An Early Access version of Book of Travels, a "Tiny Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game" under development by game studio Might and Delight, will be released on August 9th for PC, Mac, and Linux. Might and Delight has been regularly updating the Steam page for Book of Travels with details about their design process and creative vision; furthermore, the footage in their newest trailer for Book of Travels reveals intriguing new details about how combat, exploration, and player interaction will work in this "TMORPG."
Book of Travels will take place in a fantasy landscape called the Braided Shore, a sprawling, Arcadian continent with villages, cities and port towns scattered among stretches of wild forests, rolling plains, rivers, mountains, and ruins. The traditions, clothes, and cuisine of these settlements blend elements of Swedish, Japanese, and Middle Eastern culture, while the eccentric spirits populating the wilds resemble creatures from both European fairy tales and Japanese Yokai legends. Steam-powered locomotives and tug-boats are common sights in the landscape of Braided Shore, but many prefer to travel across this land the old-fashioned way, with a backpack of supplies, a walking stick, a blade, and magic to ease their way.
The player characters of Book of Travels are, fittingly, "travelers" - not chosen heroes, martial paragons, or mercenary wanderers, but curious explorers who, in the words of the narrator in the June 12th trailer, seek to be "bound by shared moments of wonder," "lend each other strength," "wander solitary roads," slake their "thirst for danger," and "bring light to some deep, dark place." Besides these telling quotations, and beautiful landscapes composed of water-painted graphics assets, the latest Book of Travels trailer also shines new light on some previously un-explored core gameplay elements.
In a slice of footage from the latest Book of Travels trailer, there are two scenes where shadowy enemies attack a wandering player character. In the first scene, the PC deflects a bandit's sword with a high-pitched clang, similar in tone and style to the sword parry maneuvers from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. In the second scene, a PC finishes off a bandit with a running sword-slash, seemingly transitioning to a forward charge toward another bandit in the distance. Both these battles seem to take place in a two-dimensional plane of movement like in classic Street Fighter games, suggesting that combat encounters in Book of Travels may take place on a 2D plane, possibly with some sort of "rock-paper-scissors" tactical dynamic of anticipating and executing blocks, strikes, parries, and guard breaks.
In the newest Book of Travels trailer, there's a scene where an explorer descends down the steep stairs of an over-grown ruin, the light of their torch pushing away pitch-black darkness and revealing an altar with what's either a fierce-looking dragon statue or an actual mythological creature. As an online RPG in a fantasy setting, it would be surprising if Book of Travels didn't have dungeons and ruins for players to explore; going by the visuals of these dungeons, access to light, be it material or magical, may be as vital a resource for underground dungeon-delvers as food and water are for surface travelers.
In the last scene of the Book of Travels trailer, a group of player characters meet at the top of a mountain peak overlooking a picturesque sky, pictures of symbols like hearts and people making gestures appearing over their heads. The implication is that player characters in the early access version of Book of Travels won't talk to each other via microphone or text chats, but instead use gestures, emotes, icons, and in-game movements to communicate their intent. This more symbolic, interpretive style of online communication is very similar to the emote system in Dark Souls games (as well as the dance-and-song communication seen in Journey). As a game based on relaxing visuals and emergent story through exploration, a non-verbal communication system would go a long way to preserving the intended mood of Book of Travels.
Chapter Zero of Book Of Travels has a planned release date of August 9th, on PC, Steam, and Mac.
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