Three years after it was first announced, potential players have finally received a substantial update about PlatinumGames' Babylon's Fall. The game will be an online multiplayer hack-and-slash RPG, with up to four players battling their way up to the top of a tower of Biblical proportions as they fight for their freedom.
Babylon's Fall contains a unique mechanic with links to the story and important gameplay implications. This mechanic is each player's Gideon Coffin. With developers going into more depth at Square Enix's E3 2021 showcase, fans have finally gotten some insight into the role their Gideon Coffin will play in the game's combat.
Combat In Babylon's Fall
On June 13, Square Enix released an interview with some of the developers working on Babylon's Fall. In the interview, PlatinumGames' lead game designer Isao Negishi described some of the principles behind Babylon's Fall's combat.
"The game follows the style of a traditional hack and slash. Most hack and slash games only have you build you characters by making combinations of weapons, armor and skills. But one of the unique factors to Babylon's Fall is battle actions become the trigger to activate skills and draw out your strongest powers."
While Babylon's Fall's developers don't go into much detail about what some of those strongest powers may be, players get some insight into the combinations mentioned when director Kenji Saito expands on the Gideon Coffin mechanic. From what can be seen in the gameplay trailers, a Gideon Coffin is a box held on the player's back which contains some kind of magical energy they can use in combat. One of the main ways the player's Gideon Coffin will work is through the use of its Gideon Gut, magical cords which extend from the Gideon Coffin. These cords can be used to enhance different abilities and create a greater variety of possible load-outs.
Using Gideon Coffins
The Gideon Gut can be used as Gideon Arms, for example, which allow the player to wield two additional weapons, diversifying their skill-set. Babylon's Fall has five different types of weapons - swords, hammers, bows, staves, and shields. In Kenji Saito's example, he explains how a player might wield swords with their hands but staves with their Gideon Arms, creating a "sorcerer knight." Gideon Arms can be used to complement pre-existing abilities as well, such as using them to wield an additional hammer for a heavy-hitting character.
The Gideon Gut isn't just used to wield weapons, however, but has powers in its own right. The Gideon Gut can be used for abilities that will drain enemy power or give allies different buffs. They also appear to be able to be used for mobility, allowing players to move around more quickly. Based on Babylon's Fall's developer comments the level of combat-style customization in the game will be vast, and a key part of the game's design and replay value. The player's Gideon Coffin is another way for them to build a huge number of unique builds, allowing them to stack extra weapons, powers, and mobility modifiers on top of the standard combination of weapons, armors, and skills described by Isao Negishi.
There are likely many more ways the Gideon Coffin can be used that have yet to be revealed by PlatinumGames, and so far there have been few details about the role the Gideon Coffin will play in the game's story. However, hack and slash fans will likely be glad to see another element of the upcoming game that will allow them to create their own customized playstyle.
Babylon's Fall is in development for PC, PS4, and PS5.