Sword of Convallaria to receive an upcoming demo during this February’s Steam Next Fest.
Sword of Convallaria Demo Announced to Appear During Steam Next Fest this February
A small game being developed by company XD hopes to be a spiritual successor to classic pixel-art turn-based RPGs. Titled “Sword of Convallaria”, a lot of info and things have changed since we initially covered the title in August of last year.
One of the biggest announcements of the team during one of their Dev Diaries was that the tactical RPG will be getting a playable demo in next month’s Steam Next Fest.
A Definitive Demonstration
Sword of Convallaria will be one of the bigger titles that will grace the stage of Steam Next Fest, which is a celebration of all things indie. Next month’s run will be from February 5 to February 12, and players from all over will get to try out demos and watch some gameplay straight from select developers.
XD is very confident in the product that they’ve been able to create thus far. They are so proud of Sword of Convallaria, that they will be giving players a massive 10 hours of single-player story content. This is an extremely generous package that everyone should be able to appreciate, especially as 10 hours of a game’s campaign is enough to explain most systems and give us a good look at the plot.
To put things into perspective, Sword of Convallaria’s campaign in its full release will run for roughly 60 hours. However, no confirmation just yet for a specific release date. We just know that it will be sometime this year.
The Spiral of Destinies
Sword of Convallaria’s main campaign at launch is titled “Spiral of Destinies”. XD loosely describes it as having “roguelike” elements but doesn’t elaborate too much on this. The player will take up arms as the leader of an infamous band of mercenaries, the Sword of Convallaria. It is here that they are at the cusp of great change, as the country of Iria is about to be invaded by external forces.
Conflicts, insurgencies, infighting, and other acts of intrigue are what will guide the plot of Sword of Convallaria forward.
It will be up to the player and their merry band of mercenaries to decide the fate of Iria. Choices will also play a big part in how the narrative eventually plays out, as the game will feature branching endings that will vary greatly.
A Free Sword of Convallaria
XD also reconfirmed that Sword of Convallaria will be a purely free-to-play title, as it will be split up into the curated single-player experience as well as some multiplayer modes. They call this a “sustainable” development model, mixing a traditional approach when it comes to storytelling, while still embracing the live service model.
While there are no announcements on what exactly will be monetized, the developers claim that the monetization will not affect the game’s single-player campaign. Instead, all microtransactions will be restricted to the multi-player modes. The income of which will be used to fuel the game’s development in its entirety.
The game’s free-to-play launch will be initially available to PC players (exclusively via Steam) and mobile platforms (both Android and iOS). While the team does want to eventually branch out into a console release, that is a bit further down the pipeline. They are working on a Nintendo Switch port at the moment, but due to resource and time constraints, they wish to prioritize their main three platforms.
Sword of Destiny
XD also reaffirms that they wouldn’t be here without the tremendous amount of feedback from fans who’ve had an early taste of the game. During a lot of closed testing, the team was able to gather invaluable observations that ultimately shaped it into what the game is today. Some of the changes include the addition of a “Move Mode” that strikes a balance between having ease of navigation on a 2.5D play area with artistic choices. They have also completely redesigned some areas, as well as added new NPCs with flavor text dialogue to help flesh out the world.
Be sure to check out Sword of Convallaria next month as it joins February 2024’s Steam Next Fest! Other titles that have been confirmed to be in attendance are action-RPG Dungeon Stalkers, the survival-roguelike-cardgame Azoove, survival-sandbox Soulmask, and RTS Stormgate.
In other news, check out Last Epoch Gears Up for Full Release; New Trailer & Pre-Order Details, and Zoria: Age of Shattering Shows Off Combat, Skills and More in New Trailer.
