First Look: Evil Islands

Nival Interactive sent us a big group of screenshots from its upcoming role-playing game Evil Islands. The game begins in the wild land of Gipat, an island that floats in an astral halo and is inhabited by a wide variety of creatures, including trolls, goblins, bats, wolves, and succubi. Players familiar with Nival's previous game, Rage of Mages, will recognize the fantasy game universe. Evil Islands adds three new islands to that universe: Gipat, Ingos, and Suslanger. Players assume the role of a human character who has lost all memory and must search for clues about his or her identity. As the game progresses, the character will gain control of a small battle party made up of several other characters. These characters can develop skills and gain levels as they complete quests and gain experience.

Players will find many quests in the game, many of which will come from non-player characters in various towns and villages. The game forces players to think tactically, since the battle party will often be outnumbered in combat. To ensure players interact with the storyline rather than mindlessly kill monsters, experience for completing quests will far outweigh the experience gained in combat.

Evil Islands features a complex magic system based on three magical schools: elemental magic, sense magic, and astral magic. The elemental school includes spells that inflict damage directly, such as fire magic, acid magic, or lightning magic. The sense school lets the caster create illusions, augment natural senses such as sight or hearing, and trick an enemy's senses through cloaking magic. The astral school encompasses a range of other spells such as teleportation, paralyzation, and healing. The game will also include an item construction option to let players craft magical spells and objects.

We'll have more in-depth information about Evil Islands soon.