Emma Withington with some first impressions of Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King…
I am confronted by an open, monochromatic landscape and stand amidst the ruins of a circular stone structure. This consists of crumbling, ancient archways – two of which contain portals. In the distance a towering spectral figure looms over this fragmented world. I walk towards one of the portals, by which sits a skeletal figure with deep set, scintillating white eyes. He turns to me and, in whispering otherworldly speech, says:
“Oh…who is waking up in the dark? You cannot speak? Interesting… you are not the only one. It has always been a silent world…kind of.
About your memories? Nothing?
Nevermind, do you know where you are?
No, of course not…
Poor lost soul, here you are in the Hypnos realm, well the few parts that still remain…if you woke up earlier you could have seen the lush lands, cities, and terrible wonders.
But you show up too late.
The King is no more. The Demiurges came… their thirst for blood and power made them slaughter every soul, ravaging the lands, turning our lives to dust.
I do not remember if this occurred yesterday or many centuries ago. Whatever, here you are, another survivor out of the void. Your sleep has been quite long…
Hear the Whispers.
Let the journey begin.”
In collaboration with Square Enix Collective and developed with the ever popular Unreal Engine 4, Redlock Studio presents: Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King; an Action/RPG 2.5D platformer with 3D Boss Battles. Not set for release until 2018, we have been lucky enough to give Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King an early test run!
In Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King you are ‘The Wanderer’, set out to recover your memories and discover the fate of the world of Hypnos, which is currently ruled by twelve Demiurges – all of whom you fight in dynamic 3D boss battles. Just from looking at the images here, Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King has a Final Fantasy/Kingdom Hearts-esque visual style, with a Burtonesque flair. The studio’s inspiration from Shadow of the Colossus is evident with its heavily atmospheric soundscape and imposing, sprawling arenas in which the boss battles take place. There are points in which the sound breaks, due to it being in the early stages of development, but what’s currently in place is suitably eerie.
Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King doesn’t by any means hold your hand as you explore the levels of the shattered world, carrying certain gameplay elements reminiscent of Dark Souls. You know as much – or in this case, as little – as ‘The Wanderer’ and learn with the character through a trial and error based system. Your only guide is ‘The Whisperer’, our skeletal friend(?) from the starting area, at sporadic intervals.
Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King has a reasonably involved lore, which you can check out on the official website. It proved useful in finding out more about the world for this alpha trial run – for example, what certain items you collect in the world may mean and how you could utilise them. In game, depending on the route you take, puzzles you encounter can reveal more about the world if you complete them. There are multiple different levels and pathways to hop between, providing plenty of opportunities to fall from dizzying heights into the abyss. Thankfully, any collected items remain in your inventory after death…
I stumbled across an RPG favourite, that’s right, a crafting table – I had accumulated some items from the level, including something known as a ‘Hypnosean’s mask’, and started to experiment with them. I ended up with a Guardian’s Eye…however, I am yet to find out how this could be utilised.
At this stage the combat and movement feels a bit clunky in Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King – currently there are only two main attacks and it doesn’t quite flow as smoothly or feel as satisfying as it could, but with almost two more years of development ahead of Redlock Studio it seems too early to take apart and heavily criticise the combat system. It looks to have good foundations and certainly has potential.
While it is not yet completely blowing my mind as much as I expected, Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King is certainly intriguing enough to keep on the watch list. What Redlock Studio have achieved this early on is impressive visually and atmospherically. It presents an amalgamation of elements that work well together and manages to transition smoothly between 2.5D and 3D. It will be interesting to see if it delivers in regard to combat and the overall feel when it comes to controlling your character. This will enable you to become fully immersed in the game and its impressively well developed lore as a whole, without being brought out of the experience by awkward controls. However, at such an early stage in development, I cannot yet damn or acclaim Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King, all I can say is that in the next two years it could make some very impressive leaps indeed – if the studio plays its cards right.
Emma Withington – Follow me on Twitter
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