Owlcat first appeared on Kickstarter, then showed what it could do with Pathfinder: Kingmaker and Wrath of the Righteous… so there’s a lot of progress here.

Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader was also tied to them, and they’ve gone into publishing. Their first project in this area is from Another Angle Games, who are developing Shadow of the Road, a steampunk samurai RPG. An early alpha version of the game is available on Steam, so you can check it out there.

This is an early demo and the developers are looking for feedback and bug reports from interested players. So far, it’s mostly polished, although some animations need a little work. In any case, it’s a good introduction to the environment and turn-based tactical combat. The game puts the story first (mostly through silent dialog), and even before we swing a sword in the tutorial, the game expects us to make choices about the narrative (we also get glossary phrases as information with the mouse). These seem to keep the two vengeful samurai protagonists together, or cause them to go their separate ways later on.

Cold-blooded or soft-hearted qualities were also mentioned. These can be built upon in dialogues when there are more options available. Typical modern CRPG, but Owlcat’s role as a publisher is understandable, because it really is very similar to what Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader has shown. The game doesn’t shy away from the politics of the time, either: the Japanese Imperial Court is portrayed here as being malevolent, receiving technology (albeit exaggerated, with power armor and mechs) and aid from overseas. European gunners also make an appearance. How will the Polish studio reconcile this with a story with yokai, magic and other fantastical elements? Some attacks will be instantaneous, others will take time to target, shifting the timeline.

The alpha of the game is available on Steam.

Source: PCGamer