Episodic Tactical RPG City of the Shroud Headed to PC, Mac

Looking for some tactical RPG action? Well, developer Abyssal Arts has you covered with their new game, City of the Shroud. Monday, the studio announced that City of the Shroud will arrive on PC and Mac via Steam on Aug. 9, with a planned release of the Definitive Edition on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One set for sometime in 2019.

City of the Shroud isn’t your ordinary tactical RPG, either. Taking place in the fictional city of Iskendrun, players are thrust into a world of politics with a choice to join several factions within the game. Not only does the game implement fighting game inputs to spice up combat, but also players can make various decisions that affect the game:

Iskendrun’s collapse seems inevitable as the nobility continues to neglect the poorest citizens while pursuing an unsustainable conquest of neighboring countries, bringing the city to the brink of bloody civil war. Faceless evil looms, increasing tension among the people and widening the division between the city’s five political factions.

The fight for power won’t be easy, but it will be fun. City of the Shroud combines tactical RPG elements with classic fighting game inputs that result in intense, devastating combos that play out in real-time. Down, left, up, right – the game’s Combo Wheel draws inspiration from the traditional d-pad to promote think-on-your-feet strategy in new ways.

The game is episodic in nature, but Abyssal Arts is looking to put a spin on the genre by letting player’s actions collectively affect the development of the following chapter. That means that every character death, every character that lives, and which faction reigns supreme is determined by looking at all the most common choices among every player, not just individuals.

“While it’s possible to revisit decisions and story branches by replaying the game, every decision has permanent consequence, as only the first playthrough of each player will contribute to the narrative direction of subsequent chapters,” explains Abyssal Arts in a press release.

It’s an interesting concept. While it is a single-player game, it will be fascinating to see how the community develops outside of City of the Shroud or if groups of players will plan how they play and what choices they make in order to manipulate the outcome of the next chapter.

“How do people react when everything is complicated, when it’s all a moral grey area?” said Keaton White, founder of Abyssal Arts. “We want to see what choices the community makes and create a cycle where we take the base material they give us and weave it into a coherent narrative. The story has only begun—the players will finish it.”

City of the Shroud will be available to download for $19.99 on Steam. There are four planned chapters for the game, with months in between each in order for the developers to craft the narrative based on player choices. Watch the release date and story trailer below to get a good look at this narratively ambitious game.