Indie developers Trese Brothers are set to release their second game in 2021, a cyberpunk tactical RPG titled Cyber Knights: Flashpoint. Cyber Knights will interweave the story of an elite team of "hackers, mercs and thieves" with deep game systems and XCOM-esque tactical combat that includes stealth and hacking. The kicker is that the game has procedural elements, much like Trese Brothers' highly-regarded previous game Star Traders: Frontiers. These generated elements in the story and combat mean that Cyber Knights aims to be highly replayable, giving you a new cyberpunk story each time.
Asked to say what makes Cyber Knights stand out from other tactical RPGs, developer Andrew Trese told PC Gamer that it was an emphasis on "Deep systems and extreme replayability," noting that it had "Heist-style missions with a distinct planning phase and balanced mix of stealth, hacking and combat in encounters."
"It’s designed to feel more like you’re running a crew from the Matrix—techno-savvy, uniquely talented, decked out and deadly when needed—than just some generic military squad taking cover positions and laying down overwatch," said Trese. It sounds to me like a balance between Invisible, Inc and XCOM with an added dash of Fire Emblem's interpersonal relationships between characters affecting the overall story.
Further, Trese is proud of their cyberpunk world, a tabletop setting he and his brother have been tinkering with for a decade. It's one he says "avoids rehashing tropes already redundant to the real world."
"Too many properties today seem created with the idea that technology or money are inherently dehumanizing," said Trese, "which was never what good cyberpunk was about. Cyberpunk is about what happens when we value those things more than we value humanity."
You can find Cyber Knights: Flashpoint on Steam. It's scheduled to release as Early Access in the late summer of 2021, with full release in the first few months of 2022 and subsequent console releases. Its most recent update includes a full game development roadmap.
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