Open world games give players the freedom to explore, but also the freedom to accidentally wander into the jaws of some terrifying creature that will devour them alive. Upcoming tacticalRPGA Tale of Silent Depths,presented atGamescom LATAM, embraces this philosophy fully with its undersea setting.A Tale of Silent Depths’open world is sinister and dark, with players forced to use their submarine’s sonar to navigate - and not even that works everywhere. It is filled with monsters ranging from smaller “shrimp ants” to enormous eldritch horrors that cause the entire ocean floor to shake with a single step.
In a conversation with Game Rant, lead programmer and Tavern Tale co-founder Eduardo Santos revealed that the team was passionate aboutA Tale of Silent Depths’underwater setting from the beginning, and immediately knew they wanted it to be mysterious and filled with secrets to discover. “You can’t really know what’s down there,” said Santos of the depths of the ocean. InA Tale of Silent Depths,what’s down there are monsters - eldritch horrors that wouldn’t be out of place in theworks of H.P. Lovecraft, which players can discover as they explore the game’s open world in their Ark submarine.
Multiple Aspects Of The World Encourage Exploration
Tavern Tale Studios wantedA Tale of Silent Depthsto be a trueopen world RPG, where players could explore in any direction they wanted rather than sticking to a set path. They did this by developing a number of different undersea biomes, including a kelp jungle, an acid wasteland, a former settlement filled with ruined buildings, and “The Dark,” a particularly dangerous biome that circles the edges of the world.
Santos warned players that “The Dark” is filled with dangerous monsters and is quite difficult to navigate, as the submarine’s sonar is ineffective there. It brings to mind classicunderwater horror games likeSubnauticaand Iron Lung.“If you go too close to the edge of the world, you face this place full of eldritch creatures,” Santos explained. The entire biome is designed to evoke a feeling that humans “weren’t meant to be here.”
Follow The Creatures To Discover Secrets
Tavern Tale’s process for designing the many underwater monsters and bosses players will encounter inA Tale of Silent Depthsinvolved first coming up with their role in the lore of thepost-apocalyptic world, and then figuring out where best to place them to encourage players to explore and maintain a consistent sense of danger throughout the game. While the most dangerous monsters lurk in the Dark, Santos revealed that there are many others scattered throughout the game, including one that can be encountered in the game’s very first area.
Santos provided a specific example of howA Tale of Silent Depthsuses its creatures toencourage players to explore: the Shrimp Ants. Throughout the world, players can see Shrimp Ants walking in lines. Players may find themselves asking questions. “Where are the ants going? What are they? Where are they taking these resources?” If they follow them to their enormous central hive, they will discover an optional boss, the Ant Queen, as well as rare and valuable resources and interesting lore about the game’s world.
“If you follow them, you get to the great ant hive, and there’s a great ant queen there. It’s a very dangerous place, very high level. But once you explore there, for example, you can kill the ant queen. [Or] You can try to just get resources nearby.”
The world ofA Tale of Silent Depthsis fraught with danger and terror, appropriate for a setting that is both post-apocalyptic and underwater. However, there are more than just monsters making their home in this world. There are plenty of exciting and valuable secrets to discover for those players brave enough to pursue them.
A Tale of Silent Depthscurrently has a demo available on Steam.
