Game News Kalypso bring back the Disciples franchise with Disciples: Liberation, a dark fantasy strategy RPG

[Infinitron]

Tags: Disciples: Liberation; Frima Studio; Kalypso Media

The Disciples franchise was a fairly minor series of Heroes of Might & Magic-inspired turn-based strategy games that was active from 1999 to 2012. Originally created by now-undead Canadian strategy game publisher Strategy First, in the late 2000s the series was picked up by German publisher Kalypso Media, who hired some Russians to produce an underwhelming third game. Since turn-based is cool now and nothing ever stays dead in this business, it's not entirely surprising that they decided to follow in the footsteps of 1C with King's Bounty II and bring Disciples back as well. In development at Quebec City-based Frima Studio, the upcoming Disciples: Liberation is described as a "mature, dark fantasy strategy RPG" with a heavy focus on choice & consequence (of course!). Its BDSM-ish announcement trailer might give you an idea of what they mean by "mature". I'll post that along with Kalypso's announcement:

Kalypso Media and Frima Studio have today announced Disciples: Liberation – a brand-new mature, dark fantasy strategy RPG arriving in Q4 of 2021 for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and next-gen consoles, including PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. An announcement trailer can be viewed below, though it’s not for the squeamish.

Disciples: Liberation marks a new beginning for the franchise, allowing players to explore a richly detailed dark fantasy world, fight foul beasts in intricate turn-based combat, take on hundreds of unique quests and foster relationships with an assortment of in-world factions: from a human empire tinged by religious extremism to the dark forces of the undead lead by a mad queen. Alliances forged, players can build an army and trade hard-earned resources for an assortment of upgrades to their home base. No choice is without consequence and depending on decisions and political alignments, one wrong move could see a deadly domino effect, irrevocably changing the course of their story.

A closed PC alpha for Disciples: Liberation will be available soon, allowing 200 players to go hands-on with the game.

Features

• 80+ hour single-player campaign: experience a sprawling dark fantasy epic over three acts, with more than 270 quests and five unique endings to unlock
• Explore a war-torn overworld: journey through a land in ruin and work to unearth its endless secrets, hidden treasures, and bloody past
• Write your own story: pick from four uniquely skilled classes and define your place in the world, recruiting others to your cause from an assortment of factions
• Build a base: take on quests for precious resources and use your political savvy to build a place of planning and sanctuary
• Fight for your life: recruit 50+ units and amass an army best suited to your play style whilst honing both steel and spell in intricate-turned based combat.
• Challenge deadly bosses: test your mettle and pit your party against horrific monsters and beasts, each requiring a unique strategy
• Choice is everything: let your decisions guide your fate and directly influence what sort of leader you become
• Fight your friends: put forth the ultimate challenge and battle for supremacy in 2-player online skirmishes

Okay then! I would have preferred to see some gameplay, but for now we'll have to make due with the handful of pre-alpha screenshots available on the game's Steam page.

 

[hellbent]

I didn't think they could possibly make a worse Disciples game than DIII, but this one has potential to be the shittiest one yet.

The screenshots on the steam store page look OK, but that video....good lord. I don't even know what demographic they're shooting for with that.

 

[Thonius]

When I think about Disciples and time spent playing it all I can think of is an overly edgy grimm dark shit art, for some reason.

 

[Lord of Riva]

I liked Disciples 2, thats basically it. Necroing the shit that happened will make the world a worse place.

 

[hello friend]

First Disciples game was ten times better than its sequel

 

[underground nymph]

God it looks terrible.
No one even has balls to make original art choices, implement something radically new, innovate. Game industry is mostly infertile, frigid, with everybody trying to play safe exploiting old as shit concepts without understanding them, a fucking cargo cult. No fun left, it’s not “from gamers to gamers” anymore, it’s B2C. God bless that little capacity of independent developers who still try to have fun and make something they have longing for, besides revenue.

 

[DeepOcean]

Make a game with awesome gothic art of the first 2, how is that hard? You already have a template. I mean, it isnt even a lack of money as you can see that technically they are able to achieve it, it is a lack of good sense both from the people with money and the developers that have no idea why Disciples 1 and 2 (mostly 1) are interesting games. It is basically blind people doing random bullshit and slapping the Disciples name into it and no one actually bothered to play the old games to get why people liked them in the first place.

 

[Tyranicon]

Oooof, vague cinematic trailers are a waste of money unless your audience is braindead.

 

[mondblut]

Kalypso Media, that is the people who have turned Patrician and Port Royale into total borefests? This is gonna end well... :/

 

[Reader]

I don't even know what demographic they're shooting for with that.

They are shooting for sjw game journos demographic.

 

[The_Mask]

Kalypso Media, that is the people who have turned Patrician and Port Royale into total borefests? This is gonna end well... :/

The real issue was/is that they didn't move the forums for Patrician, and so many resources there were lost. The fact that they're wasting their money to make trash games is secondary to me.

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

It's a well known fact that nothing makes fans of old school tactical turn-based franchises hyped like a CGI cinematic cutscene and no gameplay.

 

[InspectorRumpole]

I am the only one who can't watch this?
I need to upload an ID to youtube to confirm my age. WTF?

 

[KyivAfter12am]

God it looks terrible.
No one even has balls to make original art choices, implement something radically new, innovate. Game industry is mostly infertile, frigid, with everybody trying to play safe exploiting old as shit concepts without understanding them, a fucking cargo cult. No fun left, it’s not “from gamers to gamers” anymore, it’s B2C. God bless that little capacity of independent developers who still try to have fun and make something they have longing for, besides revenue.

I'd say the 1 and 2 had an unusual art style. Perhaps over the top and edgy, but original. Music was good too. Some ideas from the gameplay I haven't seen other games copy since, like the whole terraforming thing with the battle of wands, or even the combat with fixed positions.

I agree completely with your statement as it applies to this trailer, though.

 

[KyivAfter12am]

I am the only one who can't watch this?
I need to upload an ID to youtube to confirm my age. WTF?

Yeah, god forbid a 16 year old will see a hint of a sideboob in one of the frames.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

I passed in front of Frima Studio by bus all the time. They're a Quebec City studio and I was there on business often. On the large windows of their office were plastered the pictures of the uninteresting digital and mobile games that they worked on.

Anyone that thinks they can make a good Disciples game really is dreaming.

Fun fact, the first two Disciples games were made in Montreal. But they were made at a time when games were still made for gamers, not for retards.

 

[Kev Inkline]

That list of features reads like a marketing lead would have made it instead of a designer, is my guess.

It's like a hotel manager asking the chef: What are the four most wanted dishes in here? Actually never mind, just put them into the same pot!

 

[luj1]

When I think about Disciples

to me it always looked like some dark slavic gothic jank, it had a distinct style for sure (i say this as a good thing)

 

[Harry Easter]

The screenshots on the steam store page look OK, but that video....good lord. I don't even know what demographic they're shooting for with that.

It did remind me of my porn with a bit more budget.

 

[Roguey]

The game contains content that may not be appropriate for all ages, featuring fantasy violence and combat scenes, as well as non-explicit sexual content that might be disturbing.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I don't remember the third game at all. Now I have to look it up. I didn't even but the new Fantasy General so...I dunno about this.

I suppose next will be the onslaught of selling old online games as offline rpgs.

 

[laclongquan]

Fuck original art! The problem shown in the trailer is the shitty dirty grimey art so beloved among the artists these day.

I am not impressed~

 

[jac8awol]

Fairly minor my ass! D2DP:CE - ROTE was a staple in my formative years. Pleb translation: Disciples 2 Dark Prophecy: Collectors Edition - Rise of the Elves. In fact, "Ookkli mana" is a regular greeting in my circle of friends, and that was just a throwaway soundbite from the franchise.

But yeah, this will be shit. Canada SJW central, trailer shows nothing. A sad turn of events.

 

[underground nymph]

I'd say the 1 and 2 had an unusual art style.

Exactly what I mean.

 

[Darkozric]

Age restricted for fucking what? The sensitivity is strong with this one. Trailer looks very lame.