Yearly Archives: 2018

Pathfinder: Kingmaker Interview with Writer Chris Avellone

Questions by Andrew Skelton (Outfoxed)
Answers by Chris Avellone (Writer for Pathfinder: Kingmaker)

We fell in love with Pathfinder: Kingmaker at PAX West 2018. So when we were offered an opportunity to follow up with an interview with the game’s writer, Chris Avellone – who has an extensive history in game design and writing for some of the genre’s biggest RPGs – we couldn’t pass it up.

Pathfinder Kingmaker Key Art

Many people might not know the lore behind Pathfinder. How did this affect your writing in terms of setting and characterization?

While lore is important, it’s not as important as players having a direction to pursue and knowing what challenge they currently face at any particular moment.

To explain, the example I often cite is Game of Thrones – while it might be way too much to absorb all of the Game of Thrones lore at once, what makes it digestible is in every scene (in the book or TV show) the adversary and the stakes are clearly outlined. It’s done in a way where the reader can make sense of the situation and decide where they want to stand … and often, the player learns more of the lore from the challenge outlined.

If you keep building upon this structure, you often have the chance to introduce increasingly complex lore by giving the players a chance to interact with it – say, by meeting characters tied to facets of lore, or quests that reveal some of the depths of some of the region’s secrets that might be obscure if you simply read it in a book.

What would you say were some of the more lesser known influences on your work for the game?

There was enough in the current Pathfinder lore to draw upon, that I don’t think I drew much beyond the actual setting itself because there’s so much there already.

I was familiar with the sourcebooks, some of the comics, the goblin concepts, and I did do some research on other goblin presentations in other games and media (including Styx), but overall, it was all stemming from Pathfinder itself and from the “Kingmaker” adventure path (see below).

Did you face any particular challenges bridging the story to all of the aspects Kingmaker offers?

The story of Kingmaker comes from the pen-and-paper adventure path (“adventure path” is a series of modules in the Pathfinder franchise that you can play in sequence from level 1 to level 20 or so).

The challenge was to take that adventure, and with the Owlcat team, decide what to flesh out in more detail (some of the NPCs in the pen-and-paper Kingmaker only have a brief mention, so detailing them out, including dialogue and character arcs, is a big task) and also what to retain to make players familiar with the module see the familiar touchstones they may have experienced, yet also adding new elements (and a new chapter) to add more to the adventure so that even veterans will have something new to experience.

Jubilost

What part, if any, did you play in making sure character alignment played a role?

It’s important, not just for your kingdom, but for companion personalities as well. Since Kingmaker allows you to embrace creating an evil character, there needs to be a range of evil (or evil-tolerant) companions to draw upon to round out your party. If you’re allowing for evil (and if you embrace role-playing and player choices, you should), then evil needs to have its fair share of content, too.

Do you think there’s a hurdle in crafting a story commonly found from a pen-and-paper game to a video game?

Absolutely. The trick becomes balancing implementing the familiar, existing material – and deciding what to keep vs. what new elements you want to add to the experience.

We had one advantage in that the inclusion of the companions added a brand-new story layer (they are well-integrated with the plot) and when their agendas and motivations are taken into account, the narrative became much richer for it.

Who was your favorite companion and why?

Octavia’s the nicest (Tristian comes a close second in nice-ness), but I like Jubilost because frankly, he’s such a huge jerk. It’s fun to interact with him – and if necessary, put him in his place.

Do you have future plans to write additional story content for Kingmaker?

It’s not currently planned, no, but I do hope Owlcat gets to do more with the franchise. I’m proud to have worked with them and the game, and would gladly work with them again. 🙂

Without spoiling too much (difficult I know), what was the most surprising thing you had to come up with for the story?

Without giving any spoilers, I’ll answer this in a high-level manner: It’s often a challenge as a game designer to add creatures and challenges to a computer game. This is because the more art assets that are involved in the content (character models, animation, spells), the harder it is to pull it off – so if you can find ways to leverage existing creatures and art in new ways (which I always think is fun to do as a designer), you can pull off some surprising encounters that players may otherwise take for granted. I don’t want to say too much about it here, but if you play the game, it’ll become apparent how we made this happen, and I’m pretty pleased with the instances we implemented.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker Shows Off Its Character Creation

It’s clear that Deep Silver has worked very hard to keep Pathfinder’s expansive rule-set viable in their CRPG, Pathfinder: Kingmaker. In the video they showcase a halfling barbarian in an effort to demonstrate that the important question when making a character isn’t “is it possible?” but rather “how do I make it happen?” A strong focus is placed on allowing players to experience the game the way they want, whether that means a halfling barbarian, or a party of six wizards.

Resident Evil 2 Remake Offers Up A Story Trailer

Leon and Claire return in a stunning remake and update of one of the most popular titles in the Resident Evil franchise, Resident Evil 2. Key components of the story remain the same, but it might not play out exactly as you remember. The controls will be vastly improved as well, with the new engine. This classic zombie shoot-em-up seems to be a no-brainer. The game will hit shelves January 25, 2019

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remaster Gets A Trailer At TGS

Originally released for Nintendo’s Gamecube, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is getting dusted off, shined up, and re-released for the Nintendo Switch and Playstation 4, and it’s gorgeous. Originally playable multiplayer only via connecting Gameboy Advance units to the Gamecube console, the remastered version will allow online multiplayer, opening up this difficult to use aspect of the game considerably.

No exact date has been given for this ARPG classic, but we’ll see it sometime in 2019.

Warhammer: Chaosbane Reveals New Gameplay Trailer

Warhammer: Chaosbane is an upcoming hack ‘n’ slash Warhammer title, where players dive deep into the Old World, at the heart of the Great War against Chaos. Each class in the game will have unique skills and playstyles, and whether players cooperate online or locally, synergy and teamwork will be key to wiping out the Chaos threat and saving the Empire of Man. Chaosbane is also the first ARPG to take place in Warhammer Fantasy, players will embody either a human, high elf, wood elf, or a dwarf, and discover several iconic locations such as the cursed city of Praag, or the city of Nuln, which was the capital of the Empire at the time in which the Chaosbane story is set. No release date was given but is scheduled out in 2019 for consoles and PC.

Long before the reign of our glorious Karl Franz, the bloodthirsty tribes of the North united and invaded the Empire of Man. The Great War Against Chaos raged on, up until Magnus the Pious rallied the citizens of Nuln, resisted the enemy and defeated the Chaos leader, known as ‘The Everchosen’, scattering the invaders in the process. But the forces of Chaos have crawled back from the shadows to strike at the Empire. Unless something is done, the Empire of Man will again descend into darkness and turmoil.”

Dead or Alive 6 Bolsters List of Fan Favorites

DOA 6 new characters

Koei Tecmo recently announced that Dead or Alive 6, the latest entry in the popular fighting series is arriving on February 15th, 2019. To coincide with that, they announced several fan-favorite characters that will be returning to the series. The first announced was Ayane. Ordered to hunt down her half-sister, Kasumi, Ayane’s Mugen Tenshin Hajinmon style of Ninjutsu is as fierce as it gets. The “Killer Kunoichi” is joined by is the Swedish martial-artist Marie Rose. The “Wicked Lil’ Servant” has a Russian Military style and uses a series of tricky moves to outmaneuver her opponents, taking them down.

Next up is the “Super-Secret Fighter Chick” known as Honoka. This 18-year-old fan of professional wrestling and martial arts movies invented her own fighting style known as Honoka Fu. While in her Hissatsu-no-Kamae stance, she is imbued with unbelievable strength.  The last character to join is former professional assassin, Bayman. Known as “The Man Who Overcame Death,” Bayman stands inside the ring with the same kind of coldhearted professionalism that made him such a successful mercenary thanks to his devastatingly-dangerous skills in Combat Sambo. They also debuted in Tokyo the new “LOST PARADISE” stage, where players will contend with massive eggs, Pteradons and a mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex.

JUMP FORCE Reveals Collector’s Edition and Season Pass Details

JUMP FORCE - GAMESCOM 2018 TRAILER _ X1, PS4, PC - YouTube

Launching in February 2019, Jump Force is a celebration of 50 years of Shonen Jump Magazine. It will feature some of the most popular Shonen characters of all time, from Goku, Luffy, and Naruto. The game will launch with a Season Pass offer that adds nine new characters to the game’s impressive lineup. Bandai Namco also revealed the contents of the Collector’s Edition of the game, which retails for $259.99. It contains:

  • Exclusive 30cm tall diorama statue of Luffy, Naruto and Goku
  • Jump Force software
  • Exclusive Steelbook case
  • 3 art boards

A closed beta test is scheduled for JUMP FORCE October 12-14th for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 computer entertainment system. Registration for the closed beta test will run from September 20-October 7th at the following URL.