Arkane seems to be moving away from traditional non-linear games to more open and expansive ones. We saw it with Deathloop, their most open ended game at the time that challenged Arkane to make a game that forced players to play in a new way.
Redfall further expands upon that idea as it is a fully open world game that will seemingly let players play how they want.
This article interviews leads at Arkane who discuss Deathlooop and the evolution of Arkane.
Do you like where Arkane is going? Or do you wish they were still making the same games.
Prey wasn’t linear and outside of the respawning enemies, that type of design fit their sandbox mechanics extremely well. I’d only be concerned if they said they would simplify and streamline their game design to become more accessible. Immersive sim philosphies could make open world games better. Right now, the biggest issue with open world is how formulaic each of them feel after 10 hours.
Nope , I dont like this . I thought that Zenimax was making Arkane move away from their immersive sim formula , forcing them to make games based on “market trends” . So when MS bought them , I was really happy because Arkane wont have to worry about sales anymore and will actually go back to their Dishonored formula ( even a lot of PS fans saw this as the only silver lining in the acquisition ) . So them still going away from their dishonored formula sucks .
Arkane make some really good game and I do not believe anyone is forcing them to make a certain type of game. I was concerned at first when I thought Redfall was a multi-player game first and foremost. That I would of been very concerned. But it a Solo game first with a story that Arkane is known for. As long the story io good and the gameplay is good. I be very happy. Also, sometime the Devs in these studios want to do something deferent. And I will always support that.
It’s fair concern based on the title of the article however when reading the context, I don’t think it means what some people will assume it means.
From the article:
“In Dishonored, we had this consequence system that some people took as a morality system, which is at odds with that philosophy,” says Bakaba. “There is definitely a right way to play there, because there’s one that gets me a green checkmark…"
He then describes Deathloop as non-linear. Redfall will be their 4th different game design in a row despite maintaining immersive sim elements. Their last 3 games will be non linear. I don’t think this means Arkane stops being Arkane.
With that said, I did have similar concerns that Redfall may be too mainstreamed as it was greenlit before the acquisition when the studio was in a bit of trouble. We’ll have to wait and see if that concern is valid.
I can see the devs not wanting to make the same game forever plus it’s normal for a studio like Arkane to want to try new things. Immersive sims have to change or expand at some point or the genre will become too predictable and stale…if anything immersive sims are more like a design philosophy than a specific structure so I think that their unique qualities can find their way into more genres/different designs which is where I see Arkane is going next.
With UE only recently updating to UE5 features, very few if any games originally targeting 2022 will likely leverage those features. Without developers targeting and mastering those new engine features, it’s essentially a UE4 game. Who knows if the delay will allow for next gen enhancements though I suspect the impact would be minimal if any.
I really don’t want to even start worrying about anything, I’m getting so tired of that. I loved Dishonored and I wish we’d get a third one, and if that happens it will probably be non linear anymore. Like others have said though, Prey wasn’t exactly linear, so if they stick with that I am fine.
But that being said I DO hope they continue making what they do best, singleplayer games. Redfall is said to be one, but is it singleplayer first, multiplayer second? Like a Borderlands, Dying Light? Or is it definitely more aimed to play with others? Taking the wait and see approach here.
Was so glad when Arkane along with the others joined the family because exactly of their SP expertise, if that keeps coming…we good.
