Feature: How the Mighty Have Fallen- Sacred 2 Q & A (part II)
In part 2 of our developer interview with Ascaron Entertainment, we find out more about the story behind Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, and get the details on character classes, and how the game controls on the Xbox 360.
*** Questions answered by Daniel Dumont, Heiko tom Felde, and Jens Eischeid of Ascaron Entertainment.
GamePro: Can you elaborate on the story of Sacred 2?
AE: For aeons, The Creator has been designing worlds. He populated each of these worlds with an intelligent race to ensure he would be worshipped. Since the beginning of time, the Seraphim and their leaders - the Archangels - have been by his side to assist him. And thus the cycle remained in harmony, until the Archangels took it upon themselves to forge their own world. They siphoned the ethereal creative energy without The Creator's knowledge and used it to forge their own planetary creation, placing several intelligent races upon it. Each of these races were given the freedom to pursue their own goals. The Archangels named this world Ancaria.
The Seraphim, once protector of Arcaria, prepares to battle the Werewolf.
It did not take long for The Creator to become aware of their doings. However, instead of destroying Ancaria, he chose to banish the Seraphim to this world and ordered them to protect it. He would only set foot on Ancaria if and when the Seraphim were able to unite all races. The High Elves, the preferred race of the Seraphim, took advantage of the creative energy instilled within the very essence of the world. During the following years the Elven hierarchy crafted an environment for themselves in which they were unconditionally regarded as supreme rulers. Still, even amongst the High Elves, this plan was subject to controversy.
A devastating civil war ensued, resulting in many deaths and horrific losses. The Seraphim suffered tremendously, losing many of their kind during the bloodshed. When the war came to an end, the High Elves segregated into several tribes. Some steadfastly refused to harness the creative energy, and turned to nature as a new way of life. The High Elves advocating the use of creative energy divided into two factions: The first strived to return the world, and its races, back to their former glory, while the second - a largely religious group - intended to use the creative energy to spread a 'cleansing' fire over Ancaria, determined to emerge as leaders when the fire has fulfilled its purpose. Another civil war looms impatiently on the ever-darkening horizon...
The world of Sacred 2 is filled with a wide variety of races you'll be able to interact with.
Sacred 2 - Fallen Angel takes place 2,000 years before Sacred/ Sacred Underworld and leads the player into a world where the creative energy is still active. Many familiar events have not yet taken place and thus, the Humans are still predominantly servants or slaves of the High Elves. The Dwarves still enjoy their somewhat distanced existence, and the world is full of differences to the days and events that will occur in Sacred and Sacred Underworld.
What are the character classes, and how do they work together? What kind of top skills would a high-level fighter (or other class) be able to use?
AE: There's a great variety of characters, and since each can follow either the dark, or light paths, it's like getting double the number of character types. We could fill several pages with details on just the character types alone, so we'll just announce a few here, but there's more detail available at the official Sacred 2 website.
Seraphim
The Seraphim is a fast, elegant, and acrobatic warrior from a mystical-technological future. She fights with light to medium weapons and, if required, with massive technological support.
The Seraphim were once chosen by the Gods to protect Ancaria from danger and disaster. Having followed their calling for aeons, the Seraphim began to lose interest in protecting the world from chaos. Their own needs moved more and more to the forefront. Today, only a few remember their vocation, and continue to battle for peace and justice.
The most striking feature of the Seraphim is her wings, which serve as a deadly weapon, and as protective armour.
The Seraphim are agile creatures that can use their wings both as a weapon, and a shield.
Aspects of the Seraphim:
Exalted Warrior- She is a swift and agile weapon-wielding melee fighter. She is not a tank, implementing skill rather than strength. Seraphims are tactically oriented, and often employ magical reinforcements.
Celestial Magic- She is a magician, and wields the power of light.
Revered Technology- She is able to use technological tools that are very effective in combat.
Special Mount- The Seraphim uses a large, white sabre-toothed tiger as her special mount. The tiger is very strong, but it is not quite as fast as a horse.
Shadow Warrior
The Shadow Warrior used to be a human, Elite Guard, and fought bravely for his sovereign during the numerous battles of the High-Elven Empire. His strength in battle made him a living nightmare dreaded by his enemies. His strength, discipline, and obedience were second to none. However, even the best of warriors meet their honorable end on the battlefield.
After the Elite Guard's death, the High Elf General wanted to see the guard return to the battlefields, and so he brought the warrior's soul from the realm of the dead, and bound it to a lifeless body. Elven High Priests performed an ancient ritual in order to raise him from the dead, and attempted to combine it with T-Energy. The warrior's will was unrelenting, and he defied the priests. The ritual failed, and the human elite fighter became the Shadow Warrior - an un-dead being with a sharp mind.
The Shadow Warrior's only desire is to return to the golden halls of the Elysium in order to find his peace.
The Shadow Warrior uses a Hell Hound as his special mount, giving him an edge over enemies in close combat.
Aspects of the Shadow Warrior:
Death Warrior- The Shadow Warrior is a tank. His main features are pure strength and endurance. All powerful combat-art hits will be accompanied by an equally powerful battle cry. He does not have any magic at his disposal.
Malevolent Champion- The Shadow Warrior is a melee fighter. He is a skilled, agile, and well-trained fighter.
Astral Lord- As a conjurer, the Shadow Warrior assumes the role of a general. He becomes a ranged fighter and commands the dead.
Special Mount- The Shadow Warrior uses a Hell Hound, Cerberus, as his special mount. The Hell Hound is slower than a horse, but much more effective in close combat.
High Elf
High Elves are free Elves who fled from the south a long time ago. High Elven nobility has the power over Ancaria's northern regions, as they are controlling T-Energy streams. However, their powers are limited as only the High Priests have access to the T-Energy streams and the Great Machine.
High Elves are connected to the environment and can use a wide range of magic spells.
Aspects of the High Elf:
Arrant Pyromancer- Predominantly fire-based spells.
Mystic Stormite- Predominantly ice-based spells
.Delphic Arcania- Spells, which manipulate the Adept's immediate environment. These spells are not based on any particular magic specialization.
Special Mount- We'll be announcing this soon!
We are sure players will enjoy endless weeks of fun in the seamless world of Ancaria. Players can look forward to developing totally unique heroes. These heroes can be developed with different playing styles, especially by using the large amount of combat arts which are as unique as the equipment of your hero.
Sacred II is expected to come to Xbox 360; how did you handle the control issues? Is it a totally different interface from the PC's mouse-and-keyboard setup? Also, how will Sacred II tie into Xbox Live? Will players be able to invite each other into their games?
AE: On the Xbox 360, the hero is directly controlled with the left stick while the right stick is used for the camera. Weapons and actions, like combat arts, are directly assigned to the action buttons, so each button serves as a slot. Using the shoulder buttons, the action slots can be shifted twice. Additionally, the D-Pad can be used to assign potions. The action slots fade away if there are no enemies nearby. The user can bring them back either by pressing one of the buttons, or by approaching an enemy. Please note that the HUD is still work in progress.
As far as the interface is concerned, the Xbox 360 menus are list-driven, which is very common on the console. For example, the inventory has a list structure, and the items are sorted in several tabs (weapons, armor, etc.).
Weapons and skills are mapped to the action buttons on the Xbox 360 controller, allowing for quick access during battle.
Sacred 2 will fully support Xbox Live with public and private games. Even after having started a single-player game, a user may invite other users at any time to join his campaign. Sacred 2 features hot swapping for joining/leaving a game, and allows up to four players on four consoles through Xbox Live. Additionally, up to two players may play on one console. Any mix of up to four players via Xbox Live is possible.
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