COG reports that the VR RPG The Soulkeeper will be available as Early Access game in August:

New Dark and Gritty RPG ‘The SoulKeeper VR’ Announced

Epic VR RPG ‘The SoulKeeper VR’ Set For Early Access This August

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Step aside 20 minute VR games, The SoulKeeper VR is here to bring something new to the table; namely, a sword. HELM Systems has announced today the official release date of their upcoming RPG title The SoulKeeper VR. The game boasts some already beautiful graphics and what footage is currently available doesn’t appear to be the final product yet. The game looks to created an optimized experience for RPG style combat, a goal that so far looks very well met.

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Thanks Farflame!

Farflame spotted that Road to VR is showing some Soulkeeper gameplay on their site:

Preview: Visually Dazzling VR RPG ‘The SoulKeeper VR’ Plans For a Full Story With Deep Lore

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VR gamers have longed heavily for deeper titles that go beyond the surface-level experiences that make up a large portion of today’s VR content. They’ve longed for games with depth and complexity; developer HELM Systems plan to offer exactly that with The SoulKeeper VR, a forthcoming action adventure VR RPG for Vive and Rift with spell casting. The developers have shared new details with Road to VR leading up to the game’s release in Early Access on SteamVR this Spring.

I got my hands on the latest build of the The SoulKeeper VR (teaser video heading this article) which was frankly still a little rough around the edges, though Helm Systems tells us that their new workforce is progressing steadily with improvements on the path to the launch.

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OnlySP has interviewed the Soulkeeper devs about their upcoming open world RPG and the VR prequel:

The SoulKeeper – Helm Systems Discusses Their Upcoming Episodic Open World RPG, VR & More

 

 

Over a year ago we introduced you to The SoulKeeper, an ambitious open world RPG that’s taking a very different approach than your traditional open world fare. Helm Systems is building an episodic open world adventure, and I’ll assume that’s something you’ve probably never heard of yet and will be explained in detail through this interview. It’s an ambitious concept that Helm Systems, thus far, seems very confident in being able to accomplish.

I recently spoke with multiple members from the team at Helm Systems to get some updates on how development is going and to learn a bit more about their upcoming VR project which serves as a prequel to the upcoming open world RPG.

No platforms or release date have been announced for The SoulKeeper yet, but Helm Systems plans to reveal even more about the game before the end of the year.

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Mortakis: Last we spoke, we were working on The SoulKeeper open world RPG. Naturally, this is still a work in progress, as since we last spoke we also started working on The SoulKeeper VR, set in the same universe, but specifically for VR.

ONLYSP: The main game, The SoulKeeper, is still an episodic open world RPG, correct?

Mortakis: Yes, absolutely. We are still aiming for the same format. And we have been working on it quite a lot. We have expanded the set of characters, NPCs, environments, while also working on mechanics, including melee combat system, dragon flight and fight system, spell casting among other things.

We have been keeping quiet, is the truth, as your article from yesterday points out. But this is because we have been focusing all the promotion on the VR title. The VR title is much smaller than the open world RPG, so it is a smaller project all together, yet with the same level of quality and with many of the elements we aim to have in the open world RPG.

We had to focus our efforts on the VR title due to the timing of the events surrounding the VR side of the industry. That is not to say that we stopped working on the open world RPG though. As a matter of fact, the VR title will serve as an introductory prequel to the events that are to follow in the open world RPG.

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Thanks Farflame!

Farflame spottet this article about the open world RPG The Soulkeeper:

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SoulKeeper VR Survey & Demo Access

 

Hello everyone! 

This is to let you all know we've received your emails requesting access for The Soulkeeper VR demo and wanted to update everyone at once. We are also still going through the emails we received to try and answer more specific requests or questions as best we can.

We're currently optimizing and preparing the demo for distribution through Steam, rest assured we will get it going as soon as possible. Until then we need your help to improve the game and to create setting options to get the demo to run as smooth as possible across as many PC setups as we can. This is where we need your help!

When you have a chance please take this survey hosted by our local game developer community GameTrep.com or click the image below. Try to answer as much as you can so we can learn a bit more about you, your PC setup and interests. It should only take a few minutes but will help us make a game for you that will provide many times more than that worth of an immersive gaming experience.

Farflame spotted some interesting Soulkeeper videos:

First VR Demo Trailer:

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Demo from Pax South 2016:

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Dragon Flight:

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The episodic open world RPG The Soulkeeper features playable dragons that can breath fire.

Thanks Eye!

The Soulkeeper has been in development for some time, but managed to escape our attention (for as far I can see). The game is an open world action RPG that will be delivered in episodes. What this means is explained in more detail in this interview at OnlySP.

“The main difference between us and other open-world RPGs is that The SoulKeeper is an episodic title. I know that whenever someone in the industry hears the term episodic, they get a bit nervous, thinking, ‘here we go, another cash-grabbing machine’, but that’s not what we mean. We have a model in mind that, I think, will change the way people view episodic content.

“Since it’s such a huge world,” he adds. “I think it’s fair to the players to break it down into smaller pieces. Look at it like a trilogy of movies or a TV series, like The Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones. A TV series gives creators a lot more time to work-in details around the world and share them with the audience. The same model can be applied to games.”

The idea of a connected series of episodes is woven into every aspect of The SoulKeeper, which HELM say will feature multiple playable characters in a multi-facetted story.

“We have multiple playable characters and each character has their own playable story that’s separate from the others, but at some points they do intertwine,” says Mortakis.

“They also have their own gameplay mechanics. For example, one character could use melee as their primary weapon, whereas another could use stealth or magic. Since we put as much emphasis on story as graphics and gameplay, we felt that the best way to communicate all these experiences to the player was through an episodic format, otherwise I feel like they’d be overwhelmed and overburdened.”

On their facebook page you can find some screenshots. There is a website as well, but that looks remarkably empty. And there is also this pre-alpha trailer:

Thanks Eye.