Developer Blog #1: Learn more about Quantic River

The type of weapons and moves can we expect?

The sword combat in Quantic River relies on reflexes and parries to dismember your opponents in a swift manner. You play as a unique cyborg capable of combat prowess, but, in return, composed of very fragile experimental technology. There will be very little room for error. The combat is precise and fast, and the destruction system provides a completely chaotic setting! You'll face different types of enemies. The weakest won't be able to block your sword strikes, allowing you to literally exterminate them one after the other without worrying about their defense. Others can block all your regular attacks and will force you to use parries to launch deadly counter-attacks. The toughest enemies are loaded with augmentations and will attack you with firearms and melee weapons. You'll need to use your cybernetic equipment to unleash swift and devastating Strikes to quickly end the threat as they will block all your regular attacks and be immune to parries. Regarding weapons, it's straightforward, you'll have only one: your katana. It will be customizable to improve your combat efficiency. Depending on your augmentations, it will be possible to block, deflect, or redirect bullets towards your opponents.

How will the progression in the game work?

Money is the central element of the progression system, "United Credits". You'll have different ways to increase your bank balance, which will enable you to buy cybernetic equipment from different markets and suppliers. Legal markets for civilian and military-grade augmentations. Black markets for experimental-grade augmentations. The protagonist, who calls himself "X", will also go through memory phases that unlock combat techniques he had definitely forgotten, in addition to getting closer to his identity. It's these augmentations and the sword combat techniques that will make him more and more effective on the battlefield.

How are you handling the difficulty for Quantic River?

Only one difficulty. The goal is really to allow the players to take their time if they want to, to let themselves be carried away by the dark and captivating universe we've created. And, in parallel, the players must be able to get into action very quickly and focus on the gameplay if dialogues or exploration don't interest them. Both aspects are crucial, which is why we've implemented multiple passages in the action levels. If you're a Runner, you just have to rush straight ahead, cross the map in record time, but you'll need a good understanding of the gameplay mechanics to achieve it. If you're a player who prefers standard difficulty, taking more time to explore and reducing the difficulty, then you'll have the option to do so. You should take your time during the initial playthrough of Quantic River. After completing the game once, we've designed replayability for runners. They'll encounter gameplay variations, new equipment, and the chance for a reward by finishing the game within a set time.

What sort of Cybernetic upgrades can players expect?

This equipment impacts your ability to fight and reduces your game time to finish the action levels as quickly as possible. The more you progress, the more augmentations you'll be able to use. Activating them requires a considerable number of resources, so you won't be able to use them multiple times. Think of them as jokers that you burn once consumed. What will make the difference is the number of augmentations you have available, and you'll need to think before using them! More precisely, the elements in question will be hardware and software that will allow,