Wadjet Eye’s Unavowed ticks a number of my bins proper off the bat. It’s a brand new city fantasy journey recreation from Dave Gilbert, set in the identical world because the Blackwell series — although it doubles down on the fantasy half — however impressed by BioWare’s party-based and banter-rich RPGs. It’s due out subsequent yr, however within the meantime there’s the sport’s first trailer to look at.
While Blackwell had ghosts and magic, Unavowed leans into the fantasy a part of city fantasy much more. Think Constantine, Angel or The Dresden Files. Dark forces are, as they’re wont to do, making an attempt to destroy New York City, however for a whole bunch of years a secret organisation, the Unavowed, have protected it utilizing their very own supernatural skills. The previous methods aren’t working, nevertheless, so the crew wants some recent meat. That’d be you.
It’s nonetheless firmly an journey recreation, however with character creation, a party-based construction and consequence laden selections that recall to mind one thing like Dragon Age. Indeed, Dragon Age author Jennifer Hepler has been working with Gilbert as a narrative marketing consultant. Take the boat scene that we briefly see within the trailer. Depending on the occasion members you utilize, you possibly can defeat the monster chasing the boat in a wide range of methods, and as soon as it’s been defeated, as a bunch you possibly can determine what to do with the beastie. Whatever you select could have penalties later.
That similar scene additionally raises one concern: I’m undecided if Unavowed goes to have the ability to make its motion scenes convincing. Every clip and screenshot I’ve seen of the monster chasing the boat simply appears to be like actually underwhelming, with everybody simply standing round, wanting awkward. I’m a giant fan of Ben Chandler’s artwork (Technobabylon specifically is attractive), however the minimal animation tends to make motion sequences flat. Unavowed appears to be like to have a bit extra motion than your typical Wadjet Eye title, so I’m just a bit anxious that it’s going to develop into much more noticeable.
Adam acquired a hands-off look at Unavowed in March, exploring Gilbert’s inspirations and digging into the story a bit extra. Hopefully we’ll get a fair nearer look subsequent yr, as Unavowed marches in direction of its 2018 launch.
