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Originally announced for a Q4 2022 release in Early Access, The Astronauts’ dark fantasy RPG Witchfire has now had its release pushed to “early 2023”. According to The Astronauts’ Creative Director and Co-Founder, Adrian Chmielarz, the reason for the delay is due to “an upgrade to Witchfire’s combat system from arena-style to open-world fighting.”
In a Witchfire Wednesday blog post, Chmielarz elaborated, saying that Witchfire is still a rogue-lite dark fantasy first person shooter. However, “the way the player experiences the world has changed significantly.” As a result, the team has “upgraded combat and exploration from arena style to semi-open world style”.
So what’s that all about, you ask?
“Originally, Witchfire offered you these vast regions to play through in a specific, very rogue-lite way,” explains Chmielarz. ” You enter an area, fight some monsters, and then have a choice: take this reward and go left, or take that reward and go right.” Now, the game has shifted to a semi-open world, where the player can enter the area, spawn the monsters, then escape. As a result, the player now has “more freedom” in their decisions and movement.
Luckily, the process is “95% implemented”, so it’s development hasn’t been totally sidetracked. As a way to keep fans engaged, the developers are implementing “something nice” in the next few weeks. “Let’s call it ‘Witchfire Halloween Week’. It won’t be any gameplay footage or stream or such, but if you are interested in the story and the world and great 2D art, it’s going to be a treat.”
In case you missed just what Witchfire is all about, the game take place in an alternate history, where witches, as they were described in medieval times, are very real. Desperate for a chance to triumph in the deadly war against the witches, the Church calls on forbidden pagan magic to turn willing sinners into immortal witch hunters called preyers. Your mission is to find the infamous witch of the Black Sea, destroy the phantom army that protects her, and retrieve a mysterious artifact that can finally turn the tide of war.
Currenty, Witchfire is in development for release on PC via the Epic Games Store, with other platforms to follow once it leaves Early Access.