Hello everyone! My name is EdH Müller, I’m a producer, director and illustrator of Reverie Knights tacticsand on behalf of the entire 40 Giants team, thank you for watching our game!
40 Giants Entertainment is an indie gamedev company from southern Brazil and we worked on this game in co-production with Hype Animation and Jambo Editora. Music and sound design were provided by Yo-Ho Music Arsenal and the game is published by 1C Entertainment. Our development journey started in 2017 and now we are releasing our baby on Xbox!
It’s a special occasion for all of us considering Xbox has been in our lives all these years and the amazing tactical and RPG games we’ve played on the consoles. So many memories! We’ve always had a passion for the genre, and when we decided to create our own game, we knew we would face many challenges during the development process, which I want to talk about in this blog post. But first let me tell you what Reverie Knights tactics everything is about!
Reverie Knights tactics is a turn-based tactical role-playing game with strategic battles set in isometric grids, where every decision can change the story, the reactions of the NPCs and the way you customize the characters. You can craft new items and equipment from the treasures you collect while traveling through a fantasy world in an epic adventure based on the Tormenta RPG campaign setting. In battle, each character has a ton of unique skills to choose from and can use special team attacks depending on the situation. You can also use many interactive elements on each map and crafted consumables to change the flow and outcome of each encounter!
game design
Creating and balancing the core systems – combat, character development, and abilities – was the hardest part to get it right. The game should favor strategy while still being accessible and not too hardcore, and due to the number of player options available in character customization, side quests, and the decision-driven, branching story, the difficulty of each battle can vary wildly. The abilities available at each character level had to be both interesting and useful, allowing the player to develop different strategic approaches based on their preferred playstyle.
In addition, each battle has additional objectives, and each of them grants the player additional experience; It was difficult to match the level progression and completion to the game’s difficulty and required a lot of playtesting and spreadsheets. Speaking of optional objectives brings us to the topic of level design. Each battle has always been first sketched on a blank grid, then built into the game engine, placing many interactive elements that allow the player (and the enemies) to block paths or create new openings to damage their opponents and control to make sure Each scenario not only looks different, but plays and feels different.
There is a consciousness system that allows the player to walk through the grid unseen as long as the character stays far enough away from the enemy’s line of sight. Also, each battle has a different set of additional objectives that encourage the player to go beyond, explore the scenario, and complete specific tasks to earn additional experience.
The game also features a special alignment system based on core story choices that bring your character closer to either chaos or order. Based on this, the story will branch and other characters’ reactions to you will change, affecting combat and dialogue. These choices also affect the abilities available for each playable character and affect your strategy options as well.
But it’s not just the gameplay design that sets Reverie Knights tactics Among other games it is also:
The artwork
As the illustrator of the game, this topic is very close to my heart. All of the artwork in the game was hand-drawn – it took almost 400 sheets of paper to cover the entire game, and I made every single drawing using a mechanical pencil and HB refills.
I’ve been working on illustration, comics, advertising, CD covers, band packaging designs, beverages, anything that needs good art and of course games for over 20 years! Working on Reverie Knights tactics was delightful, definitely one of the best experiences I have had in this field to date.
Drawing combat scenarios was the most challenging part of this project due to the high amount of detail each of them has and their multi-layered nature. Sitting at my drawing table for hours on weekdays and many, many weekends. My wife and cats didn’t like it that much, but I hope you’ll agree that once you play the game, it was worth it. Not to mention, I had three great collaborators throughout this journey: Marcel Budde and Leonardo Tomazi who helped me with sketches for the scenario assets along with Carolina Mylius the color artist who did the amazing color work over my drawings.
As for the characters, it was great to create new characters for the Tormenta universe, which is very popular here in Brazil. I took a lot of time figuring out their silhouettes along with distinctive features to make each character unique.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this little behind-the-scenes look at our design and development journey and have fun playing Reverie Knights tacticsavailable today for Xbox One (and backward compatible for Xbox Series X/S) and Windows PC!
Reverie Knights tactics
1C Online Games Ltd.
$24.99
A turn-based tactical RPG with strategic battles set in isometric grids where every decision you make can change the story and the way you configure the characters. Embark on an expedition to find Lennorien, the long-lost elf city, to rescue your loved ones while battling the goblin menace that is terrorizing the continent! Lead your squad of heroes, each with different, special abilities and skills, allowing you to use multiple battle strategies to defeat your enemies. Discover a fantasy world with deep exploration of maps and scenarios in an epic visual novel style adventure! Craft new items and accessories from the treasures you collect, and use them as a tactical advantage every time you configure your characters. Key Features: ● Beautiful Hand Drawn Art: Careful multi-layer artwork from pencil sketch to full detail color. ● Decision-Driven Storyline: Make multiple decisions during your quests that affect the story and other characters’ reactions. ● Character Customization: Customize the character’s performance attributes, skills, and accessories to improve their skills! ● Item Crafting: Collect powerful items as you explore the world and discover combinations to create new items. ● Exploration: Travel your way through an expansive map, unlock secret quests, solve puzzles and explore scenarios and evil dungeons! ● Up to 4 Hero Characters: Control 4 different heroes, each with their own special abilities and skills that enable multiple battle strategies. ● Battle phases: React to your opponent’s strategy and develop the perfect tactic in each round that challenges you to think ahead. ● Interactive Battle Scenarios: Manipulate parts of battle environments and use scenario effects to your advantage! ● Multiple Battle Grids: Each battle contains a different isometric grid, making each battle a unique experience.
