The Chosen: Click, Move, Click, Fight, Click, Get Treasure. w00t!
Company: Meridian4
Meridian 4, the same people that brought you Hot Dog King and the RIP series, are now bringing you their RPG endeavour The Chosen. The Chosen tells the tale of a power-hungry sorcerer that becomes immortal by killing off the protectors of an ancient magic and bending it to his will. He then kills off all who can challenge him and enslaves their souls to do his bidding. Three Hunters from different backgrounds will challenge his control and free the souls of their people. Start off in the demo with the mission of finding a fraternity of Alchemists who can help you on your mission. Once you enter the town, you find that there is a strange magical plague and creatures who are attacking the villagers. You will have to help the villagers fend off monsters and zombies as you search for the monastery.
So right off the bat, you may feel like you have heard this story before, but there are a lot of games with similar main stories, and from there it is all about the gameplay. Depending on which Hunter you choose, they will have unique fighting styles and abilities. Might or magic, it is up to you to choose which you will use. OK, so you might even recognize the Might and Magic from the actual game, but I think we have long ago passed a critical point in fantasy RPG game development where, with little exception, the outside facade and core game mechanics are typically identical. You have to rely on the story, and your place in it to judge the game fully. With this being only a preview, we will have to wait to get our hands on the full game to decide.
The look of the game is very reminiscent of the first Neverwinter Nights. You move in the same way as well, by clicking points inside your field of view and your character will move there. Fight and cast magic with the mouse buttons. There will always be some form of shortcut key you can use on the keyboard, but you can control everything on the screen with just the mouse, allowing you to kick back with the beverage of your choice. Time will tell on this one if the story and gameplay are strong enough to beat out the stereotypes of the genre. Meridian 4 is a successful, young and growing company, so I have every confidence that we will have large and involved games when we finally get our hands on the final cut.
-WUMPUSJAGGER, GameVortex Communications AKA Bryon Lloyd
Related Links: The Chosen Meridian 4
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