SEVEN: The Days Long Gone Hands-on - intriguing mix of Assassin’s Creed, Thief and isometric RPG
The last several years have seen an abundance of classic isometric RPGs. IMGN.PRO went a step further and based their work on a unique setting and movement mechanics that resemble Mirror’s Edge rather than Baldur’s Gate.
This article was written prior to the game's release.
This text was based on the PC version.
- an isometric RPG;
- post-apocalyptic, open-world setting;
- non-linear plot;
- arcade movement mechanics featuring parkour;
- the main character is a thief;
A man is sent to a penal colony with a task to perform. A few minutes into the game we can see miners crushing rocks to extract some precious materials. Wait a second... is this the right story? Despite all the similarities to Gothic, we are certainly not dealing here with a copycat of Piranha Bytes' iconic work. This is one of the most intriguing isometric RPGs that I had a chance to play in the last years. The team at Fool’s Theory, led by Jakub Rokosz, former Senior Quest Designer at CD Projekt RED, is currently working on Seven: The Days Long Gone in close cooperation with IMGN.PRO. What they had to show just before leaving for PAX East in Boston, left me wanting for more. Seriously, I want the whole thing already.
Since it’s not the Valley of Mines after all, I guess it would be nice to learn where we actually are. Seven takes us to the Vetrall Empire, the most powerful nation existing in the game world, which was founded on the ruins of a civilization that crumbled long ago. "This is the world roughly a thousand years after the apocalypse. Before this tragic event, humanity developed an extremely advanced technology. Later, people were pushed back to the leve of the Middle Ages, but they still come across the remnants of the old civilization, digging them out and trying to make use of them", emphasizes Lukasz Kubiak from IMGN.PRO. Not willing to reveal too much about the plot, none of the developers wanted to delve into the reasons for this state of affairs. They promised, however, that the game will explain everything.
The game begins with a prologue, which, unfortunately, I was not able to see this time around. Instead, I met the main character, Teriel, as he was marching shackled together with a group of other prisoners. It is here, in the penal colony on the island of Peh, where our adventure begins upon crossing a checkpoint and reaching the city of Lewmer. Then we depart for the first large location – Mortbane. The plot explains the facts behind our situation – in the prologue our hero has agreed to perform a certain task in the penal colony; a task that, as it turns out, came with a catch. Following the opening of our mission, a demon, Artanak, is permanently bound to the hero, from there on living inside the protagonist's head. What exactly is this creature and what does it want from us is probably something we will learn in the course of the game. The demon's presence, however, entails more than just suffering – it is thanks to it that we gain access to certain abilities which are extremely useful for a thief. For example, pressing the relevant button activates demon senses, which causes time to drastically slow down and allows us to look around. In this mode, all items that can be interacted with become highlighted; we can also see the guards' field of view, which will allow us to safely plan our next moves.
I mentioned a thief, didn't I? That's right. Teriel is an expert in his profession, which is also why he agreed to take the assignment on Peh in the first place (well, in the final game the hero might as well be a woman). For gamers, however, this means something completely different – no class system, the main character can become neither a knight nor a wizard, and the game will not provide us with a party to rely on. Instead, we will be offered numerous options to develop our thieving skills, our ability to remain undetected, or means to avoid patrols and go in and out of every building we come across. We will also be able to wear a guard outfit to deceive the ever-present security cameras, but we must be ready for other representatives of law enforcement to recognize us should we come too close. Character progression will rely mainly on improving our movement options throughout the world (more on this in a moment), as well as expanding the available set of tools or learning new ways to execute enemies.
Our stealth capabilities will depend on a number of factors. Both the dynamic day and night cycle and changing weather conditions will affect the senses of the guards and the protagonist's visibility in the world. For example, NPCs working in the mine will change their work schedule accordingly, depending on the time of day. The creators wanted to devote attention even to details as small as the noise generated by stepping into a puddle of rainwater. Rainfalls will also affect the patrols, so we can expect a completely different deployment of guards during downpours compared to their distribution under sunny conditions. One of Teriel's skills will be particularly useful during various steal-ups – namely fast forwarding time. If we want to wait out a patrol shift or change the time of day, we simply have to hold the relevant button, and the time will begin to flow faster.
The main character will have a variety of tools at his disposal. The basic equipment for opening locks will be, obviously, lockpicks, but there is also an option to acquire a small drill, which will speed up the whole process. Note, however, that the drill will generate much more noise. I wonder what else Teriel will hide in his pockets.
For a moment let us get back to the game world concept. From the very beginning Jakub Rokosz emphasised that the studio had a very specific goal in mind. "We build upon an old gaming premise – the game is a sandbox you are thrown into. You have a certain set of skills which you gradually master, and the way you play is up to you and only you", he explained. When visiting Lewmer, I learned of the existence of a visa regime, which limits the area accessible to the player. In theory no prisoner should be able to enter an area where a certain visa is required. In practice, however, we can manage in numerous ways – a visa can be acquired through a quest, or simply stolen from someone. Still, if we hope for a bit more adrenaline, we can simply sneak into the area, illegally of course, and navigate it while avoiding the guards.
There's one more thing that highlights the openness of the world and its responsiveness to our actions. "You can steal from anyone, you can kill anyone, there’s no problem with that. You'll still be able to finish the game. All of this is up to you”, Jakub said. “It's just that at some point your task will become more difficult, because the guards will be looking for you". In other words, the game will enable us to solve the same task in different ways – be it by obediently following orders from NPCs or by driving a dagger into everyone's neck. Immediately after arriving to the penal colony, I stumbled upon a small side quest. As soon as there were no guards in the room, one of the prisoners attacked another inmate. I decided to help the guy who got attacked and ended up kicking the hell out of the attacker. Later, I saw the prisoner I had rescued on the streets of Lewmer. I learned from the developers, however, that had I remained neutral, the attacker would have killed the weaker convict and I could run into him later on, perhaps in an even less pleasant situation. But there was also a third option. I could have interfered in the fight and failed to handle the attacker, which would have led me to lose a part of my equipment, forcing me to recover it in the city. The creators ensure us that we will encounter such situations quite often, which means that the world will visibly respond to our actions. Moreover, interactions with the environment will be well-developed and fleshed out. "You can lure a monster to the city and everybody will try to kill it”, said Lukasz. “If you follow the guards into the city and provoke them into drawing their weapons in the crowd, there is a good chance that the crowd will become upset and turn against them”.
One of the mechanics available for the main character is the ability to look inside a building through a window before we decide to use the front door. We will understand how extremely useful it is when we take into account the design of the combat system – the player can perform an attack using weapons (combos and finishers included), kick and dodge. But let's not forget that Teriel is a thief, which means that he’s not the type to fare too well in an open fight. Although we will be given several types of weapons (I had a chance to try out daggers, a crossbow, and a repeatable energy rifle), we have to remember that the protagonist belongs to a class which is characterized by agility, and not endurance or strength. Head-on combat against two or fewer opponents is still a viable option, and with the correct development this number can be potentially doubled. Still, we really shouldn’t expect to waltz through the story charging headfirst with a sword. Finesse and good planning are what is going to pull us through in most cases; open fight should be the last resort. As a side note, I was really happy to see ricocheting bullets, which – according to the creators – can also be suitable for killing opponents. And finally, there’s the parkour.
Our protagonist is an extremely agile thief, able to climb and move around the game world rather freely, to penetrate secure locations, each more difficult than the last one. This may seem like a very unusual approach for an isometric RPG, but when we consider the world's multi-layered structure, everything will begin to make sense. Apart from enabling us to climb onto various obstacles, parkour provides natural means of moving around this distinctive world design. There are no stairs here to take us down, nor caves to enter by clicking on them. Instead, the protagonist is able to smoothly run and jump through the levels, significantly increasing the pace of the game and giving it a more arcade character. This also allows the use of specific skills when fighting guards or monsters. If you like the Assassin's Creed series and its aerial kills, you will feel at home in Seven. The decision to design the game world like this makes Seven stand out among other RPGs, and it was one of the most satisfying elements of this playable demo. Switching to a completely different way of moving (jumping across rooftops and hills instead of walking on the streets) took some time to get used to, but I think that a proper prologue will make getting into the new mechanics even easier. And those are extremely spectacular and intuitive.
The multi-layered structure of the world and the ability to explore those layers are what gives the players the means to reach virtually any location. This is how I was able to get past the checkpoint and get to the area for which I did not have the appropriate visa. For the most nosy of acrobats, the creators intend to implement various secrets and collectibles, making it worthwhile to explore even the most inaccessible areas. In time, Teriel will learn new acrobatic tricks that will help him overcome subsequent obstacles both effectively and in a spectacular manner. For all the impatient players, the game has a fast travel system implemented in the form of transport carriages, which exists phisically in the game world. It means that we will not be able to teleport anywhere in the world, but we will be forced to at least reach the vicinity of the closest station.
It is hard to say exactly how much time will be required to complete Seven. The creators are at the stage of implementing all the quests and the only thing they could say was that the main storyline alone will take at least ten hours. At first glance this figure may seem quite unimpressive, but note that neither side quests nor time for additional exploration were taken into account. To determine the accurate length of the game we will have to wait a little bit, at least until all the plot lines are implemented.
Finally, one crucial question remains: when will we be able to play the full version of Seven: The Days Long Gone? Unfortunately, the authors were unable to give me a solid release date. According to the original plan, only the PC version of the game was to be released, but IMGN.PRO is considering a simultaneous release of a console version on at least one other popular platform. All we can do is wait for further developments and the official release date announcement.
How to sum up the latest game from the creators of Kholat? Seven: The Days Long Gone is the most interesting isometric RPG currently in production, featuring a unique world design and exceptional movement mechanics. After what I’ve seen during this short experience, the game went straight to the wish list for my private collection. Besides, this "seven" thing in the title will continue to bother me until I find out what it means.
