Coda Games, run solely by John Rhee, has officially announced the upcoming tactical RPG, Liege, which is being developed for PC, Mac, iOS, and Android platforms. Although an official release date is still in the works, a plethora of details regarding the game’s story, mechanics, and some rather stunning artwork have been released.
Liege’s narrative is written with a mature, adult audience in mind. The story begins when, one night, the members of the royal family of the Kingdom of Liege mysteriously fall into a deep sleep, never to wake again. With no heirs left, a power struggle to claim the empty throne begins. With several factions vying for control, the Kingdom is thrust into a violent civil war. Players will follow the conflicted lives of characters from all walks of life, each fighting for their own reasons.
The combat mechanics of Liege appear to be complex yet intuitive. Battles will occur as they would in real life – when faced with a threat, characters will simply pull out their weapons on the spot and begin their battle. This means no awkward transitioning and no random encounters. Strategy is the main focus of gameplay, and players will not have a tutorial to walk them through it. As Rhee puts it, “Like chess, combat in Liege is designed to be easy to learn, difficult to master. Instead of a tutorial, the mechanics are taught to you through a sequence of actual battles at the start of the game (which will not feature a “voice from God” cutting in with on-screen instructions). You may lose a few battles early on, and you’ll need to apply your wits to start getting the hang of things.”
Like many strategy-based RPGs, characters will be assigned classes, each with their own unique traits and abilities, and they can interact and be arranged in varied ways. In addition, a system of banners is in place which can give players an additional edge in combat by granting bonuses to certain classes.
Now we come to the icing on this already promising cake – the game’s artwork. Rhee wants to deliver a visual experience that will be memorable and unforgettable. Everything from the game’s environments to the built-to-scale inhabitants are rendered in beautiful hand-drawn graphics. As a picture is worth a thousand words, take a look at some of the in-game environments from the world of Liege below.
As of the writing of this article, funding for the game has already exceeded the needed minimum amount of $15,000 – with 25 days left to go. Those who pledge at least $10 will get the game, with digital access to Liege on all of its supported platforms. From there, the rewards grow, offering signed copies of the games, t-shirts, art books, scripts of the game, and much more. Although Rhee has not yet announced any concrete stretch goals, he has stated that he has reached out to Sony and Nintendo to discuss what would be needed to get Liege published on their consoles. If you’re interested in pledging any amount towards Liege, or if you would like more information regarding the game, you can click here.
In addition, Liege can be found on Steam Greenlight. If you’d like to cast your vote to see this game released through Steam, you can click here.
Liege is being planned as a trilogy, and the first installment is scheduled to be released in early 2014. For additional details, screenshots and artwork, please visit the game’s official website.
You can also look forward to my upcoming interview with John Rhee in the near future.
