If you're looking for a video game set in Feudal Japan while feeling like a Witcher game without actually being one, one indie company has got your back.
A group of former CD Projekt Red (CDPR) developers that teamed up and formed their own indie game company have recently revealed they are working on an action video game set in Feudal Japan.
The developers have yet to share a projected release for its first original project.
Dark Passenger Foundation Details
Dark Passenger, the indie game developing company in question, is a Polish, Warsaw-based game development studio that consists of game development veterans involved in the production of titles like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077 and "fresh blood specialists," per the company's official website.
The company is led by its two co-founders, namely Jakub Ben and Marcin Michalski, who once were former CD Projekt Red developers, per PC Gamer. They also have worked on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and its expansions, with Ben being a cinematic artist and art team coordinator for the game while Michalski acted as its environmental artist.
Michalski eventually became the senior artist for CDPR's Gwent and Thronebreaker standalone games.
Jakub and Michalski are also joined by former CDPR developer Pawel Kuleta, who is now serving as Dark passenger's COO, and one Magdalena Furman as a 3D character animator, per IGN.
Ben and Michalski were also "outsource partners" for CDPR during Cyberpunk 2077's development through the Realtime Warriors CGI studio, which created television cinematics in-game.
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Dark Passenger, as a company, was also an outsource partner for many other indie and AAA games through the RealTime Warriors CGI studio in the last five years. However, the company didn't mention the titles they worked on aside from Cyberpunk 2077 on its official website.
Dark Passengers First Game - What Is It Like?
Dark Passengers mentioned that its first original project would be an online action game set in Feudal Japan, probably during a fictional depiction of the Warring States Period or Sengoku Jidai.
The game is said to put players in the shoes of one of the shinobi and kunoichi sent by the secret houses of the assassins to find artifacts of the usurper-turned-shogun that conceal "extraordinary power" to learn his origin and motives.
Players' shinobi and kunoichi can be customized to create unique characters through the game's advanced customization system, which also allows players to customize and modify their weapons and equipment to their liking.
To do so, players will have to face the usurper's followers and other players representing rival houses that share the same goals. However, players can also have allies help them thanks to the game's focus on cooperation and rivalry.
As shinobi or kunoichi, players will be able to traverse the width of Feudal Japan freely or stealthily to achieve their goals. They can climb obstacles through their shuko claws, jump over city rooftops, hide underneath the floors of wooden huts, and more.
Along the way, players will meet many members of Japan's social classes, from simple villagers to samurai and noblemen.
Although the game's focus is on stealth, players can fend off or defeat NPCs and other players with weapons expected of a shinobi or kunoichi, such as katanas, kusarigama chains, kunai, and many more.
Additionally, players can expect adaptive difficulty in the game, wherein collecting each of the usurper's artifacts will require a different approach, tactics, and taken routes after every successful collection.
To help prepare players, the game will also allow them to set up their own Dojo where they can train movement and combat techniques alone or with a friend.
Although there is no official announcement, Dark Passengers' official website shows that the company's first game will be available through Steam, the Epic Games Store, the PlayStation 5, and the Xbox Series X.
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