We had the pleasure of chatting with the creators of Kristala – A Dark Fantasy Action RPG! Be sure to check out their Kickstarter!
Tell us about Kristala: Dark Fantasy ARPG for PC + Console!
Sekiro meets Assassin’s Creed in Kristala, a story-rich Dark Fantasy ARPG featuring a mix of compact/open levels, tons of classic RPG elements, and an emphasis on soulslike mechanics.
You play as a catlike warrior from one of six clans, each with its own unique magic specialty. Your goal? Master the ancient magics of the six sacred Kristals in hopes of becoming a Raksaka Warrior – a powerful protector of your species. Simultaneously, you must uncover the source of a dark curse that has mutated Ailur’s creatures into bloodthirsty monsters.
In Kristala, you must choose your own style of combat. Avoid damage by blocking, dashing/rolling, and deflecting attacks; combo light and heavy attacks; utilize multiple weapon abilities; and cast numerous spells. Your catlike character will be fully customizable via various Talent Trees – including an innovative Feline Skill tree that allows you to unlock and level a multitude of feline-related skills.
Goals for your Kickstarter?
Our goals for the Kickstarter would be, of course, to meet our funding goal – and to be able to fully bring the world of Kristala to life. We’re hoping to further connect with our community during the whole process and to give them an even deeper insight into our development processes and how we operate as a women-owned, culturally diverse studio with talented creators hailing from all over the world.
We’re also really looking forward to sharing all the super cool, exclusive rewards we have planned for folks who back us on Kickstarter, and we’ve got some seriously cool stretch goals planned that we hope we’ll be able to unlock.
HINT: Did someone say canine steeds?!
You can follow the Kickstarter right here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kristala/kristala-dark-fantasy-arpg-for-pc-console
Goals for 2023?
Our goals for 2023 would of course include having a successful Kickstarter campaign, as we just chatted about it. We’re also really looking forward to potentially releasing the Early Access version of Kristala this year and getting it into folks’ hands.
We’re currently in the middle of an exclusive beta demo preview period where we’re sharing the Kristala demo with some of our favorite streamers and content creators, and we’ll be bringing the Kristala demo to the general public in the coming weeks too, so that’s most definitely a huge milestone.
We also have a super cool collab we’re working on right now called the Kristatla x Metal project, which features some of our favorite deathcore vocalists as the voices of various characters, enemies, bosses, and NPCs in Kristala. So we’re looking forward to continuing to work with our vocalists and flesh out all the epic creatures they’ll be helping us bring to life with their grunts, growls, screeches, and screams.
Beyond that, our goals include continuing to develop Kristala and build our digital communities across the board. Once the demo has been released, we’ll be allowing folks to check out never-before-seen areas of the game over on our Patreon too, so if anyone’s interested, definitely check that out!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ACS_Games
Where can people support your work?
You can support us the most right now by following our upcoming Kickstarter page and backing the campaign when it goes live. We also just recently launched our Steam page, so wishllists would of course be appreciated. We’re incredibly active on our Discord and Twitter communities, and you can find us pretty much on every social platform too!
All links to the above-mentioned platforms: https://allmylinks.com/astralclocktowerstudios
You say “Kristala is an epic, dark fantasy adventure featuring a mix of compact/open levels, tons of classic RPG elements, and a Soulslike vibe.” Can you expand on this?
Of course! All the levels you’ll traverse in Kristala are strategically designed with an emphasis on visual storytelling. Even though Ailur is a fantasy world, we’ve applied a high level of detail to each of the individual levels, and there’s a high amount of realism throughout the game world too. We wanted it to feel super immersive in that way.
Our “compact” levels are more controlled, so to speak…meaning that players will have a specified number of choices they can make in each one. There are also some areas in the game that are completely open, and players will be free to explore the world in any way they like, approaching each individual part of those level areas in a different way.
As far as classic RPG elements go, players will have ample freedom to build their character in game, including character customization, choices they make within the main story and side quests, different Weapon and Armor sets, things like that. There are also six distinct and unique spell trees, with a total of over 90 individual spells with even more customization options. Plus, there’s a fully fledged Talent Tree that allows for various ways to approach Kristala’s gameplay. We could go on, but that’s just a few of the customization options.
Beyond that, players can approach each playthrough utilizing various “tools” as their disposal when it comes to combat. Stealth, ranged, and melee combat are all viable. When it comes to defense, you can block incoming attacks, roll away, or attempt to deflect attacks and then retaliate. All of these options are equally useful and valuable approaches to Kristala’s fast-paced gameplay.
The “soulslike” part of that description refers to a tight number of mechanics and elements that are derived from the traditional soulslike formula, but these are all complementary features and mechanics and don’t necessarily “define” Kristala.
What else are you currently working on?
Honestly, Kristala is the primary focus right now! We’ve got so many exciting initiatives we’ve just launched (or will be launching soon) – like the Kickstarter and the Steam page – so we’ve been wholly focused on ensuring we’ve got everything prepped and ready to go for that, as well as the upcoming demo release!
—
Want and interview email us at [email protected]
Support us here
