Whatever the opposite of nominative determinism is, it certainly applies to the Rot. In a setting such as this, the name suggests some kind of unwanted presence – a group of antagonists, perhaps, or some corrosive phenomenon choking the life out of a once flourishing forest. Not so – although, as it turns out, these adorably squat little creatures were enemies in an early version of the game. Resembling sentient chunks of licorice, the Rot have since been recast as allies, and you’ll find 100 of the blighters scattered throughout this Eastern-inspired world. You can deck them out in a range of hats you pick up over the course of your adventure, too. And they’ve got a little more personality (and autonomy) than your average woodland-spirit archetype. When Kena’s shimmying along a rock face to the next clearly marked handhold, Nathan Drake style, they pop up on nearby ledges, poke impishly out of gaps and peer inquisitively from higher ground.
It’s the kind of winning incidental detail you wouldn’t necessarily expect from a team numbering in the low double figures. It’s also a reminder of Ember Lab’s filmmaking background: the studio was founded 12 years ago and produced a range of commercials and animated shorts before recently pivoting to developing games. And it’s quietly emblematic of the game’s ambition: this feels not unlike the kind of game Rare might be making right now had Nintendo kept hold of the Twycross studio. Or, perhaps, the kind of game that occasionally sneaks out of one of Ubisoft’s smaller studios when Yves Guillemot’s back is turned.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 2021-Ausgabe von Edge.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 2021-Ausgabe von Edge.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
BONAPARTE: A MECHANIZED REVOLUTION
No sooner have we stepped into the boots of royal guard Bonaparte than we’re faced with a life-altering decision.
TOWERS OF AGHASBA
Watch Towers Of Aghasba in action and it feels vast. Given your activities range from deepwater dives to climbing up cliffs or lumbering beasts, and from nurturing plants or building settlements to pinging arrows at the undead, it’s hard to get a bead on the game’s limits.
THE STONE OF MADNESS
The makers of Blasphemous return to religion and insanity
Vampire Survivors
As Vampire Survivors expanded through early access and then its two first DLCs, it gained arenas, characters and weapons, but the formula remained unchanged.
Devil May Cry
The Resident Evil 4 that never was, and the Soulslike precursor we never saw coming
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
With Dragon Age: The Veilguard, BioWare has made a deeply self-conscious game, visibly inspired by some of the best-loved ideas from Dragon Age and Mass Effect.
SKATE STORY
Hades is a halfpipe
SID MEIER'S CIVILIZATION VII
Firaxis rethinks who makes history, and how it unfolds
FINAL FANTASY VII: REBIRTH
Remaking an iconic game was daunting enough then the developers faced the difficult second entry
THUNDER LOTUS
How Spirit farer's developer tripled in size without tearing itself apart