Abstract
- Oaken is a model new turn-based tactical roguelike coming to Xbox consoles.
- Oaken takes place in a mystical world impressed by Celtic and tribal legends.
- Oaken’s battles happen on a hexagonal grid and are extremely tactical.
All of it begins with a tree. Oaken’s story revolves across the Nice Oak and its spirits: the Girl, a clueless, but fairly courageous little sprout – alongside along with her awakening into this whimsical world, she inherits a quest to convey again the Oaksong – a spell which has saved the inhabitants of the Oak peaceable for numerous cycles; Kidu, a fierce and unpredictable hearth Spirit, who has his very personal concepts on the right way to cope with all of this mess; and the Pathfinder – a mysterious mentor, who helps them attain their vacation spot together with many different spirit Guides found through the journey.
In most tactical roguelikes and card battlers, the battle pits “your facet” versus the “enemy facet”. In Oaken, battles are centered in your hero character who participates within the battle. Heros can summon spirits and use spells and trinkets. And you’ll in fact lose the sport in case your hero is defeated. The so-called line of sight and “motion areas” are calculated from the place of your hero. There are occasions and dialogues directed at them, and on the finish of the day it’s as much as the Girl and Kidu to resolve the battle of the story in their very own methods!
Artwork-wise, the group over at Laki Studios had enjoyable arising with these loopy and cute Spirits inhabiting the Oak. Lots of celtic and slavic folklore served as a base for the designs and the lore of Oaken. That being stated, in addition they wished to twist that base in a enjoyable, whimsical route. Video games like Rayman or Ultimate Fantasy have been additionally massive inspirations. The builders wished the design to be cute whereas remaining very mysterious and type of historic at their core.
As for the mechanics, the Laki Studios crew are self-professed massive board-game followers they usually obtained a whole lot of inspiration from bodily video games, considered one of their favorites being Neuroshima Hex . That recreation gave us the preliminary push to attempt to experiment with rotating models on a hexagonal grid. They then tried to make use of essentially the most enjoyable facets of card video games like Hearthstone and Faeria, blended with the good roguelite and tactical facets of Into the Breach. So you may clearly say that Oaken was created by mixing tons of various parts!
Talking of mechanics, each unit in Oaken has a “entrance” and “again”, and may rotate in considered one of six hexagonal instructions. Relying on their place and rotation, they’ll use a number of skills, backstabs, dodges, fees – there’s loads of placement, motion and assault actions to outsmart your enemy. Don’t get fooled by the lovable artwork type although! Oaken is a troublesome tactical recreation even on commonplace issue. We’re fairly assured than battle examined gamers will discover the upper issue ranges to be fairly difficult!
That being stated, the builders additionally wished to be sure that Oaken shouldn’t be overly advanced on the primary playthrough whereas additionally being arduous sufficient for demanding gamers! They launched a system referred to as Skills and Masteries that permits gamers to progressively improve the problem as they make progress into the sport. And as a technique to additionally help gamers who’re primarily right here for the story and are purely into relaxed gameplay, in addition they added a Relaxed mode.
We’re effectively conscious that there are a lot of Tactical and roguelikes on the market. Oaken locations the next emphasis on positioning and particularly rotation because the group discovered that to be one thing underutilized within the style. Laki Studios additionally labored very arduous on Oaken’s character design. Each spirit within the recreation went by means of an in depth strategy of design, from a number of idea arts to polished illustrations. In addition they paid particular care to the sport’s world constructing. It’s coherent and logical and has been in improvement for years. Oaken’s story in regards to the cute spirits has precise which means. However to study extra about that, gamers should get the sport!
Ported to Xbox consoles by Pink Artwork Studios, Oaken is coming to Xbox Collection X|S and Xbox One on July 20. Pre-order Oaken on the Microsoft Retailer and get 20% off its full value.
