[GameSpot] - Disciples: Liberation's Protagonist Will Surprise You Through Her Dialogue, Says Creative Director

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Publisher Kalypso Media and developer Frima Studio have revealed Disciples: Liberation will launch October 21. Unlike previous titles in the turn-based strategy RPG series, Liberation features a fully realized protagonist in Avyanna. Frima Studio wanted a protagonist who could surprise the player, one whose decisions and dialogue options are inspired by an already established history and personality.

"We wanted to build a personality that the player could somewhat mold into their approach to different situations, but at the same time convey what our writers and the creative team on our side wanted to communicate," Frima Studio vice president of creative & design Louis Lamarche told GameSpot.

Lamarche added that the team gets asked why the protagonist of Liberation is a woman, and said that the choice is "very important" to the story. He did not provide additional details however, saying he wanted to avoid spoilers.

"She will surprise you through the dialogue," Lamarche said. "She doesn't have her tongue in her pocket, and though there are sexual references made towards her sometimes--which can feel weird--she is pretty hardcore."

"[Liberation] is a dark fantasy, and Avyanna, to us, is a perfect fit in order to drive how dark this world is. I don't want to spoil anything and I really want the player to discover the darkness of Nevendaar, but I think [Avyanna] is spot on [for Liberation] as opposed to a blank slate protagonist. You'll feel more of her personality within the dialogue."

A spokesperson for the studio told GameSpot that the writing team "worked hard to give [Avyanna] a unique and multi-faceted personality, one that unfolds and strengthens her character and resolve as the game progresses," as forming Avyanna's personality and choices was the most important focus in creating the game.

Though Avyanna as a person is set from the get-go, you do have the choice of what her class is. Avyanna can evolve into a Warlord, Hexblade, Seeress, or Witch. The four classes exist on a spectrum, with Warlord being the melee-focused extreme and Witch acting as the spellcaster-focused extreme. Hexblade and Seeress utilize both melee and arcane abilities, with Hexblade specializing a bit more in the former and Seeress in the latter.

Beyond Avyanna, you'll have some agency in how the world changes around you. "There are four factions in Disciples: Liberation--the Empire, the Elven Alliance, the Undead Horde, and the Legion of the Damned," Lamarche said. "So as you take actions, as you make decisions, your standing with these [factions] will fluctuate."

Those decisions, in turn, inform how those around Avyanna treat her. Frima Studio game designer Eric Latouche told us that you can't skip recruiting any of the companions that you meet in Liberation but warned, "You can lose them. At some point, you will have all of them in your team, but based on your choices, you might lose them."

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This focus on story is new for the Disciples series, though it tracks with what Kalypso Media has previously said about Liberation--the publisher has wanted to make a fourth Disciples game "for many years" but wanted the right developer for the job, specifically a team that could modernize the series with a narrative-driven campaign.

"We wanted to revive it, and modernize it a bit of course, but we also wanted to stay true to the brand identity," Disciples: Liberation creative director Jordane Thiboust told GameSpot. "So we played the previous games, read tons of lore and fan theories. We even looked at cosplay that was done by fans in the past. It is like unearthing some forgotten treasure and every time you find something, it sparks new ideas. Disciples is niche indeed, but it was also greatly appreciated by the fans at the time, so our goal was clear: How do we revive it, while making it more popular than before?"

In Liberation, Avyanna finds herself tasked with uniting a war-torn country ruled over by four factions. Building a powerful army is an important part of her plan, but you can also guide her towards success by engaging in political machinations, accumulating valuable resources, and forming alliances.

Disciples: Liberation will be the first game in the series to release for consoles, launching for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and PC. Kalypso Media owner and managing director Simon Hellwig told us that players will be "surprised by how well [Disciples: Liberation] plays with a gamepad."

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