What is Forlorn?
First of all, thank you and welcome to Forlorn's development blog. Forlorn is a passion project that I have been working on in my spare time since 2016 and I am excited to start showing it off.
I will post updates as often as possible and would love to hear from you, feedback and questions are welcome.
About the game
Forlorn is an open world action RPG delivered in chapters that expands its world.
Heavily inspired by the Soulsborne series and The Legend of Zelda, Forlorn focuses on action with high-risk combat, exploration and discovery.
You play as a lone wanderer, awoken by a mysterious cloaked figure in an ancient land that has been overcome by a mysterious blight, corrupting its inhabitants.
The cloaked figure grants you special abilities and an ornate oil lantern, urging you to use them to defeat the corrupted souls that trap you here. Discover the truth behind what lay ruin to these ancient lands, and how you got there, lest you become blighted and part of the Forlorn.
The goal from the beginning was to create a game that would capture some of the feelings of awe, intrigue, atmosphere and achievement that the Souls series gives me with it's high-risk combat and marry that with the more accessible appeal of Zelda and it's sense of exploration, action, dungeons and little bit of puzzle solving.
Combat
The combat is challenging but rewarding. It requires a tactical approach that varies depending on the enemy. You will have a sword, shield and bow from the beginning of the game, which along with your armor, can be upgraded by blacksmiths, enhancing their attack damage and durability. Actions consume Stamina, it’s important to keep it in check while evading and attacking. A number of other offensive items and consumables that help you in combat can be found in the world, dropped from enemies or purchased from merchants.
You are quite agile and able to sprint, dash, jump and backstep. Thanks to the mysterious cloaked figure that woke you, you are also able to double jump and air dash, giving you an advantage in combat and while traversing the ancient ruined land. Other abilities may also be made available as the player progresses.
When defeated, you will awaken at the last shrine lit with your lantern. Enemies will respawn and you will lose your memories. Return to where you died to retrieve them. Shrines serve as a save checkpoint, when you rest at a lit Shrine your health will be restored and enemies will respawn.
Progression
The level up system in Forlorn is automatic, stats increase when you gain enough experience in battle or by consuming knowledge from the memories of the past.
With the guidance of the cloaked figure, you are able to focus your progression into different areas. Change focus to build your character the way you like.
Exploration
Explore the open world freely, discover ancient ruins and shrines, overcome dense forests and dark dungeons. Find hidden secrets throughout the land, such as special items or even mysterious NPC’s that may help you on your quest.
During your journey you will encounter a small variety of puzzles inside and out of dungeons and must solve them to progress, gain knowledge or discover special items.
Forlorn's story will be delivered in chapters that will extend the open world, granting you access to areas you were previously unable to explore, adding new dungeons, enemies and bosses to find and defeat.
Forlorn and it's world will grow and evolve over time. Each chapters progress will be shared on the games development blog.
In the next blog post I will go over the progress and history of development, discuss where the first chapter is at in development and show off some of the old and new gameplay in more detail.
Stay tuned, subscribe and let me know what you think in the comments below.
-Justin