As an isometric action RPG,Farsidersis on a well-trodden path with decades of predecessors showing what works and what doesn’t within the genre. Thaiindie gamestudio Ghost Gambit took this to heart when developing its game and looked to many past titles during development in order to hone in on the features and gameplay mechanics that are historically successful, as well as some things they felt could use some extra attention.
In an interview with Game Rant,Farsidersdeveloper Tanakom Viphavaphanich spoke about the facets of game design that he felt were most important in order to make a proper fun action RPG. In particular, he referred to how a broad set of skills and more involved movement have typically been lacking throughout the genre. He also pointed out that visual and audio feedback during combat are critical details that can make a huge difference in how satisfying the experience is.
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Farsiders Wants Players to Have More Abilities Than Most Action RPGs
Viphavaphanich said that movement can be a tough nut to crack when it comes to eventhe best isometric gamesdue to the lack of a third dimension, and that these games tend to limit how many abilities players have access to in order to make things manageable. Seeking to improve these common shortcomings, theFarsidersteam opted for a sizeable card-based “grimoire” of collectible spells and abilities to define player builds, and various movement mechanics are deeply tied to the game’s encounters.
Yes, for example,Darksiders Genesis. This is a great game from a good IP, but I feel like they don’t use a lot of variety in this kind of isometric action game. It’s kind of one-dimensional. At first, we were like that as well because we focused on auto attack, but we feel that it’s just too normal. It’s just been like this forever, so we want to have this spell cast system that will play an important part in how you defeat enemies, timing your skills, landing your skills, mixing and matching builds.
Isometric games tend to limit your skills and movement to a certain point, and I think most games try to play it safe and not include too much stuff for you to use. We’ve passed that point, we’ve faced so many issues, but we want to give the player as many options and as much freedom as possible.
Combat inFarsidersis a visceral hack-and-slash affair that will require careful timing of skills and spell combos, and the vast array of skills allows for a surprising level of build diversity that’s somewhat uncommon outside of typicalclass-based action RPGs. Environmental gameplay such as dragons that freeze the ground to make it slippery or a boss who places players in a roulette wheel will also challenge players' skills with movement and reaction time, which is a step up from the usual “just don’t stand in the fire” style of action RPG encounters.
Farsiders Believes Audio and Visual Feedback are Critical for Satisfying Gameplay
With decades of iteration,the action RPG genrehas largely been broken down to a science when it comes to the general mechanics of combat. Viphavaphanich noted that while anyone can put together a working action game, the difference between one that’s fun to play and others that miss the mark is down to minor details, with audio and visual feedback when players kill enemies being just one example. Audio and visual effects that correspond to the player’s actions help make each kill impactful.
I think it’s the satisfaction when you kill someone. We tried a lot of stuff. First, like, when enemies die, there’s a visual effect depending on how they die. I think that those minor details make the hack-and-slash action feel good or not. It’s about how you feel when you kill the enemy. We’re still working on improving it every day, like in the early days enemies just fell down to the ground, so we changed that and tried to add more blood and other effects into it. Anyone can do action, but that detail is the part that makes a difference in action RPGs.
Feedback is a vitally important aspect of gaming as evidenced by the growing market for increasinglysophisticated haptic feedback accessoriesand controllers. Gamers want to feel every sword stroke or trigger pull, and it’s shockingly noticeable when games fail to deliver in these areas. Since this has been a core focus forFarsiders' developers, gamers will likely feel pretty good eviscerating or evaporating its cast of 30+ enemy types.
