The Freeblades is an upcoming low-fantasy, gritty co-op adventure RPG that aims to hit the perfect blend of souls-like combat and dungeon crawling gameplay. It is a branch from its larger (parent) game Order of the Elements and I was brought in to serve as a generalist across all things gameplay and narrative focused, targeting, looting, and more.
The core loop of The Freeblades is elegant and bolstered for replayability:
The game features secondary loops that are focused on preparation and progression. Loot and resources can be used to craft weapons and clothing from blueprints also found within dungeons. Progression involves levelling on specific gameplay such as defense and alchemy for potions and so on. Combat can be costly and it is up to the player when they wish to extract, some doors are certain death without prior planning and setup.
Other skills include fishing and such which are ancillary methods to acquiring specific crafting materials and food for cooking.
The Freeblades is built for multiplayer co-op with dungeons that are filled with lore and challenge. Your reputation, loadout, and ability to customize your arsenal all determine whether you survive the next contract in an infinitely scaling dungeon system that promises bigger threats on every successful dive.
Gameplay in The Freeblades is punshing and deliberate. Drawing from souls-like mechanics, combat requires precision, stamina management and tactical positioning. Enemies won't wait for your heal potion, you must make space using the environment and what little stamina left to dodge. Featuring a roster of bandits, zombies, and even the city gaurd (mercenaries are not favoured). Magic exists in this low-fantasy world but it is not overt. Magic is taxing, requiring immense energy to wield. Because of this, players are far better off with steel weaponry and armour, using it as a last resort out of a bind. From two-handed swords with slow and dangerous power to quick serrated daggers that make quick work of the unarmoured; every weapon provides a unique playstyle necessary to survive the horrors lurking in the dark.
Throughout several contracts players must coordinate within their parties for the most effective clearing of these huge dungeons, whether by text chat or otherwise.
And when surface dwellers dwell on the surface once again, players can sell the junk they've looted and/or use their funds to buy ready-made items that will ensure they live through the next dungeon crawl.
The Freeblades is an indie project that has made use of a small group of developers in bringing about an awesome experience. It is being developed in Unreal Engine 5 using C++ and blueprint alongside the Gameplay Ability System. The project is multiplayer and as a branch from its parent game, required that all gameplay must be properly replicated in a listen-server, standalone, and dedicated-server context. Developd worked on the development of serveral key systems:
Work on this project involved tackling complex challenges, untangling legacy architecture and working closely with the team to migrate interaction systems, overhauling targeting and pushing toward a controller-first game from a previously keyboard and mouse setup. During this, the entire UI was redone, input systems, and enemy AI, all pushing toward a tangible vertical slice. It required strict attention to multiplayer networking, resolving replication issues and ensuring that looting, targeting, and combat/interactions remained responsive within the co-op environment.
The project demanded the use of:
Marrying punshing oldschool dungeon crawlers with (even more) punishing souls-like combat all while maintaing modern and fluid mechanics has made this project a pleasure and challenge to work on. Every milestone in development was achieved with passion, grit, and good old-fashioned indie development. I look forward to seeing it continue to grow and develop toward release.
The Freeblades is on Steam for wishlists and has a playtest open right now!
