Van Helsing: Final Cut - The Road To, Parts 1-3

In three recent blog posts on the Neocore site the devs go through the Van Helsing trilogy and the Van Helsing: Final Cut in detail, and the basics for new players.

#1 The Protagonist

Abraham Van Helsing is a well known character from Bram Stoker’s Dracula and many more adaptations, derivative works, spinoffs and fan works. He is the definitive protoype of the monster hunter, and as our new Action RPG was concieved back then, we realized his offspring was the perfect candidate for hunting montsters and exploring the unknown.

Inheriting the skills and gadgetry from his father, young Van Helsing is raising the stakes in a world gone mad through weird science and a darkness that leaks from the otherworld known as the Ink. With more powerful weaponry, a cool wide brimmed hat, and a witty ghost companion (Lady Katarina), he’s the best guy for the job we could imagine.

And most importantly, NeocoreGames is a Hungarian development studio, a country surrounded by the ominous Carpathian Mountains: a clear connection to Bram Stoker’s Dracula lore.

So we chose him for the protagonist role, and we began designing the game.

#2 Evolution of an Action RPG

The release of The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing (2013) was a success that let us complete the goals we set: mostly the second and third part of the trilogy and numerous updates. We’re arriving to the last destination of this journey: releasing and maintaining the Final Cut edition that connects the trilogy in an epic adventure with an immense endgame content that will keep the players in Borgovia for many months (hopefully, years) to come. It will be released this September, free for those who already own the trilogy, and at a great price for those, who are new players.

We started with the concept of the character, which we explained in the previous post about Van Helsing himself. As a small independent studio, it was quite the challenge to create an Action RPG on par with games from bigger studios, but we did it focusing on humor, the industrial-gothic atmosphere and a very tight gameplay. The result: a solid basic game that can be expanded later if it’s going to be a success, and if it’s necessary.

#3 Challenges and Daily Quests

In the previous post, we mentioned that The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Final Cut isn’t just the three campaigns put together, but there will be a massive endgame content available as well. It’s difficult to detail all of them in one post, so in today’s highlight we discuss the Challenges and the Daily Quest, both really exciting additions.

One of the new endgame features is a system where you can select various Challenges, similar to an in-game achievement system, but it affects the game itself. Completing a Challenge grants you endgame currency, and is measured both in Single Player mode and Co-Op. Challenges can mean different things, but ultimately they are smaller bonus objectives that you accept in a similar way to quests. These objectives will wary in categories, like killing specific amount of monsters, collecting, enchanting, crafting, selling items, completing scenarios, or completing multiple tasks or gameplay feats with more characters.