Expeditions: Viking Announced - Sequel to Historical RPG Expeditions: Conquistador
Copenhagen, Denmark -- May 20th, 2015 -- Danish indie developer Logic Artists today announced they have begun development on the second installment in their historical RPG Expeditions series, Expeditions: Viking. Set in the late 700’s A.D., Expeditions: Viking is a tactical RPG where players inherit the leadership of their clan and are charged with elevating their clan’s status by adventuring in far away lands and defending their home from their enemies both foreign and domestic.
With the announcement, Logic Artists has also revealed some details about the game. Building from the original designs of their first game Expeditions: Conquistador the Logic Artists team have also taken player suggestions to heart. Announcing that the Expeditions Sequel will have an upgradable player village which they must return to between expeditionary raids to build and protect. Over-land travel and combat will now exist as part of the same layer. Transitioning from unrestricted exploratory movement to turn-based combat smoothly. Additionally players will see their player character manifested in the game world not just as a Role-playing character for conversations and decision making (As was in the first of the Expeditions Series), but also visibly represented in travel and combat as a custom character.
“We are very excited to return to our roots in the RPG genre, and as developers from the Nordic region, to make a game in a setting that is a lot closer to home than anything we've done before”, said Jonas Wæver, Creative Director for Logic Artists.“We're improving on the Conquistador formula with deeper and more dynamic systems for character progression, combat abilities, role-playing, choice and consequence, and expanding on our favorite part of Conquistador: camping and wilderness survival”.
Expeditions: Viking is a Historically-themed RPG set in the Viking Age. As the new leader of a humble clan of farmers and fighters players must adventure into the unknown lands to the west to raid and/or trade their way to wealth, fame and glory. Will you rewrite history as a peaceful and benevolent trader? Or pave your road to Valhalla with the treasures and bones of your fallen enemies? Experience choice and consequence as never before in the much awaited addition to the Expeditions Series, Expeditions: Viking.
Last edited by lolozaur on Wed, 20th May 2015 11:40; edited 2 times in total
When Expeditions: Conquistador was released in 2013 after a successful Kickstarter campaign, developer Logic Artists danced on the line between strategy and RPG. Since that title’s release, the studio has taken feedback from fans to ultimately make the bold decision to convert the series into a full-fledged RPG.
Viking won’t eliminate the strategy elements of its predecessor. Instead, Logic Artists has found a way to adjust those to fit its vision for the sequel.
“Conquistador always had about as many RPG elements as it had strategy elements, so our approach has been to extrapolate the major RPG elements and to make them bigger, deeper, and more compelling,” creative director Jonas Wæver told us. “Ultimately, Viking still has to feel like a sequel to Conquistador, even though it’s a much more focused game in some respects, so instead of just cutting all the strategy-features from Conquistador, we’ve tried to find ways to twist those features in a more RPG-ish direction.”
Some of the changes that make Viking feel more like an RPG are in presentation. For instance, discreet areas that you'll be able to explore are connected by a 2D overworld map that fans of Fallout and Fallout 2 will be familiar.
One of the most compelling elements though, is the setting. The Viking age isn’t one we see often. Wæver says there are benefits and challenges to working in this time period.
“The Viking age is both really easy and really challenging to deal with historically because written accounts are so sparse and so biased – the Norse didn’t really write a whole lot, since brevity is of the essence when you have to chisel your words into stones!” he says. “This gives us a lot of freedom to choose our own approach to the historical elements, but it also makes it difficult to find trustworthy sources to rely on for shaping our game world. Fortunately there are tons and tons of archaeological sources about the Viking age, so we’ve been relying on a lot of that to get the clothing, the architecture, the tools and weapons, and the ships just right.”
The story will focus on interpersonal relationships and the conflicts and alliances among the tribes. Wæver says he and his team are fortunate that Tolkien’s work was rooted in Northern European lore and gamers will have a touchstone when they play Viking. The narrative is full of political intrigue, though in the harsh setting the Vikings endured. The game will begin as your father is murdered and you are thrust into the role of leader. Other tribes will attempt to exploit the situation, so you'll gather those loyal to you and set off for England.
From there, you’ll have choices. You can take the stereotypical path and plunder the land, or you can earn the trust of the locals and bring an overwhelming force back home to take back what’s yours.
Players will be part of a small group, though you’ll be able to hire mercenaries (that you can create) to beef up your forces. Conquistador featured a personality trait system that will carry over to Viking, giving your party members' opinions and reactions to the decisions you make.
The game will also feature a flexible class system. You’ll be able to pick and choose from the available skills, and the game will assign a label that fits your profile. While Viking is historically rooted, there will be more fantastical elements as well.
Witchcraft isn’t magic per se, instead dealing in poisons and curses. The latter of these impacts superstitious enemies instilling status effects. It’s an interesting approach that takes into account the cultural beliefs of the era while retaining its historical foundation.
Looks nice. Seems more RPG aspects this time with the running around in town for example.
But watching the combat makes me dizzy. Thanks to the camera that auto centeres on newly selected units or follows movement of them. I hope yo can disable it.
Enthoo Evolv ATX TG // Asus Prime x370 // Ryzen 1700 // Gainward GTX 1080 // 16GB DDR4-3200
Well, I can't wait for this game. I hope they will make all the decision to actually make a difference in game. Who should I kill? Spare? Banish? Maybe most of the game could be talk out? It is looking good, that is for sure. So high hopes I have...
harballaz wrote:
Hey dont be so hard the little console eunuchs, they need time to aim their lil vibratin thumbstick.
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