I remember playing this back in the day. I just replayed it, and even though I knew exactly where it was going to pop up, it still startled the s*** out of me, lol.
I’ve had it wishlisted for a while because the trailers and screenshots look fantastic. Unsure if the sprawling scope will result in anything ever playable.
My hope is for something akin to a Mount & Blade style RPG but who knows of it’ll ever see the light of day.
Yeah, I’m… skeptical, to say the least. I don’t think any of these sprawling, massively-scoped “everything games” have ever actually lived up to the hype. It’s a problem of pure logistics. Making a game with so many different segments each with entirely unique gameplay loops is essentially like developing more than half a dozen games at once. It’s the problem Spore had - the scope was just too broad, and even with EA and Will Wright behind it, it eventually released as a pretty decent creature creator stapled to four shallow, rushed game stages.
No studio has the resources or inclination to commit to the 10-15+ year development cycle for a single game needed to fit that much scope, and even if they did, the entire game design landscape would have changed between the beginning and the end of the project, which would make major technical and design components of the game obsolete before it was even finished.
I’d put money on this game either becoming vaporware or releasing as a chaotic, disjointed mess with the depth of a puddle. I’d love to see them prove me wrong, but I just don’t see how anyone could overcome those kinds of logistical hurdles.
I think keeping it in an isometric perspective helps to simplify things a lot. The mechanics wouldn’t have to be as immersive and it should allow for more freedom for things to change depending on the player’s preferences. I’m still skeptical but at least it seems they’re going in a reasonable direction.
Wrath of the Righteous does it pretty good. The only sub game in the game that kinda sucks is the strategy game for the giant wars toward the end, and it’s more due to the fact that it’s not super robust; it’s just the bare minimum needed for that style of play.
Really that’s the most common flaw I see with “everything games;” they spend too much time putting everything in, but it’s never as fleshed out as it would have been if they focused entirely on one aspect.
I hung around their Discord for ages and the pace of development seemed glacial. It's not that I don't think it will ever come out but it's definitely going to be a while. Gave up following after a few months. Love the aesthetic though and I really hope this one doesn't fizzle out like other titles in my wish list (Road Diner Simulator, B-17 Squadron, Solarpunk, Kerbal Space Program 2 etc.)
Scope creep: The game. Trailers do look marvelous, but one has to question how realistic it is that all of these complex systems not only work well on their own, but also manage to form a coherent whole. This could become a trendsetting Indie darling - or more realistically end up as a highly flawed niche title that only manages to find a few dedicated fans that are willing to overlook its issues (if it ever releases).
The developers are entirely unknown - possibly unproven - and the publisher’s only successful games on Steam are an RPG (Tale of Immortal) with just over 50% positive reviews that doesn’t even work if you don’t have your system set to Chinese, an action tower defense game (Outpost: Infinity Siege) with a OpenCritic average of 58 and a 2.5D Cyberpunk RPG (ANNO: Mutationem) that is probably their highest-rated title with an OpenCritic average of 74 and 80% positive reviews.
Before I sound too negative, I hope this title succeeds. I would definitely play it a lot if it manages to deliver on even half of its promises. Art style, perspective and setting remind me of the last classic city builder Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom, building mechanics are reminiscent of various Minecraft-adjacent titles and the multi-genre concept isn’t too dissimilar to The Guild series. All of this is very exciting, but this is exactly the kind of ambition, possibly overambition, that tends to kill studios.
I had fun with it. Can be a bit slow and grindy, as forming a build involves finding the right (randomly generated, periodically refreshed) techniques and studying them. And there’s a big power jump in each area so this process has to be repeated regularly.
I initially got into it when looking for something like Wandering Sword, but as a M&B- or Kenshi-style open world, which it’s not exactly that.
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