Every now and again, a game comes along that just gets stuck in the back of your mind for one reason or another. The latest to do that for me is The God Slayer, an upcoming open-world RPG developed by Pathea Games which is based in Chongqing, China.
The game was originally announced back in 2023 as a part of Sony's PlayStation China Hero Project, though it appears it has since distanced itself from that particular incubation programme, with this new re-reveal confirming that the game is coming to the Xbox and PC at the same time as the PS5.
As part of a hands-off preview, I was shown plenty of gameplay from the upcoming title, and it’s safe to say that it’s set to do some things in a way that I have rarely, if ever, seen in a game before.
Players step into the role of an Elemancer, a being who has control over the basic elements of earth, fire, water and air, as well as two traditional Chinese additions to that pantheon in wood and metal. That will serve as the major gameplay feature, allowing you to interact with the environment and use it to your advantage, to take out enemies or make your escape.
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To give you an example that has really stuck with me, in one instance, the player character brought down a huge water tower on several enemies, washing them down the street in the process. This obviously didn’t actually kill them, but it did do enough to soak them through, which then allowed the protagonist to use their control of the elements to freeze said enemies.
It’s the kind of mechanic that just wouldn’t have worked properly in days gone by, and it’s so exciting to think of what else developers can do with it. Other examples that featured included plenty of combat with fire, as well as a cool effect where the Elemancer used a strong and sudden gust of air to blast roof tiles out from underneath a foe, sliding him off the roof in the process.
To give you an idea of exactly how deep the developer wants this system to run, Pathea Games shared some additional information about some of the potential interactions it can have: “In this world, elemental powers interact dynamically: fire consumes wood, water extinguishes fire, steam rises from boiling water, and earth can obstruct. Your approach to utilising these elemental interactions in battle is entirely up to you.”
I’m already both terrified and incredibly excited about the prospect of using steam to boil enemies like freshly caught lobsters. Now that I think about it, I’m a little concerned about the type of person this game might turn me into.
Outside of that headline feature, the story also has enough to it to get me interested in what it has to offer, which can be a bit of an uphill task for any new IP in the RPG space. The narrative essentially tells us that the world and everything in it was created by mysterious beings known as Celestials (no connection to Marvel). They designed living creatures to cultivate qi throughout their lives, which they then collect after a being dies in order to pass it back to the Celestial realm, granting them eternal life in the process.
All was well and good with that system until humans discovered they could harness the qi for themselves, outputting it via powers that would eventually see them referred to as the aforementioned Elemancers. This predictably infuriated the Celestials, who came down and slaughtered a ton of people.
You play as Cheng, one of said Elemancers, whose family was killed during the conflagration that would come to be known as the God Fall. The game will follow him as he attempts to take revenge and defend the rest of his loved ones in a strange steampunk inspired world that you won’t have seen anywhere else.
Much of the game is set to unfold in the enormous capital of the Zhou kingdom, and it’s a sprawling, densely populated and highly detailed settlement, particularly considering we are still some way out from release. You might dash through an open window to escape the guards, only to find a young family having dinner, and they aren’t too happy when you knock it all flying into the distance as you run past.
It’s that attention to detail that the developer is clearly going for, and if they can pull it off without destroying everyone’s hardware, then they may very well be onto a winner. The only drawback is that we don’t have a proper release date just yet, with most predictions having it arriving at some point in early 2027.
Given how good The God Slayer looks already, it could easily be one of the most exciting projects of the next few years, and it’s absolutely one to keep an eye on if you’re a fan of the genre. I know I will.
The God Slayer launches on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, with no release date confirmed by the developer at the time of writing.
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