The world of roleplaying games (RPGs) is dominated by a few select developers near the top of the pile. Studios like Bioware, Bethesda, and Square Enix obviously come to mind as historical pioneers and juggernauts of massive, sprawling, roleplaying adventure titles, but all of those studios have embraced the modern era of RPG development.
inXile Entertainment on the other hand, along with Obsidian Entertainment and Larian Studios, are keeping old-school RPGs alive.
Less than a week ahead of the release of Torment: Tides of Numenera, the much-awaited Kickstarter-funded spiritual successor to the legendary Planescape: Torment, inXile have announced a brand new game, this time designed specifically for virtual reality (VR). Even more specifically, designed just for the Oculus Rift with Touch.
Simply titled The Mage’s Tale, it’s an immersive, first-person dungeon crawler RPG that takes place in the same universe as The Bard’s Tale. Stylistically, it brings back Ultima, Wizardry, Might & Magic, and Elder Scrolls 1 & 2 vibes. We can only hope for something with that same level of quality and creativity. At least visually, we can clearly tell that it’s aiming to keep that breathtaking and beautiful style intact.
“When I was a kid our dungeons consisted of playing Dungeons and Dragons on graph paper. From there I graduated to playing classic computer games in black and white like Wizardry, which inspired me to create a full color dungeon crawl with Bard’s Tale. The window for the players kept getting bigger, the graphics more advanced, and now with The Mage’s Tale, we are inside the dungeon,” said Brian Fargo, dungeon crawler expert and CEO of inXile Entertainment in a prepared statement.
In The Mage’s Tale, players become conjurors in a quest to rescue your master from the evil Gaufroi. There are 11 dungeons ranging from tombs to sewers, scattered with dangerous enemies and tricky puzzles. You’ll be equipped with fireball spells, ice javelins, and more, all cast using the Oculus Touch motion controllers.
We don’t have an exact release date or price yet, but The Mage’s Tale is expected to launch this year in 2017 for the Oculus Rift with Touch. UploadVR will be going hands-on with the game at GDC next week.
What has you most interested in this new game? Let us know in the comments below!
