If I had to bet money on what Quantic Dream's next game would be, it's fair to say that I'd be out of pocket, especially after the announcement that Spellcasters Chronicles will be an action MOBA full of titans, Swamp Witches, and little guys.
"Quantic Dream has been innovating in games since 1997, starting with The Nomad Soul—for those who can remember it—it was one of the first, maybe the first, open world, free city," associate game director Greg Diaconu says during a first look presentation.
"Then for Heavy Rain, we developed a genre that we called interactive drama that put emotion and narration at the centre of the experience. And we have been doing interactive dramas of that kind for the last few projects. But we also want to keep on innovating, creating things that challenge us."
Spellcasters Chronicles is a competitive PvP MOBA with teams of three players taking on the role of a powerful mage. Matches will take place in an arena full of hidden treasures, summoning areas, and then the centre of the fight, each team's life stone.
These are positions on either side of the map, with several summoning towers placed between them. Players must capture these towers to summon more creatures and buildings closer to the enemy's base so they can destroy their life stone and win the game.
But you don't have to go about this on your own. Alongside your two teammates, you can summon little critters, buildings, and even giant titans to help you get the job done. "The Titans are like your ultimate creatures that take some time to actually be able to summon, and they're extremely strong," producer Laura Courouble says. Seeing the Titans for the first time is quite the experience, as you can glide along beside them and watch as they wreak mayhem on everything in their path.
"One key element is that it's third person," Diaconu says. "Rather than going with a top-down view, or more traditional views for this type of game, we wanted to put you in the heart of the battlefield. And what's great about flying is that it gives you, as a player, a great view of what's happening on the battlefield. Give you a strategic view."
"The other element that we really pushed for is the deck-building aspect. So rather than going with a typical hero-based only game. We also wanted players to be creative and to see how they could create the perfect synergy between some spells and some of their spellcasters."
At the start of every match, you can fill four slots with spells which can deal damage or support your armies, summonable grunts, or buildings that you can construct during games. "It's really up to you, or you want to really forge your style and forge your gameplay," Diaconu says. "At launch, we are going to have about 60 creatures, spells, and buildings, with more coming, which will add more possibilities for players."
The grunts you summon will attack whatever is in front of them, be it enemy summoning tower, giant titans, or other little grunts. "You can have up to 600 creatures on the battlefield summoned by the players," Diaconu explains. Matches only last around 25 minutes, so you need to make your summons count in the time you have.
Aside from pitching titans against one another, there's also a story that'll unravel as players experience Spellcasters Chronicles. The devs didn't go into much detail, saying that it's a conversation for another time, but we have got a couple of hints as to how the narrative will progress, and it's rather surprising.
"Some exceptional spellcasters will have the ability to alter fate, to create miracles, to change the future of the world, and to decide what path they want to put the world on, which future they want to favour," Diaconu says. This is to say that apparently, the top rung of players will have some control over major narrative decisions.
Needless to say, it all seems like a bit of a leap, but one I'm excited to watch play out. "I know Quantic Dream is very well known for our PvP multiplayer games," Courouble jokes. "When we think of Quantic Dream, a very specific image of what one of our games looks like comes up—this is a huge swing away from that."
But Spellcasters Chronicles didn't just come out of nowhere—it's been in the works over at Quantic Dream for seven years now. "It's a very small project, and a very atypical story," Diaconu says. "It started as a prototype. After we finished Detroit: Become Human, we had some downtime," and this is what the devs "wanted to focus on."
"I'm as surprised as you are to be able to show it to you honestly, but I'm super excited."
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