The Last Oricru begins with you waking from cryosleep on a hostile alien planet. Luckily for you, the denizens of the planet are still running around with swords, spears, and cudgels, instead of laser guns.
It’s an action RPG with a focus on dynamic storytelling where your choices shape the outcome in this world where medieval life and science fiction collide. You have to figure out where you fit in among the scattered humans and alien races by using your wits and your sword, occasionally having a chat with a nice rat man in the process.
Combat in The Last Oricru is skill-based and unforgiving, according to the developer. Taking place from a third-person perspective, you swing swords and maces, and block incoming attacks with a shield - you know, the usual. You do all this in both one-on-one duels and larger-scale battles.
The presentation shows off the usual branching quests where your actions can dictate which NPCs live or die. But there’s one area where you won’t have as much choice: shaping combat skills. Instead of delving into complex skill trees, The Last Oricru gives you base statistics to improve, a levelling system to raise your core stats, and loot to make yourself more deadly or defensive.
The headline feature of the game is the fact it supports drop-in, drop-out couch co-op, allowing you to team up with a friend. Not only does combat adjust to suit two players, but the game’s puzzles transform, forcing you to work together to pass. It’s not often you see this feature in a choice-based RPG, so it could find an audience based on this alone.
The Last Oricru is coming to PC and consoles in 2022.
