6/19/2023 0 Comments Broken roads![]() ![]() They want all the encounters on the world map to feel unique with the RNG only applied to their discovery chance. The developers are adamant about respecting the player’s time and intelligence – as of now, there will be zero grind, no cookie-cutter random combat encounters, or scenarios where the player is sent back and forth between locations to artificially extend the length of the game. I got to know that each combat encounter will be handcrafted and will add something to the game - bold claims from a debutant studio but it’s evident that Drop Bear Bytes are pretty confident in their design philosophy. But since it’s the apocalypse, you will have to fight your way out of messy situations every once in a while. There will be lots of questlines entirely devoid of combat and many situations where combat is skippable, provided you pass the required skillchecks. For this, Broken Roads uses an X-COM inspired turn and party-based combat system much like the recent Shadowrun RPGs. While the game plans to feature fewer combat encounters than let’s say, Wasteland 3, it won’t be like Disco Elysium where combat is practically non-existent. Craig, like most players, loves combat in his RPGs but feels the need for a balance between the two. But that isn’t to say that combat is not a part of the experience. Broken Roads will primarily be a narrative-driven game with a handcrafted world that encourages the player to set out on adventures and experience their fresh take on the apocalypse.īeing a narrative-heavy game, Broken Roads puts less emphasis on all-out combat scenarios unlike some of its peers. ![]() Drop Bear Bytes acknowledges this universal truth and hopes to make a game that’s well within their scope, but one that also maximizes their full potential. If 30 years of RPG history has taught us one thing, it’s that things have a habit of going overboard even for the most promising project – resulting in a troubled development cycle and in turn, a messy game. One of the biggest pitfalls when making an RPG, or any game for that matter is failing to realize the scope and limitations of the project. While the lore and references will be instantly recognizable to Australian residents, the team assured me that real locations, places, and stories indigenous to the Never Never will be presented to newcomers in a welcoming manner, much like AtomTeam’s ATOM RPG. I’ve been told that the team is consulting with aboriginal cultural experts to make the indigenous content as authentic and respectful as possible. The developers are taking this opportunity to not just tell a post-nuclear tale but also explore its numerous myths and legends while constantly teasing and testing the player’s ideals and moral threshold. While the game tips its hat to classic films like Mad Max, A Boy, and His Dog, Threads, and Stalker, it’s heavily inspired by Cold War and post-Cold War era movies in which the threat of nuclear annihilation is really front and center, as well as post-Plato philosophical ideologies.įor example, the Outback wasteland in Broken Roads is ominously called the Never Never, as described in Barcroft Boake’s poem “ Where the Dead Men Lie“. Broken Roads – initially conceptualized as a post-nuclear Heroes of Might and Magic style game, ditched the strategy and resource management elements in favor of a narrative-driven isometric RPG early on. Now, if you say oh it’s set in Australia, so it must be like Mad Max, you couldn’t be further from the truth. ![]() ![]() Here’s what I found out! Trouble Down Underīroken Roads, at its core, is a traditional isometric RPG that puts you in a criminally-underused Western Australian setting in the aftermath of the apocalypse. Recently, I got to pick the brain of Craig Ritchie, the founder and game director of Drop Bear Bytes regarding the game they have been making since early 2019. Broken Roads is expected to launch for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in late 2021. All the classic CRPG tropes such as overworld exploration, questing, combat, adventuring with companions, unexpected encounters, and a sense of discovery are present in the game, all the while featuring some gorgeous art by Kerstin Evans. Broken Roads, the debut title from Drop Bear Bytes (what an assortment of random cool words) aims to do the same for the RPG genre - standing on the shoulders of genre classics such as Fallout, Baldur’s Gate, and Planescape: Torment while challenging players with complex moral choices in an original setting. ![]()
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