If you enjoyed taking pictures of your surroundings in Firewatch, or if you like exploring and taking beautiful screenshots in general, you will want to feast your eyes on the trailer for Eastshade, a first-person open world exploration game due in early 2017. In it, you play a wandering artist, and you can “paint” pictures of the landscape you find yourself in. Here’s the description from the devblog:
“You are a traveling painter, exploring the island of Eastshade. Capture the world on canvas using your artist’s easel. Talk to the inhabitants to learn about their lives. Make friends and help those in need. Discover mysteries and uncover secrets about the land. Surmount natural impasses to reach forgotten places. Experience how your actions impact the world around you.”
From the trailer, as well as this brief gameplay video, we can see you don’t actually stand there, in-game, dabbing away at a canvas like some disembodied Bob Ross. Rather, you frame your shot, select the canvas, adjust the size, and the landscape appears on your canvas. You can then offer your paintings to other characters on the island in exchange for information or items.
The game will also include some crafting elements, and rather than one big overarching story Eastshade will contain connected “micro-stories.” How you choose to involve yourself in the lives of other characters will have an effect on future events and interactions.
You can learn more at Eastshade’s official site, or check out the devblog.
