80 Days and Heaven's Vault developer Inkle is almost done with its latest narrative romp, Pendragon, which retells the tale of King Arthur's final battle against his rubbish son, Mordred, through story-driven tactical scraps. It's coming on September 22, but first there's a new trailer that you can watch above.
Combat isn't the first thing that springs to mind when I think of Inkle's games, or the 50th, though there was that impromptu boxing match and a few other instances of fisticuffs in 80 Days. For the most part, the studio's games are all about exploration and chatting. In Pendragon, though, its fights are where the story happens.
As one of the Arthurian legend's key characters, from Morgana le Fay to Lancelot, you'll duke it out on the battlefield as you travel to Camlann and Arthur. Maybe. It's up to you to decide if Arthur gets some much needed backup. The choices you make within the simple tactical fights, as well as the ones your enemies make, mould the story.
These characters also have different motivations and personalities that will shape your playthrough, and it looks like both failure and death are a possibility. If you succeed, however, you'll unlock new difficulty levels that contain extra enemies and more secrets.
There's a bit of a Banner Saga vibe, but with slightly lighter combat and a more experimental narrative. I dig it. I adored 80 Days and Heaven's Vault, so I'm eager to see how Inkle handles a tactics game.
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