Ted Peterson and Julian LeFay have announced The Wayward Realms, a new open-world fantasy RPG through their studio Once Lost Games. Their aim is to "revivify the RPG genre by applying modern development standards and quality-of-life advancements to the design philosophy of classic role-playing games." Considering Peterson and LeFay were the lead developers of Elder Scrolls Arena and Daggerfall-- released in 1994 and 1996 respectively--this definitely appears to be a situation where we're all wondering if old dogs can learn new tricks.
What is The Wayward Realms?
The game and universe are set on a group of islands known as the Archipelago, where dozens of factions all vie for influence and power. There are kingdoms fighting for power and to also maintain dominance over their own dominions, with dynasties plotting over generations. The player can upset all that and change the course of history by fighting whatever they feel like, whether they're rivals, mercenaries, monsters, spirits, and demons. Quest for fame and fortune and journey through strange new lands as you travel through a world with hundreds of thousands of NPCs, dangerous forests, and giant mountain ranges through the power of dynamic procedural generation.
There will a virtual game master to keep things interesting so that no two players will have the same game experience. Players will be able to role-play rather than be forced to be a basic warrior or mage, and a world full of lore that you'll be able to study as obsessively as the Elder Scrolls universe.
If this sounds interesting, be sure to check it out on Steam.
Quick Take
This all sounds fantastic, and it's not outside of the.. ahem... realm of possibility that this can be pulled off. Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall had 15,000 cities, towns, villages, and dungeons for players to explore, and this was for a game released in 1996. So it's not like these guys have released giant world before. Unlike most, these devs have the skill and pedigree to pull this off, so I'll be keeping a watch on this for sure.
Are you interested in The Wayward Realms? Have you played Arena or Daggerfall? Let us know in the comments below.
