Have you ever played a demo for a game and thought to yourself, “man that was really cool, I can’t wait until it actually releases.” A few months pass and you’ve completely forgotten about it until a friend sends you an article about a game they find cool and suggest you check it out.
Suddenly, you think, oh man how long has it been? What has changed in the game during all this time? This is what I experienced with Ocean Drive Studios’ Blackout Protocol.
While we were at PAX East this year, we had the chance to catch up with Ocean Drive Studios and see how they have updated Blackout Procol as well as check out the spin-off to Lost Eidolons called Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch.
Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch
After Blackout Protocol, we switched to Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch. In 2022, Lost Eidolons was a grid turn-based RPG. In the demo, when character’s died, the player had to recruit new allies.
In Combat, enemies had a symbol on their body that depicted what their weakness was to that round; each round, the weakness could change and it was up to the player to determine which attack would be effective in order to take down the enemy.
The combat system in Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch is similar but has changed focus slightly. Veil of the Witch uses a Rougelite mechanic to change how the game is play and allows the player to focus on select abilities rather than a wide pool.
From playing the first chapter, the game’s story seems like it will be a dark mystery; the only downside was that the story itself felt rushed. Certain story aspects were too easy to guess based on dialogue options and plot points felt rushed.
Yes, it did give us a sense of who the characters are but if it was given enough time to breathe and gave time for the plot to grow, players would be much more immersed. The combat in the game was similar to the original game but the grid combat felt like it was dulled down to be more accessible.
Due to time constraints were were told to skip over the optional dialog and even some of the main story plots. Despite skipping over the story in places, it was still pretty easy to pick up the plot.
What made things better was the controls felt easier to use than in the prior game. Combat no longer felt like a burden and could easily focus on using each character’s abilities to the fullest.
Both of these games can definitely be appealing to the right audience. If you are an RPG fan or a fan of dungeon crawlers then it will be worthwhile to check out Ocean Drive Studios’ Blackout Protocol and Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch. Both of these games have different gameplay styles but they should both be able to entertain you for hours.
Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch is in development for Windows PC (via Steam) in early access, after which it’ll get console ports for Xbox Series X|S, Switch, and PS5.
