News Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King - launches v1.0 on February 17

[prudis]

Action adventure RPG Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King will launch for PC via Steam Early Access on June 4, developer Redlock Studio announced.

Shattered - Tale of the Forgotten King is an rpg-adventure game with heavy challenging boss fights and a deep lore inspired by Dark Souls, Shadow of the Colossus and Legacy of Kain.

Put on the Wanderer's coat and explore strange worlds adrift within the void. Retrace the fall of an entire civilization through the testimonies of its rare survivors in Shattered - Tale of the Forgotten King, an adventure game mixing exploration and boss fight.

Between dreamy exploration and epic battles
In the world of Hypnos, a wide continent scattered with huge fortresses and cities in ruins is yours to roam. Switch between 2.5D and 3D phases and dive into the story of a forgotten universe where fierce opponents await. To reach victory, precision in your movements and observation of your enemies will be vital. Are you ready, Wanderer?

Features:

• Several zones to explore: A semi-open world in which you can walk several paths. You can choose the one that suits you. Or choose to discover new ones.
• Terrible bosses to fight: Observe them and learn to anticipate their moves. The timing of your assaults and parries will be crucial to your victory.
• Constant progression: May it be by crushing enemies or discovering new areas, you'll have the possibility of making the Wanderer evolve. Will you choose to level up, buy new equipment or purchase more lore items to learn everything about Hypnos?

« I had travelled through forgotten paths for days, weeks and months to reach the Thousand-Door Palace. A place where only silence reigned now. Where the wind had stopped and the tides retreated with the Great Rift. The great Departure.

And here stood before me this towering beauty of onyx and obsidian - the divine home where once echoed every whisper of the world. So vast that the greatest city of any kingdom would only be an anteroom in comparison. Peculiar green lights shone from inside the building, pulsating though the circular openings in the floating columns. The lost reverberations of an empty throne...

And here I was, bathed in my mist of past and future memories, standing in this mythical place that remained, still. The only location anyone in Hypnos could have found with no map or compass back when the King still reigned.

And I Remember the Silence In My Soul.
The Bitter Raindrops In the Wind. »



Early access Details

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?
“We would like to release the game before the end of the year 2019.”
How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?
“We plan to include every area imagined for the game for the release of the game, whereas the early access will only open the doors of the few areas that are done at this stage. We also plan to add a wider variety of foes and bosses, as well as more narrative content and non playing characters that the player can meet.”
What is the current state of the Early Access version?
“We think of the early access as a beta. Most of the final features are integrated but some foes, NPCs and areas have not yet been included. You can already explore wide spaces, fight various enemies, level up, discover lots of lore and start piecing together the world of Hypnos’ past. We plan on including every area imagined for the game for the game’s release, while early access will only open the doors of the few areas that are done at this stage. We also plan to add a wider variety of foes and bosses, as well as more narrative content and NPCs the player can meet (their choices and behaviour having an influence on the NPC's own stories outcome), and glyphs to customize even more the character's skills and features.”

 

[fearthedawn]

I'm doing my best "please be good"-dance for this one

 

[prudis]

out in EA

 

[Myradeer]

Never got the appeal of playing/releasing soulslike (or in general, any RPG) incomplete, but I guess the devs needed more funding.

 

[texhnolyze]

Will buy when it's out of early access.

 

[Casper]

Finding a few early bugs as expected (mostly with text displaying in French) but so far so good. Nearing the first boss I think.

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

Keep the impressions coming, i'm dithering about a purchase!

 

[Myradeer]

Keep the impressions coming, i'm dithering about a purchase!

I recommend you catch stream or video about beginning portions of the game, because it has solidly put me into "don't buy" category.

Other than bland aesthetics, bland enemies, bland stage design - the latter is a biggie because stage design isn't something one can handwave away with "oh, it's EA and dev doesn't have enough resources." - the game's overall state feels like it should have been close alpha at best. It definitely doesn't deserve current price personally. It has "mostly negative" review on Steam which should be immediate red flag to begin with.

 

[fearthedawn]

I'm worried for this title now, i hope the devs have the will and funding to give it another 1-2 years in the oven if need be, the planned release in 2019 seems optimistic to the extreme.

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

Thanks peeps! I'll keep an eye on it but i'll sit down with "Praey For The Gods" tonight and see how that goes. I've had it ages and haven't actually given it a go yet.

 

[Casper]

So far, other than the character design, the most positive thing I can say about this game is that it is teaching me French.

(There are completely non-localized parts of the game everywhere, item text, zone names, the text that displays when you activate a not-a-bonfire bonfire, etc.)

Also not entirely sure why they thought the vague Start Screen choices would be a good idea.

That is the screen I am presented with. Awaken is the default choice after returning to the game. Pressing Awaken essentially wipes your game and starts over. My understanding is that you aren't given a warning either, but I am too scared to test that to be sure.

 

[jim2point0]

I was intrigued by the visuals when I saw the game on Steam. But from the screenshot I'm seeing on the hub..... everything looks a lot more bland and samey. Maybe it's just everyone taking screenshots at the same place and perhaps the version that's out now doesn't have a lot of content?

Otherwise... kinda disappointing. I was interested in this when I saw it in the June Steam thread. Now, not so much.

 

[fearthedawn]

I played a bit a while ago and it was promising but also still very rough, i really hope this release update after a long stretch of silence brings the goods.

 

[prudis]

oh nice , updating the OP

 

[texhnolyze]

Out now.

 

[Joe Spangle]

Ok played 100 mins and im enjoying it so far. Its very souls like but has its own style. Im liking the atmosphere and story element (it follows the Souls standard of being mysterious). Ive made progress through the first level and made it to a boss.

I would say that the combat hasn't quite clicked for me yet. Lots of the reviews said it felt clunky and i'd agree so far. Feels like there is a bit of input delay or something so its a little frustrating at times but that could just be me not used to it and doing it wrong.

I am really liking it though so will crack on. I'd say its worth the price, its pretty cheap for what you are getting. Feels like its had a lot of thought put into it to try and separate it from just being a Souls like game (even though it is pretty Souls like).

 

[texhnolyze]

Yeah, from what I've seen, it has your regular Souls elements from stamina based lock-on combat with dodge and parry, souls as currency for leveling up and trading, bonfires, well-connected levels with shortcuts, and so on. Combat is generally more forgiving, easier than the likes of Souls and Nioh.

What sets it apart is the heavy emphasize on platforming, lots of verticality in the world design. There are also some Nier influence, like the side-scrolling platforming sections and huge bosses with projectiles and other mechanics.

 

[Joe Spangle]

Yeah, there are points in a level where the camera switches to a side on fixed view for some platforming. Its alright so far, if not a little strange.
Definitely looks quite nice, in a minimalist sort of way. You are right about the vertically. The first level has a lot of levels and routes that loop back around.

Ive collected a lot of items that i dont yet know what to do with.

Instead of a left handed weapon I can equip either a magic projectile or a shield which uses magic juice. Probably will unlock some other stuff as well maybe.

 

[prudis]

oh , lite souls with nier-y elemends sou ds quite nice

 

[Joe Spangle]

oh , lite souls with nier-y elemends sou ds quite nice

Ive not played or know much about Nier so cant comment on that but it has sort of computery digital type aesthetics, like some of the item descriptions are 'null void, not enough doo-dars to decrypt' or something like that.

 

[Joe Spangle]

Hey. Here's some Steam codes so that a couple of you can try this game out...

You need to react to this post in order to see this content.

Enjoy!

 

[Deku]

Hey. Here's some Steam codes so that a couple of you can try this game out...

[Hidden content]

Enjoy!

Both taken. I don't believe that prudis nor lashman would take them without thanking. So someone like your post, took a key and unliked.

On their behalf I thank you for the keys

 

[Joe Spangle]

Both taken. I don't believe that prudis nor lashman would take them without thanking. So someone like your post, took a key and unliked.

On their behalf I thank you for the keys

Hmmm, cheers for letting us know, Manners cost nothing people!

Next time ill ask for a DM when i give away a game.

 

[Deku]

Hmmm, cheers for letting us know, Manners cost nothing people!

Next time ill ask for a DM when i give away a game.

It sucks, I am still wishing that we have a giveaway bot

 

[lashman]

It sucks, I am still wishing that we have a giveaway bot

same

 

[texhnolyze]

Aw I missed that. Cheers for the generosity though.

 

[Joe Spangle]

Played a few more hours today and I like it. Combat still hasn't quite clicked. I feel like there is input lag a lot of the time. Made some progress through the first level and I'm enjoying the atmosphere and lore. Definitely has that souls vibe but is its own spin on it which is nice.

 

[Deku]

Thanks to Joe Spangle, who gave me a key despite the two others keys were given before, I got the chance to try this game. I haven't played much yet. I believe this is the second souls like game I played, the first one being The Surge, which was way too difficult for me. Shattered seems to be easier, the enemies weren't that difficult to defeat.
What I haven't figured is to parry right before the enemies attack. Either I parry too early or too late. The enemies attack too fast.
It would be nice that the things that you can interact would be more distinct than. Right now I am kinda guessing if levers are interactable or not

 

[lashman]

Thanks to @Joe Spangle, who gave me a key despite the two others keys were given before

 

[Joe Spangle]

I am enjoying this game but there are a few little issues that bug me a bit. Combat still feels off. I am relying more on zapping dudes with the magi bolt from a distance. I like the world and movement seems good, nice double jump. If you sprint and then jump though you lose all momentum which is weird. Also the invert Y axis checkbox doesn't save when i re-start the game so that's a bit annoying. Im assuming this is made by a small team though so i can forgive a few polish issues and for the price i'd say its well worth it.

 

[texhnolyze]

I just started playing earlier thanks to the generousity of Joe Spangle .

First thing that I noticed is that I agree that the parry timing is off, like it's pretty hard to pull it off I end up giving up on it and start dodging enemy attacks instead. Also, I died a bunch of times already in the starting area, and the most of them are from falling to the abyss. On the positive notes, movement feels great and I love the artstyle. Combat is quite easy as expected so I'm not complaining. I'm still very early too so who knows.

 

[Joe Spangle]

You guys are very welcome. I like to share when i have the means.

I made some good progress today and have got to a significant part (i think).

Liking it a lot but yeah, the combat is not my favourite. It has enough other elements to keep me interested though. Also find the side camera platforming a little bit frustrating at times. Its a nice idea but im not sold on it yet.

 

[Deku]

So I have finally put some time to play this game after playing Code Vein

• This game certainly need more polishing. For example the camera. Sometimes during fights with enemies in a tight environment you won't be able to see what's happening.
• Sometimes I hit invisible walls.
• The game tells you almost nothing on where you have to. I almost missed a boss fight if I didn't go back to check what a door led to.
• The boss that I almost missed sometimes used several attacks at the same time so it's near impossible to dodge all attacks.
• It's also almost impossible to parry attacks since there is no way to tell if that about to strike an attack. Dodge rolling is the only way to avoid to get it hit

In summary it's not a good souls like game. But since I always finish games that I started I am not going to drop the game. Dunno how much I have left.