Okay so Masquerada: Songs and Shadows is an upcoming Action-RPG for both PC and, now, the PlayStation 4 being made by Singapore-based Witching Hour Studios. Here's a brief description of the game from the developers, directly from their press kit:-
Unravel the conspiracies enshrouding the city of Ombre in Masquerada, an isometric action RPG set in a lush 2.5D Venetian fantasy world of masks and magic. Players will follow Inspettore, Cicero Gavar as he returns from exile to solve a kidnapping that will shake the foundations of the legacy-obsessed city to its core.
Frenetic combat is taken to a new level of control, as players are capable of tactically pausing the action on the battlefield and issuing orders to their party of three. There are five controllable party members throughout the game, each with their own meaningful storylines to discover in a colourful yet gloomy city where the Masquerada, the holders of masks, lord over those who do not.
These masks represent the only way to use magic in this world, making the Masquerada a force to be reckoned with across Citte della Ombre and the countries that surround it. They are conduits of power, providing their wielders access to skills unique to the mask’s class and element. More masks can be collected throughout the game, each of which provide a different, unique power capable of changing the tide of battle.
The five playable characters each have their own classes, of which there are three distinct types: the Sicario (rogue), the Pavisierre (tank) and the Dirge (bard). Cicero is a Maestro, a hybrid class, and draws from the skills of all three main classes. Each class will have access to 8 to 10 different abilities, all of which possess their own skill trees.
Players will be able to dominate the battlefield by taking advantage of synergies between each character’s skills, while skill modifiers allow for even more varied applications. For example, with Zephyr – Cicero’s teleportation spell – players can choose an offense-oriented modification that blasts out hot air when Cicero re-appears. Alternatively, a defensive modification could blast cold air to freeze enemies at Cicero’s original location, buying him time to recover or cast other spells.
Positioning on the battlefield has additional importance in Masquerada. All player characters, NPCs and enemies have armour (whether physical or magical) that must be dealt with before being able to hurt them. With flank attacks, armour can only mitigate half the damage dealt to a target, and attacks to the rear cause full damage to a target. As such, planning to position one’s magic attacks becomes vital.
In a city so rampant with magic, religion has little cause to exist. As such, people do not believe in an afterlife. Consequently, people are highly concerned about how they will be remembered after death. Ombrian society, as ruled by the Masquerada, has addressed this by having people commemorated in songs about their deeds, hopes and dreams. However, only the Masquerada themselves are eligible to be remembered in song, deepening the rift between the haves and have-nots, and driving home the bleak reality that those without masks cease to exist beyond death.
Now, this obviously is a new IP and probably from the get-go, probably won't get much notoriety. But there's a few key things to note, one of which being that this is probably THE first video game from Singapore that isn't a generic smartphone game or an educational game but a purely entertaining game for gamers. So this is a pretty huge deal.
Now, the other thing: The MDA a.k.a Media Development Authority a.k.a the Government organization in charge of regulation of media content in Singapore a.k.a the dictators of Singapore's media industry. They had actually tried to censor this game. Why? Because of one particular character who is gay and also because of their anti-LGBTQ laws. Despite this though, the developers are still pushing forward to include this gay character in the game.
Anyway, my opinion? I'm a hardcore gamer and I absolutely love Action-RPGs. Plus, this game appeals to me a ton. And yes, I fucking hate the MDA for nitpicking on one character. I don't totally hate them but I do hate them for asinine reasons like this.
Anyway, I'll see you guys at the next blog post. Shu Serian, signing off.
Source: PlayStation on YouTube , Witching Hour Studios Press Kit , Siliconera (1, 2), Gamasutra
