Focus Home Interactive has released the second episode of its webseries for their upcoming tactical horror game, Othercide. Episode two, “Fighting Shadows”, runs through some more of the background behind the game. Fans will get a look at how the system of combat in the game has changed over time, and how the developers plan to make more changes.
Focus Home Interactive has been working with developer Lightbulb Crew to make some very substantial changes to the combat system found in typical turn-based games in this genre. The more traditional turn-based system has now morphed into something called the Dynamic Timeline System. This new approach offers a much more immersive combat experience, and a thematic way of communicating choice and consequence to the player.
The core of the focus with combat in this game is about working with your “Daughters” and using their unique abilities to accomplish various goals. The web series episode, titled “Fighting Shadows” goes into more detail on this. But, here’s the basic setup. Players will have to do battle with the Suffering, a strangely unknown enemy, over the course of the story. As that conflict intensifies, more and more strange happenings start to occur.
With the story advancing, the timeline seems to become more unstable. As players try to navigate a dying timeline and the impacts of that, the world will begin to twist and unravel. The dark tone of the game is very much reinforced by this, becoming more sinister as the game goes on. The Suffering, Daughters and all of the other characters all have their own unique styles, very much a choice by the team to immerse the player in the minds of the characters. It seems like the mental state of the characters could shift as the story gets worse as well. Very interesting choice overall.
The game will include a variety of challenging enemies and bosses, each with their own abilities, actions and counters. Having to take on these beasts won’t be easy, but it’s necessary to undo the damage caused by the Suffering. You will need to keep track of your abilities and plan ahead for their use to outsmart these vicious enemies. Combat in Othercide is something special.
Check out episode 2 of the Othercide web series down below. Othercide is due for release on PC at the end of the month on July 28.
