From The Witcher series to Fable, there are plenty of must-play, third-person fantasy RPGs out there. Most of the time, though, these grand experiences with their huge open worlds, thousands of lines of dialogue, and intricate combat and skill systems need a lot of resources. Imagine my surprise, then, when I saw Of Ash and Steel – a newly-revealed contender in the genre created by a small team of developers at indie studio Fire and Frost. Despite the size of the operation, this looks and feels like a project that’s aiming to take on the triple-A big guns, judging by its remarkable reveal trailer.
Of course, over the years many of the best indie games have been RPGs, but it’s rare to see one as ambitious as Of Ash and Steel. It’s also rare to see one show off a substantial chunk of gameplay so soon after its reveal – do you remember how long it took us to see more than a brief moment of gameplay from the new Fable game?
Of Ash and Steel’s five-minute-long reveal trailer begins with some developers in medieval attire giving an overview of the game. Then it dives into a decent cinematic trailer. ‘Oh, here we go again,’ I thought. ‘Another freshly-announced project that promises the world, puts out a flashy cinematic, and then scurries away for years before showing us anything that truly reflects what we’ll play.’ Consider my pessimism quickly undone when the trailer ended with over a minute of pretty impressive gameplay.
Of Ash and Steel takes place on a once-prosperous island where life is now incredibly harsh and dangerous. In terms of its approach to world building and immersion, it takes inspiration from the great RPGs of the 2000s, but packages it in a more modern and dynamic open world. It looks amazing in the trailer and in screenshots, and will have a day-night cycle and evolving weather systems too. Fire and Frost promises that the world is “full of hidden treasures, underwater caves, side quests and bosses, and valuable loot. Some of these can be found with a treasure map, while others with pure luck.” Exploring this isle will require some real effort too. “The game has no marker system, and quests won’t lead you by the hand,” the developer says.
Third-person combat also looks remarkably good, even from this early look at the gameplay. There are bows, swords, and a large war hammer-style weapon all on show, but that’s just the base of what’s on offer. There are three different combat stances with unique styles for different weapons, magical elements are incorporated, and there are dynamic finisher moves as well.
Your character can be customized by taking abilities from three different “skill branches” – survival, craftsmanship, and war. As you rank up your skills and ascend from relative nobody to mighty warrior, NPCs will also react differently to you. While they might doubt your abilities at the start of the game, later down the line you could find them kneeling before you.
For an indie studio, this is a pretty ambitious game – one I normally wouldn’t feel too optimistic about, if I’m honest. But at a first look, it does seem to already be delivering on a lot of the promising things that Fire and Frost is saying. Of course, even this gameplay footage is heavily curated, but it’s a lot more than I was expecting to see of a newly-announced RPG like this one.
Of Ash and Steel currently has no release date. However, you can learn more about it and wishlist the game over on its Steam page here. Until we get to see more of it, keep yourself entertained with these amazing fantasy games and medieval games.
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