GreedFall Release Date, Trailer And Gameplay

GreedFall, an upcoming third-person action-RPG, calls to your inner explorer. With the Old World on the brink of collapse due to pollution, overpopulation, and the devastating Malichor plague, you set sail for the island of Teer Fradee, a place rich in history, resources, and secrets. Seeped in magic and brimming with life, this new world offers mankind's best hope for survival; yet, nothing comes without a price. 

Saving your own people could spell the destruction of the island's inhabitants. It is within your power to heal, connect, or destroy, becoming an integral part of GreedFall's living and evolving world. As you hunt for a cure to the disease ravaging your home, you'll contend with other settlers, mercenaries, treasure hunters, and religious zealots. Where you go, what you do, and who you become rests in your hands, a unique identity forged through deep character interactions and a robust lineup of quests, pathways, and personalization options.

GreedFall comes to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on September 10, 2019. French studio Spiders developed the game, which Focus Home Interactive will distribute. Previous titles from Spiders include The Technomancer and Bound By Flame, which also fall into the action-RPG genre. Delving into science fiction and cyberpunk, The Technomancer takes place following the human colonization of Mars. Bound By Flame unfolds in a more traditional fantasy setting, with the player taking on the role of a victim of demonic possession in a classic struggle between good and evil. Both games received mixed reviews, with combat cited as a significant point of weakness.

Unlike many recent titles, GreedFall will not be an Epic timed exclusive but will launch for PC via Steam and digital download. With twice the budget of The Technomancer, GreedFall is Spiders' most ambitious title yet. The studio has built upon its shaky foundation, presenting a game that promises to be bigger, deeper, and more customizable than any of their previous works. Whether the developer can deliver on those promises remains up in the air.

Focus Home Interactive first revealed GreedFall in February 2017, announcing the renewal of their partnership with Spiders alongside the project's first trailer. The teaser offered a glimpse of Teer Fradee and the conflict brewing between the colonizers and the natives. Though they first advertised a 2018 release date, Spiders later delayed the launch, breaking the news alongside the unveiling of the E3 2018 trailer. At E3 2019, the developer released a story trailer, pinpointing the new September 2019 release window.

On July 11, Focus Home Interactive shared the latest trailer, which confirmed GreedFall's Sept. 10 release date. The trailer highlights the many challenges awaiting you in the role of De Sardet, a member of the Congregation of Merchants and cousin to the mayor of New Serene, a burgeoning colony on Teer Fradee. Beyond offering a taste of GreedFall's gameplay, the trailer shines a light on the impact of your choices and the potential relationships and romance options you can cultivate. Prior to the release date reveal, Spiders offered a look at Serene, the port city where the game begins, and New Serene. 

Anyone who pre-orders GreedFall will receive the Adventurer's Gear DLC Pack, which contains: Explorer's Outfit, Rapier of the Alchemist, and Wild Boar Ivory Rifle. According to the description, the Explorer's Outfit "is said to bring its wearer good luck and fortune." The set comes with the Hat of the Discoverer, Doublet of Good Fortune, Gloves of the Craftmaster, and Weighted-heel Boots. It's unclear whether these items offer in-game benefits or if the mention of "good luck" serves only as flavor text. Created by a master alchemist, the aptly named Rapier of the Alchemist catches fire when drawn and can inflict terrible wounds. Featuring an elegant exterior, the Wild Boar Ivory Rifle works best at short ranges, decreasing in effectiveness at greater distances.

Focus Home Interactive is not offering any special editions beyond the standard version of the game, which you can purchase from Steam and major retailers for $49.99. If you decide not to pre-order GreedFall, the Adventurer's Gear DLC Pack will be available for purchase following the title's release.

Further driving home its emphasis on freedom, GreedFall allows you to choose your character's gender, customize your appearance, and select starting attributes, which you can then build into your ideal playstyle. Unlike many RPG games, you'll enjoy a classless progression with over 100 skills to mix and match. Thousands of equipment combinations further augment this personalization system, complementing the choice-based narrative.

GreedFall boasts about 80 quests spread over 35 hours of gameplay. Continuing to break the RPG mold, the game will not include any fetch quests that involve running baseless errands or completing other arbitrary tasks. "We really wanted each quest to bring some lore elements," explained Spiders CEO Jehanne Rousseau, "to really be intricate with the rest of the story, so of course some people will probably ask you to create some object for them or to find something for them but [...] we have very strong narrative support, and every time it will make sense. No one will ask you to, you know, 'kill me three birds' or anything."

Completing quests in GreedFall serves as more than just a means for unlocking hidden trophies or achievements. Taking advantage of a new tool called 'nodal storytelling,' the game remembers every action you perform, branching off into different situations based on the choices you make. "It allowed us to have a system based on consequences," Rousseau said. "Each time you make a choice, we create in a very visual way the different consequences of this choice and all those things that are connected. We can visualise all the tree with all the branches. That's what we call nodal, because each choice is a dot – and there are plenty of branches."

This branching narrative leads to three main types of endings, though your decisions will cause slight variations. This includes which characters will stand with or against you when the core conflict comes to a head. The information you uncover while completing side quests can also prove valuable when completing other parts of the game. As Rousseau revealed, everything has narrative weight.

In GreedFall's colonial, consequence-based narrative, negotiation takes center stage. Teer Fradee will feature six factions for you to contend with, all balanced on a knife's edge. The right words can spell the difference between peace and annihilation. Your relationship with each faction will also influence how quests and other aspects of the story play out. De Sardet belongs to the Congregation of Merchants, a collective governed by merchant princes who use their wealth to secure more power and resources. Though the group has claimed your allegiance, you still wield influence over the fates of the five other groups.

The Bridge Alliance believes in the power of knowledge and seeks to learn more about the surrounding world through science and reason. A guild of mercenaries, The Coin Guard, offer their services as soldiers, bodyguards, assassins, and combat instructors — for a price. Seeking to expand their religion, the Theleme have come to Teer Fradee to convert the natives, often by whatever means necessary. A guild of skilled navigators, The Nauts, hold the key to cross-sea voyages and prosper by helping other factions reach new ports. The Yecht Fradi, or Islanders, live divided among themselves but in harmony with nature.

GreedFall has five companions that you can recruit to your party, though you can only take two of them with you at once. Tied to different factions, your relationship with these companions will affect your relationship with the related faction. Who you bring with you into each encounter will influence the path the story takes. Depending on your choices and how you treat them, your companions may leave and become your enemy.

Spiders has confirmed three of the five companions so far: Siora, Petrus, and Kurt. Siora, a talented fighter and linguist, belongs to the Islanders faction and will play a crucial role in your interactions with the natives. Petrus, a member of the missionary order from Theleme, is well-versed in culture and politics. As a former diplomat, he also possesses strong conversational skills. Kurt, a mercenary of the Coin Guard, travels with you from Serene. Having spent years as your master of arms, Kurt is like an older brother to De Sardet, though his aloof nature can rub people the wrong way.

When creating the native culture, Spiders drew inspiration from the Gauls and Celtic nations like Scotland and Ireland. Their faith, a core part of the faction's identity, centers on myths and stories tied to different landmarks. To further enrich the world and keep it coherent and consistent, the team hired a linguist to create a language for the Islanders. Drawing from the established Celtic roots, the language functions as a mash-up of Flemish, Breton, Gaelic, and Irish. 

In contrast to other games where all the characters understand one another, the native tongue presents a realistic barrier to communication. Without Siora in your party, you won't be able to understand or communicate with the Islanders. This further emphasizes the importance of strategy, especially when choosing your party composition. Of course, the game does not force you to work with the Islanders. The choice to befriend or conquer remains yours. You can also explore different approaches, alliances, and outcomes via additional playthroughs.

Those familiar with Dragon Age: Inquisition will find some common ground with GreedFall's combat and quest mechanics. GreedFall uses a tactical pause system that lets you plan your attacks. You can also hotkey attacks and items and arm your party with a variety of gear like potions, bombs, traps, and firearms. Though you can't command your companions to use specific attacks, you can create advantageous situations through the right equipment and positioning. For example, stunning an enemy will cause your companions to focus on the incapacitated foe.

GreedFall trades the percentage system seen in previous Spiders games for a gauge system. "Critical actions can now be used as soon as the gauge is filled up, and can be applied to any type of combat action," revealed Rosseau. "It can be used to transform a simple healing spell into a powerful group spell for example, or of course to give the deathblow to an enemy." The game will offer a combination of magic, melee, and ranged attacks.

When creating GreedFall, Spiders drew inspiration from the baroque art, music, fashion and architecture of the 17th century, a time period not commonly explored in games. According to artistic director Cyril Tahmassebi, Rembrandt, Jan Steen, Frans Hals, Vermeer, and Chiaroscuro's technique of contrasting light and darkness served as vital references for forging the game's visual identity. Several films and books also influenced the project, such as Princess Mononoke, Brotherhood of the Wolf, and the works of Dumas, especially The Three Musketeers and The Vicomte de Bragelotte.

The team has clarified that GreedFall is not strictly historical, with strong roots in fantasy and magic. But each creature and location has a story, a reason for being there. "We absolutely didn't want to be strictly historical," said Rosseau. "Rather, it had to remain an inspiration. We're inviting players to dream, explore, and discover a totally new universe. The fantasy is also part of this and seems necessary to me for an RPG to bring weirdness and magic."

Teer Fradee is inhabitated by different types of monsters, ranging from animal-like creatures to massive beings deeply connected to the island. These behemoths physically embody their environment. "The idea was to imagine how the island itself, by defending against colonists, what sort of creature it could create by itself using different types of environments of the island," Rosseau told IGN. "We have of course some part of the island with dead woods, it gave this type of monsters. But we have also swamp monsters, mountain monsters."

You'll have three cities to explore on the island, each with different philosophies, looks, and faction-alliances. The choices you make will alter the presence that each faction maintains, with some even disappearing from Teer Fradee altogether. Though you travel mostly by foot, GreedFall uses a "classic" teleport mechanic, which sounds like campfire-based fast-travel. Rosseau also revealed that you can encounter merchants with wagons who, depending on your interaction with them, might drive you to the next city.