QJ exclusive interview: The Chosen – Well of Souls

 

Following the tradition of classic Action/RPG video game titles for the PC platform, developer Rebelmind and publisher Meridian4 is proud to bring us The Chosen: Well of Souls. Known as Frater in Europe, this video game has been available in the said region for some time now. It is only this coming October that fans in North America will be able to get their hands on a game that will take them to Hell and back.

To best introduce the game to the public, QJ.NET recently had an exclusive interview with Meridian4 Director of Marketing Steve Milburn about The Chosen: Well of Souls. Everything about the game was discussed – its origins, exciting features, and the possibility of having future console versions.

 

Read the entire interview right after the jump!

 

Following the tradition of classic Action/RPG video game titles for the PC platform, developer Rebelmind and publisher Meridian4 is proud to bring us The Chosen: Well of Souls. Known as Frater in Europe, this video game has been available in the said region for some time now. It is only this coming October that fans in North America will be able to get their hands on a game that will take them to Hell and back.

To best introduce the game to the public, QJ.NET recently had an exclusive interview with Meridian4 Director of Marketing Steve Milburn about The Chosen: Well of Souls. Everything about the game was discussed – its origins, exciting features, and the possibility of having future console versions.

QJ: Before we talk about The Chosen: Well of Souls, can you give us a bit of background information on Meridian4 and Rebelmind?

Milburn: Rebelmind is an established computer and video game development studio in Poland. They opened shop in 1999 and have been releasing quality titles in regular intervals. They’ve developed games in various genres, starting with classic shooters, through platform and kids games, up to epic RPG titles.

Meridian4 is an independent video game publisher located in the ever-growing game Mecca of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. We opened our doors in 2005 and began bringing quality niche titles from small, independent development houses to North American audiences. We are always striving to squash the notion that all publishers are evil and attempt to create true, equal partnerships with developers.

Meridian4’s first title was Space Hack, an Action/RPG from Rebelmind. It did well and is continuing to do well in retail and online. It is from this successful start that Rebelmind chose Meridian4 to do their next Action/RPG – The Chosen: Well of Souls (aka in Europe as Frater).

QJ: How long has Well of Souls been in development?

Milburn: Rebelmind started development of The Chosen quickly after the release of Space Hack in Q4, 2005. They have used the same engine that was the backbone of Space Hack, but have improved all of the gameplay, graphics, sound and, of course, there’s a new and entirely different story and setting.

   

QJ: Speaking of which, can you give us a brief overview of the plot and storyline behind The Chosen: Well of Souls?

Milburn: The game takes place at the end of the 19th century, where magic and ancient lore are mixed with new technologies.

The powerful sorcerer, Marcus Dominus Ingens, became immortal after unraveling the mystery of the ancients. His pride and hunger for power made him eliminate anyone whose skills and knowledge equaled his. Now he keeps their souls in Golden Tanks, using them for his evil deeds, and he has entire armies of demons and devils at his command. The only thing standing in the way of his goal to rule the world is the God’s Envoy.

Marcus is aware that he is too weak to destroy the God’s Envoy, so he sets free hordes of infernal monsters to harvest human souls. Each new soul makes Marcus more powerful, while the God’s Envoy becomes weaker and weaker.

The Mystery Guards Fraternities have long trained Hunters, well trained and hardened magicians and alchemists, to fight the evil. The Hunters traversed the world fighting against the powers of darkness, but now they’re needed to face the armies of infernal beasts. The life of God’s Envoy and the world order are at stake. The best of the best: Frater Simon, Elena and Khan – the game’s three playable characters – prepare to save the Earth, ready to risk their lives in the fight against Marcus.

QJ: Let us talk about these characters, we understand players can choose from three varied and unique characters. How do they differ from one other?

Milburn: The three playable characters are Frater, Elena, and Khan. Each represents a different combat style and has different reasons to undertake their mission.

Frater, the monk, was orphaned and raised by monks who taught him the principles of faith. They quickly realized the potential of his extraordinary abilities and sent him to study with the great alchemist, Peter of Sanok. Peter taught him everything he knew about magic and alchemy.

Elena, the hunter, was born in a remote village deep in the Siberian wilderness. As a child her village was attacked by werewolves. She was the sole survivor and swore vengeance on the beasts who murdered her family. Siberian hunters raised her and as a result Elena became very proficient in ranged weapons.

Khan, the warrior, was born in the Tien-Szan Mountains and has trained in the martial arts since early childhood. His goal has always been to use his abilities to help the oppressed. He is known as the Blade of Spring and has become synonymous with terror among the demons. Everywhere people suffer, Khan appears to ease their burden.

QJ: One of the characters is called Frater Simon. Correct us if we’re wrong, but The Chosen: Well of Souls is called Frater in Europe. Why was the decision made to change the title for the U.S.?

Milburn: Yes, correct. The game is named Frater in Europe. The game was originally not named after one of the characters, it is the Latin word for Brother. We changed the name to The Chosen: Well of Souls to make it more appealing to the North American audience and to make sure there was no confusion in the players’ mind: we want them to know that there were three playable characters to choose from.

QJ: Does this indicate that Frater Simon might have a greater degree of importance in the grand scheme of things compared to the two other characters Elena and Tong Wong?

Milburn: This is exactly the confusion we wanted to avoid and is one of the main reasons for changing the name for North America. I believe The Chosen name will also be used when it is released in Germany. The name of Tong Wong has also been changed to Khan for the North American version.

  

QJ: Can you tell us a bit about gameplay, specifically in the areas of combat and spell casting?

Milburn: The game puts a lot of emphasis on combat. It is first and foremost an action title, but  has very strong RPG elements with regards to character development, skill trees, leveling up, and fantastic storyline with tons of quests.

Each character specializes in one area of combat. Frater is a monk and uses magic spells and scrolls for combat. Khan is a melee warrior using swords, maces, etc… Elena is a ranged fighter, she can use bows, crossbows and various guns. All characters can use armor.

Even though each character has their own combat specialties, they can, if the player wishes, utilize other fighting styles. For example, Frater is a magic user but there is nothing preventing him from using a sword or a crossbow if the player chooses to develop these skills by developing the respective attributes. There are two weapon sets available to the player so one can be for magic and the other for melee fights.

Much like Diablo, Dungeon Siege, and more recently Titan Quest, The Chosen‘s gameplay revolves around combat, i.e. “hack and slash” style. The player is given quests that supplement the over arching story and has to fight like a madman to complete both.

QJ: We understand players can also call on mystical creatures. Can you give examples of the different creatures and how they affect gameplay?

Milburn: Your character is awarded two different mystical creatures or helpers who can be called upon to aid you in battle. The Golem is a huge hulk of a beast; he’s slow, but uses his rock-like fist to pound through enemies. The Neferkar is ranged fighter that’s fast but rather weak. Only one helper can be active at a time, so the player has to choose wisely.

Both helpers gain experience during combat. When a helper has reached a new level, you can decide which features to increase. Helpers cannot die, but they do run out of power and can only be called once their power has regenerated. This process can be sped up if you have the proper regeneration scrolls.

QJ: The game offers a wide array of in-game items like armor, weapons, magic items, and other objects, is it possible to customize these in any way?

Milburn: Yes, players can create new and more powerful weapons, armor, and magic items by combining items found in their inventory. Every newly created item will change some pre-defined features depending on the type of object(s) used. Weapons will increase their damage rating. Every type of armor used to create a new item will increase durability. Combining magic books decreases an item’s pre-requisite requirements to use the new item, and the item to be transformed will have all bonus features it originally possessed added to all new features gained as a result of the transformation.

This makes every object, weapon or armor dropped in the battlefield important to be picked up and transformed into a new, more powerful item for the player to use.

QJ: A game with a great story and great heroes is nothing without equally great enemies. So let’s talk about the biggest baddie of them all, the sorcerer Marcus Dominus Ingens, what’s his motivation, and what’s the deal about this God’s Envoy?

Milburn: What does every evil mastermind wish for – power. Marcus is no different but there are a few obstacles in the way, namely the player… The three playable characters are members of an exclusive fraternity that battles evil throughout the world.

Marcus has kidnapped the Chosen One (God’s Envoy) and stolen the Emerald Tablet, a source of great power. The Fraternity is tasked with rescuing the Chosen One and reclaiming the tablet.

QJ: You’ve got a system in place that affects the behavior of other enemies like werewolves, zombies, vampires, and demons. Can you explain how this works?

 Milburn: Some creatures are affected by the day/night cycle and, in some instances, the weather. For example werewolves are present during the day but are more aggressive and can potentially cause more damage at night.

Also, the player can affect a monster’s behavior through their choices when selecting new and/or improving newly acquired skills. An example of this would be the Shadow skill which enables sneaking up on prey that has exceptional senses, such as a werewolf. The shadow ability allows the player to approach enemies much more closely before they are detected.

QJ: The easy thing to do would be to draw parallels between The Chosen: Well of Souls, and genre greats like Diablo and Dungeon Siege. Where do you think the comparisons are valid, and where do you think “Ok, we’re doing something pretty different in these areas”?

Milburn: There are quite a few similarities between The Chosen and games like Diablo and Dungeon Siege. Action-RPGs like Diablo have almost created their own genre and The Chosen fits right in. Point-and-click movement and combat, isometric view, rotating camera angles, and a hack ‘n slash mentality when it come to enemies are common amongst all these titles.

Where The Chosen stands out is in its unique setting, at the end of the 19th century. This time period allows us to bring to the player the use of not only swords, axes and bows, but also guns, rifles, and even machine guns. Also, it is a very original storyline and the enemies emerging from the underworld, like demons, vampires, zombies, werewolves, make the horror theme stand out amongst its competition.

QJ: Is there any chance we’ll see The Chosen on consoles?

Milburn: Moving to consoles is a very costly venture and we’ll have to wait and see if The Chosen is popular with the PC gamers. If it warrants it, we will definitely look at porting the game over to the next generation consoles, but for now, PC gamers have a great game to look forward to.

QJ: Lastly, when can fans in North America get The Chosen: Well of Souls?

Milburn: We are looking at a release date of October 1st for both retail and online.

QJ: Thanks for your time.