Hello Champions!
As promised in the Spring 2022 Update, we are going to drop here a bunch of misc updates originally scheduled in a different moment of the last year. Before doing that, we thought that a bit of recap was necessary, considering the huge number of questions we’ve received in the last months. To avoid any possible confusion, we are going to summarize here all the info already shared, adding comments on what is changed and what’s happened in development lately. Almost 1 year ago we hosted an AMA session on our Discord channel and highlights were published in this topic. Looking back at it one year later, made us thinking about the huge work done since than but we are happy to have kept our vision alive, despite a few changes we did following feeds from QA and testers. This update should work as a sort of guide to understand in full what Alaloth is and what is not.
WHY YOU DIDN’T GIVE US NEWS FOR MONTHS? WHAT’S HAPPENED?
We are not going to comment this. We apologized for the lack of updates on our Steam page and always tried to do our best to inform the community of what was going on. The Spring 2022 Update contains all the info on what’s coming next. Past is behind, future ahead and we are doing 110% to recoup the time lost without interacting with people and players waiting for the game.
OK, GOT IT. SO, WHAT ABOUT THE GAME? AN ISOMETRIC SOULS-LIKE? WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The idea has always been trying to put a few cool 3D mechanics in a isometric game. We thought there is nothing like this on the market. Souls-like ref has always been about a combat sys that will be hard to master but very satisfying once you’re done with it.
SO WHAT? IT IS A SOULS-LIKE, IT IS DIABLO, IT IS A CRPG?
It is Alaloth, we are trying to stay in between old school classics and modern action RPG. When you see the game running, mind flies to good old times but there is no tactical pause so you have to be good with the pad to kill stuff. And staying in between past and present, is something we’ve tried to reflect in any aspect of the game. We have two kind of players we’re talking with here: the first one, is the one skipping every single line of text and caring about his build only, skills and fights. The second one is the one taking his time enjoying every single dialogue around, trying to pick up lore details to connect all dots. We are trying to make both of them happy, leaving the freedom to play the game both ways. Anyway, to take 100% from it, hardcore players should play a bit with quest and lore related stuff around and old school players will have to master combat anyway. We are just trying to “force” this in a funny way for both .
YOUR MAIN GOAL IN ALALOTH?
In Alaloth, you embody a champion who is willing to set free the continent of Plamen by the evil and overwhelming presence of Alaloth himself, a mighty demigod trapped in a limbo and willing to come back to the mortal realms to rule them all. To do so, you will be required to recover four light shards that open the gates of The Fifth Kingdom, his domain. These shards pop in a random way each run and can be found in many locations spread around the world [Fighting Areas].
CAN YOU FREE ROAM IN THE GAME WORLD AND DECIDE TO WHAT TO DO AND WHEN?
Yes, you are completely free to do whatever you want since the very beginning. The Main Quest is just Alaloth-related. You need to kill him to complete the game. Anyway, there is nothing set for you to do so. You can just decide to explore Plamen, do your stuff, meet NPC, do other quests or starts claiming Fighting Areas looking for shards to access the endgame. The player is free to navigate and explore Plamen the way he likes most since the start of the journey, choosing to prioritize the main quest, secondary ones or to just see what’s next. At the beginning of the development, Alaloth was supposed to be played one way only, facing 3 other champions coming from the kingdoms the player didn’t choose running after shards as you, fighting you. We have 40 different champions representing each house and clan in the game, rolled every time a new session starts. Everyone with unique skills, drops and behavior. Anyway, while testing the game and collecting feeds, we decided to work on a brand new mode introducing a full single player campaign to be enjoyed the classic way. We are talking about two different ways to play. In both cases the more the time pass the more Alaloth’s rage and power increases. Spawns became way more dangerous with each of this phases.
DIFFERENT DIFFICULTY LEVEL THAN?
There is no difficulty level even though playing in the competitive mode will result in a more challenging experience, with the addition of the 3 enemy champions hunting for shards and/or the player. Enemy champions will have their own behavior that can be aggressive, balanced or defensive, they will claim dungeons as you do and might even fail. Single player mode is advised for those players who don’t want to have a timer on their heads and for those completionists who want to be sure to be able to complete every quest available on their playthrough. The game is designed to be played in competitive mode at least once for every race. As already said, you are basically free to move wherever you want since the very beginning so it's really about how good you are with the pad. Some areas are more dangerous than other but will be completely accessible since the very first moment.
THE WORLD IS HUGE. HOW IT IS REACTING TO YOUR ACTIONS?
Yes it is. Each kingdom has its own capital city, a major one, five minors. We have hundreds of interactable chars to talk with and to get quests or find precious clues to survive Plamen and its dangers. One of the key element of the game is the calendar. According with it, the world is going to change with NPC popping-up time by time, events happening all around the world, timed quests, new mobs , new challenges. And if you hear a wolf howling, well, it’s just the full moon [and it is very important…]
WHAT CHANGES BETWEEN ONE PLAYTHROUGH AND ANOTHER?
Playing a different mode, race or alignment will result in a different experience, with new paths and rewards. That’s why it is required to play multiple runs to achieve and experience all the game content, not to mention enemy champions in competitive mode will be randomized every new game, with the ones you won’t match as enemies placed around the world and able to give you precious info about their lore and how to face them and many other dangers. Make sure to talk to every single one to unlock all their codex entries and know even more about the most known characters of Plamen. Same stuff could be experienced with a difference approach from different races…
WHAT’S THE IMPORTANCE OF MY ALIGNMENT AND HOW DOES IT AFFECT MY PLAYTHROUGH?
Alignment is indeed a very important choice you will make when creating your champion: it will determine whether your champion will be able to be joined by certain companions or not and will unlock you certain missions or outcomes instead of others.
WHAT ABOUT COMPANIONS? HOW DO I HIRE THEM AND WHAT ARE THE CONDITIONS?
Companions are the base for an AI or multiplayer local coop and can be found all around the game world. Every one of them has his lore and his goal in life: if yours is very different from theirs, they will not join your party anyway. Once you hire a companion, this will follow you until the end, giving you military help in the dungeons and the chance to accept their special quests, which will strengthen the bond between you. Remember you won’t be able to bring more than 2 companions in the battle with you, so each time choose wisely the combination of them that’s more useful for the specific dungeon.
HOW DOES MULTIPLAYER WORK?
Alaloth supports local coop up to 2 additional players that can join the game while taking control of your companions (if unlocked). Remote Play is supported and works even if your friends don’t own the game. Couch coop anyone? The only thing you need to do is inviting a friend as you open the game or send them the link to join you.
COMBAT SYSTEM?
Alaloth’s combat system is real-time action based, you can have an edge by fighting exploiting enemies’ weaknesses while still remaining always fair. The system is structured to allow the player to avoid every single incoming attack with a perfect execution. There will often be ways to use game knowledge and make smart plays that will put you in a favorable spot more than any reflex.
WHAT’S THE IMPORTANCE OF THE LORE IN ALALOTH?
Alaloth wants to be a really immersive experience at 360° degrees, where the setting and the lore are key factors to feel part of a unique place, designed to stimulate the player to explore and understand from the most ancestral stories to the more recent secrets and palace intrigues. The game is part of a cross-media collection of works, including novels and comics to come, and playing the game you will have an exclusive view of this coherent vibrant world, characterized by a gritty atmosphere and a complex balance between kingdoms and houses. Tons of cool little details hidden in single dialogues or places are waiting to be spotted
HOW DOES THE PROGRESSION WORK IN THE GAME?
Your champion is going to improve his capabilities by learning up skills upon completing Fighting Areas. Not only that: you will be able to choose which stats you want to increase and build your champion your way. There are also traits points you can spend to acquire special abilities like more proficient trading, cool down reduction on certain skills or better riding skills. Remember that knowledge is power: you can gain additional stat points by reading until the end the Hero Books, which tell the stories of the most iconic people ever lived. Find them all to become relentless.
WILL I HAVE THE CHANCE TO RESPEC MY SKILL POINTS?
During your journey in Alaloth you have a chance to pick up a special item: The Orb of Chaos. Use it to any altar in a sanctuary to pray to the gods to change your destiny, giving you new talents and forgetting your old ones. That will allow you to respec any skill point, but also stat points and traits. However, you will find other ways to respect you char on the way.
WHAT ABOUT REP SYSTEM, CRAFTING, ENCHANTING, MOUNTS OR TECH STUFF LIKE SAVES OR SUCH?
Following this new update, we are going to dig into any single game feature as already announced in the Spring 2022 Update. Moreover, key outlets all around the world are playing the game right now so many of these features will be explained in extensive features popping-up in a few time. All the things listed here are in and there is much more to say about the game.
DAMN, SO MUCH STUFF! TRIPLE A VIBES
Nope. And this is important to remember. We have always been humbled to the compared to big guns by press and players but Gamera Interactive is not Obsidian nor Larian or such. These studios are for sure our main inspiration and we can say we have some good friends around in the RPG scene but Alaloth is first of all a self-funded craft of love made by a team of 18 [at its peak], that gone through the storm in the last 2 years and survived a pandemic and many many other issues that probably would had killed 95% of the indie studios around. For sure, we will have a never seen before Post Mortem listing all these events! We can easily say that the whole team gave a Triple A effort and have a Triple A passion but games are made with money and budget and we are still talking about an indie product that represents the first step in a massive world we are going to expand in the future.
RELEASE DATE?
We have a release window in mind and we are putting all the pieces together right now, following feeds and being finally able to schedule things on our own. We are actually evaluating any possible scenario, considering new partners jumping in, console versions for the future and an internal roadmap we want be sure to follow, considering future updates of the game, DLC and such. Even the price point is still under discussion as well as Limited Edition[s], retail, loc and so on. Anyway, we would say that summer is on the way, lot of major PR events are happening. And this is when announcement take place usually. Again, just let us understand which is the best options for the final sprint, considering that we need to get traction back after a very long silence.
Have a great week-end!
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https://store.steampowered.com/app/919360/Alaloth_Champions_of_The_Four_Kingdoms/