Checking out Immortals of Aveum - Preview
The EA Originals program has delivered some pretty great games, there is the weird but delightful Lost in Random, the charming and heartbreaking It Takes Two and the monstrous and chaotic Wild Hearts. What all these games have in common is that they have a team, who are doing something a little different and fuelling their game with passion for the videogame format, so enter Ascendant Studios and Immortals of Aveum.
Electronic Arts were kind enough to invite me to a chat with just a few of the developers of the game, where I got to see around 30 minutes of dedicated gameplay, from the very early stages of the game, a little ways into the game and a fair way into it. Games that use magic always draw me in, but a game that was part magic and part shooter, well of course I was going to be intrigued.
So what is Immortals of Aveum?
The game has been described by the folks making it as a Single Player, Story Driven, Magic Shooter and all three of those aspects are what I love about games. The Single Player aspect is that you play as Jak, someone who was born without being able to use magic, but when a traumatic event happens, magic is awakened within him. But it isn’t just one of the colours of magic like everyone else, the magic in Jak makes him a Triarc, someone capable of wielding all types of magic.
The Story Driven is where the world of Aveum comes in, this is a land where magic can be seen everywhere and I mean that, as there are Ley lines that are visible in the sky. There are multiple locations within the world and while each has something different going on, most of them have been hit hard by the Everwar, something that has been raging for over 1000 years.
Due to the war, the landscape of Aveum is always shifting and changing and with that, some of the kingdoms have been left in ruins, leaving only two remaining the Lucium, of which Jak is a member of and the Rasharn, whose leader Sandrakk is leading the world to ruin. Defeating him shouldn’t be a problem, they have magic and you have magic, the catch is that Sandrakk is the only other Triarc and was the only one for a long time.
The world also has another problem, besides the planet wide war and that is the Wound, a massive crater in the middle of the continent that is slowly growing larger. The reason for it is unknown, as is why there is a giant statue in the middle of the Wound and while many people worship the Pentasard, no one knows why it’s there.
So that is the single player and the story, but what about the magic shooter part?
Ok, so that is broken into three mains areas, the Sigel combat, magical equipment and spells. The bulk of the magic is done via your Sigel, an accessory that lives on your arm and lets you shoot out magic, think a wrist mounted wand. There are three colours of magic, each has a different impact, range and use. Blue is your general magic, capable of shooting out pretty straight and dealing good amounts of damage. Red is your short range damage dealing magic, as it is more like a shotgun. The last magic type is Green and acts like an automatic rifle, firing very fast shots of magic that can also home in on targets.
Like any good game, you can upgrade your Sigel through items found in the world or via specialists in your camp. The upgrades can deal out more damage, allow for a faster recharge or combinations of them and other things. As you explore the world and upgrade it and your talents, the play style will start to become yours and give you a different experience.
Magical equipment lets you tweak your set up, maybe you put on a ring that lets you do more damage or a bonus if your health is low. These can be found or bought and will change up how encounters will play out.
You haven’t mentioned spells, what about them?
Ah spells, something that any good magic user needs to know. Here spells are broken down into two parts, there are reusable spells that have a limited impact and Furies, more dangerous spells that consume mana to use.
The reusable spells are things like Lash, which lets Jak summon a whip made of magic to pull enemies to him, or off a cliff if you are feeling particularly vicious. The Lash can also pull Jak up to new ledges, as long as there are points to attach to. These can be used to help explore the world or get around in combat.
Furies are the biggest spells that Jak can unleash and some of them are quite deadly. While there is no cooldown on using them, at least not that was shown to me, each attack takes a bit to charge up and then uses mana to execute. Mana doesn’t just restore over time, you have to find mana crystals to do that, thankfully exploration is something the game offers.
What do you mean by that?
The game has plenty of locations you can discover as you progress through the roughly 25 hour long campaign. These locations might be buried underground, hidden in caves or just out in the open. Some of them will have puzzles like hitting the switches with the right magic, others something more challenging. There are even those that you will find, that may not be welcoming to you at that time, but once you get a few skills, just like in a Metroid game, you can return to see what rewards await inside.
Obviously you can’t just wander a world and not get attacked. What are the enemies like?
Well like you they have magic, which is also cool, but they can be taken down without to much hassle, if you are paying attention. As you progress through the game, enemies will become more difficult and there are bosses to fight, like a dragon. But what makes them interesting is they will have colour alignments, like everyone else really, so if they are shooting blue magic, you have to shoot blue.
Some enemies will be powered up and able to deal out lots of damage if they hit you, so using green magic you can dodge around them, but you still need to find out their weak points, in order to take them down.
Ok, slow it down, that is a lot of information. You talk about the world, but what about the people within it?
The world is full of folks, some are on the front lines attempting to keep their country from being destroyed and thus the world, others are just living their best life. Then there are the important characters, Jak is obviously the key player as they are the player character, but they are not alone, as he will have two folks at his side once he becomes an Immortal.
The leader of the Immortals is General Kirkan, who is being played by Gina Torres. She is a strong fighter and a little bit of an optimist; she is also responsible for helping Jak take control of his magic. She is also the one who admits people into the Immortals, who are essentially the special forces of Lucium and something many magic users wish to join, including Jak. The two fighters that will eventually join in battles with Jak are Devyn, a user of green magic and Zendara who is trained in red magic. Both characters have histories, for example Devyn is the youngest green magic master in the history of Lucium and Zendara, well you will have to play the game to find that out.
The baddies are not without their allies, we know that Sandrakk is the lead bad guy and will be played by Steven Brand. As a Triarc, they are able to use all three types of magic and when he takes to the frontlines, he dominates. But as Sandrakk can’t be everywhere at once, Michelle Yeoh he aint, he sends in The Hand, a mysterious person who acts as their right hand, thus the name.
If there are more characters, the developers are keeping them quiet, but given the roughly 25 hours of story to discover, there should be at least one more, maybe twenty, we will just have to wait and see.
Immortals of Aveum will arrive on July 20 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and PC.
