The Wayward Realms is an upcoming RPG in development by OnceLost Games, operating under the direction of veteran Elder Scrolls developers Ted Peterson and Julian LeFay, who worked on games such as Arena and Daggerfall. The game aims to revivify Western RPGs, and the features that have been revealed thus far seem to echo staples of the genre on a new level.
OnceLost Games announced The Wayward Realms in early August, and as evidenced by the game's Steam page, it's in early development with no known release date as of yet. It appears to be made as a spiritual successor to Daggerfall, which released in 1996 as the second game in the Elder Scrolls series. Veteran developers Ted Peterson and Julian LeFay, along with being responsible for much of Daggerfall's development process, helped to create the broader concept of the Elder Scrolls. Arguably, then, the two can be cited for providing much of the RPG template that subsequent Elder Scrolls games have followed. LeFay also worked on Morrowind for some time before leaving the studio.
Despite its early state of development, several details about The Wayward Realms have been revealed on both the game's website and its recently-activated Steam page, including information about its expansive Elder Scrolls-esque fantasy lore. From the multiple moons depicted in the world's sky to the cultures of each fictional race found around its map, players will seemingly have substantial history to delve into once they look past the medieval appearance of their surroundings. The Wayward Realms will additionally feature a virtual game master and custom-created character classes, echoing tabletop RPGs such as Dungeons & Dragons. Players will even be allowed to craft their own potions, spells, and enchantments. Faction reputation will also play a role in the game.
The Wayward Realms will be an open-world RPG like Skyrim, and will similarly include fantasy elements. That said, according to the official Wayward Realms website, the game is based primarily around the design philosophy of classic role-playing games, applying modern design practices and quality-of-life improvements to create a new class of game that OnceLost Games refers to as "Grand RPG." Choices will be on a larger scope, and consequences will take center stage in The Wayward Realms as players venture across a realistically-scaled map and encounter cities full of hundreds or even thousands of NPCs. Dynamic procedural generation will be used to accomplish this, though it's currently unclear what the game's engine and AI will look like.
The lands of The Wayward Realms will include humans, elves, dwarves, and additional races of a "more unusual nature" according to developers. It's possible that this could include beast races like those in The Elder Scrolls, such as the khajiit and argonians. One of the game's northern kingdoms, Sidh, is described as a land of cold mists and rocky coasts, something that may sound familiar to Skyrim fans as well. Sidh is only one of many different areas that will be featured in The Wayward Realms; however, the finished game will reportedly host over one hundred different islands to explore, as well as entire oceans. Fans of The Elder Scrolls series, or any classic RPG, will most likely want to keep a close eye out for further development updates from OnceLost Games.
Source: Wayward Realms
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