dealing damage to all enemies caught into the path of the character using the ability.
- Destruction: Ice Storm now applies Chilled to all targets hit by it.
UI Improvements
- Size of UI elements in combat, dialogues and exploration can now be scaled individually to match the player's preferences. The option is available in Game Settings menu.
...and we also squashed dozens of small bugs while at it. As always, a huge thank you to all the players who have submitted their feedback!
We hope you enjoy your time with the new content. We're not stopping, so stay tuned for more updates soon! And don't forget to join the community on Discord to discuss the update:
