Even if this is shit, I need it:
Have there even been games set in WA before? AFL games don't count.
Publisher Team17 and developer Drop Bear Bytes have joined forces to bring Australia-themed post-apocalyptic cRPG Broken Roads to Steam and consoles next year.
Broken Roads tasks players, and their accompanying party of up to five characters, with traversing a "content-rich and densely-crafted" post-apocalyptic future version of Western Australia, visiting real-life locations along the way. The experience is - as even a quick glance at the trailer below will confirm - heavily inspired by classic single-player cRPGs, and features a blend of turn-based tactical combat, alongside "traditional and original" RPG mechanics.
There's a "classless" character system, offering "nearly unlimited...development options", and something Drop Bear calls the Moral Compass. Acting as a kind of enhanced morality system, this sees dialogue options and questing decisions influence - and be influenced by - a character's philosophical leanings, with the game featuring four philosophical paths, each with their own unique traits.: Humanist, Utilitarian, Machiavellian, and Nihilist.
"As the journey begins," the developer explains, "players will be asked a series of questions - moral quandries - that determine their starting position on the compass. Decisions made throughout the game will then shift their philosophical leaning and affect future choices, quests, and reactions from the people they meet."
There's more information on the Moral Compass and other systems over on Drop Bear Byte's development blog, which the studio has been updating since late 2019. Expect more news on Broken Roads as its 2022 release on PC and currently unspecified consoles draws nearer.
