Gamera Games has announced Alaloth: Champions of the Four Kingdoms, an isometric action-RPG in development for PC and consoles, scheduled for a 2018 release, and being created in conjunction with RPG legend, Chris Avellone.
Described as a cross between Dark Souls and Amiga cult classic Moonstone: A Hard Days Knight, Alaloth will be broadly divided into two gameplay phases. Movement across the game’s overworld is turn-based, with players visiting points of interest to upgrade their character, buy mounts or visit the ruling families of the game’s four kingdoms to be given new quests or learn about the world’s political make-up.
On a first playthrough, players will choose from one of four races, and have to ally themselves with an existing house, each with an existing history and tie to one of the kingdoms. After one full completion, however, players will be able to create their own house, with customisable banners, mottos and more.
Enter a fight, however, and the game becomes an isometric action game, drawing on the looks of classic RPGs such as Baldur’s Gate, but utilising a more immediate combat system.
“Saying a game is ‘Souls-like’ is fashionable today,” explains Gamera CEO, Alberto Belli to IGN. “and it can have too many different meanings. Our goal was simple - to create a totally skill-driven combat system, bringing 3D mechanics to a new isometric perspective, something completely new for the genre.”
Belli explains that the game features intricate combo systems, gory finishers and multiple build styles, offering classes, equipment, skills and magic that will fundamentally alter how you play. Gamera also plans to add full local and online multiplayer. While those elements are still in the early stages, Belli promises up to four-player games, as well as PvP functions in an arena setting.
The emphasis is very much on replayability - aside from added customisation and the ability to try new things on each run, different areas of the Overworld will unlock depending on how you play, there are multiple AI companions to meet and recruit, and characters can be imported from previous playthroughs to further their skills.
“There is not a real ‘main quest’,” explains Belli, “but a dynamic world changing for each run due to world politics, the things you do, the background you have. It’s virtually infinite.” He brings up the feeling of starting and restarting a game of Mount & Blade - the concept reminds me more of the promise of a board game, with set rules but hundreds of variables.
The idea appears to be to offer a combat system modern players will immediately understand and gel with, but set within a truly old-school setting, allowing for the story complexities (Game of Thrones is a constant touchstone for Belli) and open-ended nature of classic CRPGs, like Planescape: Torment or Fallout 2.
That’s presumably where Chris Avellone - director-designer on, er, Planescape: Torment and Fallout 2 - comes in. Gamera has brought in the founder of RPG specialist Obsidian as a creative consultant to help create the world’s lore and character backstories, as well as provide feedback on its overall design, which he describes as involving “mechanics I’ve rarely had a chance to work on before.”
Gamera itself is a new studio currently in the final stages of developing its debut game - Xbox exclusive co-op action-platformer Unit 4 - and early production of Alaloth. However, the new company features some old hands, bringing together 12 developers whose experience stretches from Fallout 3 to No More Heroes.
Gamera has now opened Alaloth.com, with more information on the game.
Joe Skrebels is IGN's UK News Editor, and House Rickman is going to rule. Follow him on Twitter.
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