DOKEV

Pearl Abyss on the inspirations behind the unexpected hit of Gamescom

Developer/publisher Pearl Abyss

Format PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series

Origin Korea

Release TBA

Honest-to-goodness surprises are a rare breed in videogames these days, with few announcements not preceded by strong rumours or outright leaks. A clumsy entry on an artist’s public portfolio. A hacked server. A misread embargo. An online storefront jumping the gun. Among the known quantities at Gamescom (including plenty of big hitters), the thrill of the unexpected meant Pearl Abyss’s creature-collecting open-world adventure always had a chance of standing out – all the more so when it looks like this.

Given the, well, familiar nature of your quest, the response from some quarters was predictable, with some suggesting that this is what they’d hoped Pokémon games might look like by now. (If we’re being harsh, the framerate during battle scenes suggests Pearl Abyss is taking one too many cues from Game Freak, though of course this is still work in progress.) But the idea behind DokeV was more straightforward: “It all started with the thought of making a game I could play with my daughter,” lead producer Sangyoung Kim tells us. “After that, I asked myself about all the things I enjoyed when I was young and that naturally led to thoughts of all the fun I had with my pals growing up.”