The upcoming tactical RPG Miasma Chronicles has many awesome influences. The dark and gloomy aesthetic is very XCOM. The turn-based combat is like classic Final Fantasy. Created by Bearded Ladies, based on 2018’s RPG Mutant Year Zero, there’s even a slight hint of Hitman, as many developers have already worked on IO’s stealth series. But as we get confirmation of the Miasma Chronicles release date, there’s an interesting mechanic hidden in Bearded Ladies’ latest release that may set it apart from the crowd of deckbuilders and RPGs.
If you are unfamiliar with Miasma Chronicles, the setup is as follows. In a futuristic and dystopian America, humanity has managed to solve all its ecological and environmental problems. The companies that built the technology to keep the planet clean now control everything; suddenly, a new threat emerges in the form of the titular Miasma, a vaguely defined force of nature seeking revenge on humanity.
A spiritual successor to classic PS1 RPGs like Xenogears, Miasma Chronicles combines strategy game mechanics and turn-based tactical deployments to create a kind of surreal steampunk XCOM. You position your team in real time, looking for high areas and decent cover before attacking. From there, battles are won through clever combinations of your party’s abilities, skills, and traits. But there is a twist.
Speaking exclusively to – Game News, live at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Bearded Ladies studio head Mark Parker (pictured below left, facing marketing director Niklas Odén) explains how Miasma Chronicles is specifically modified to encourage experimentation.
“One of the changes we’ve made is a skill tree that you can redeem at any time,” Parker explains. “So you can spend points and get things, but let’s say later in the game you encounter a new type of enemy that would fit a different playstyle, you don’t get stuck with the wrong cards you have chosen earlier.
“We talked about having an older guy, or someone who could take your in-game money, and then we thought ‘why do we want to punish the player if he wants to experiment? We want them to make fun things!
The ability to respect at any time gives Miasma Chronicles players the space to improvise and explore other character builds whenever they want. Usually in an RPG you have to decide on a building path early on and commit everything to that singular role; if you want to go back and try something else, that means starting your character from scratch. Paying back your entire build and using everything you’ve spent so far to instantly create something new is a really good idea.
Combat in Miasma Chronicles also involves stealth mechanics, directly inspired by when many Bearded Ladies developers worked on Hitman.
“Of course we have some of that DNA,” Parker explains. “You don’t have accidental deaths and things like that, but there’s a bit of stealth in the sense that we have items you can distract enemies with, as well as things like radios – if you turn on, the enemies will go and investigate.”
Starting May 23, you can now list Miasma Chronicles on Steam. In the meantime, you might want to check out some of the other best 4X games, if you like XCOM and strategy, or maybe some of the best card games on PC.