Celestian Tales: Old North is heading into romantically heavy territory in its Kickstarter pitch, but it’s one we’re willing to stay a while and listen to. The PC RPG from Indonesian devs Ekuator Games will be split into three parts hopes to delve into serious choices and stories of each of its six main characters, similar to Odin Sphere, and the hard picks of the past will carry on into the future.
The game is intended to span some three decades of in-game time, after all. You can also try out a very early prototype out on their main site if you’re split.
Combat is expected to be a turn-based affair, with the ability to custom-build characters as they grow. There’s also expected to be less of it, with the devs promising that every fight therefore will have “real, threatening challenges”.
In fact, say the devs, running away is an option due to a reputation system—mass genocide of fairies probably doesn’t sit well with the elves you’re on the way to visit. To beef up such concepts, every character shares the same experience pool and levels up together. As someone who’s swapped back and forth between difficulty settings in Bravely Default to avoid combat or grind as necessary, this sounds great.
Each character’s stories will be told from their perspectives and with what they know—which could lead to some very cool dialogues filled with double meanings known only to players. Choices and time will also affect characters differently. Will Aria Geraldine, staunch follower of the Deus, remain strong in her faith by the end of the game? The gentle art style also helps, evoking a medieval style that isn’t too high-fantasy. I’m actually sorta reminded of Ragnarok Online for some reason with it.
We were also interested to note how much the game’s developed in the short time since its original bid and the new version, which you can see above. Kickstarter goals, too, they claim, will allow them to evolve and add cool stuff such as better animations without, so they hope, affecting delivery dates.
As of press, Celestian Tales: Old North’s already been funded and is well on its way to getting to its stretch goals. You can back it here.
