Immortals of Aveum is an upcoming project from Ascendant Studios. First announced at The Game Awards 2022, the game follows Jak as he joins the Order of Immortals and sets out to defeat the Rasharnian nation. Throughout this single-player game, players will use their magical abilities to fight enemies and end the Everwar.

In a recent interview with Jim Ingraham, the UI Lead at Ascendant Studios, Game Rant got an inside look into various new elements of gameplay, combat, and magical abilities of Immortals of Aveum. In the interview, Ingraham talked in-depth about certain aspects of combat, like the lash ability, some of the gameplay styles, and the differentiation between the different colors of magic. The following transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.

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Q: What can you tell me about the lash ability?

The lash ability was something that we played around with maybe two years ago. We've spent a lot of time refining it and working on it. It was funny when we first had it in the early prototype areas, you build out these spaces for combat and whatnot. Once we got it in there, we had a bunch of these lash points, and we're pulling each other all around the battlefield. I just had this moment of like "this is amazing." It really helps to change the way combat flows.

Immortals of Aveum Interview

Q: So, there's a level with a bunch of lash points?

There are lash points all over the place in our levels. We have a lot of interesting, cool traversal, and we've got a lot of puzzles. We've got a lot of things that like lash is used for combat, but it's also used for all these different scenarios, which is really cool. That goes for all of our spells. They're all really multifunctional, and we worked really hard to create a wide spectrum of stuff you can do.

Q: I noticed each spell seems to have different animations when used, but the gauntlet designs also change. Is that true for every single spell in the game?

Not exactly. So how it kind of works is that the spells are coming from Jak himself, like the magic is being manifested by Jak. As a Battle mage, he's got all this power, and early in the game, that's shown where it all of a sudden manifests in him. We call it Wild Magic, where you have this power but you can't exactly control it. Think about X-Men's Cyclops, when he doesn't have his visor. Like Cyclops, the Sigils really help Jak hone that magic control and then fire it. There is variation, which is really cool, as each sort of Sigil provides a few unique aspects like how it focuses that magic and what it does with it. And there's even more variation on top with things like talents as well.

Q: Speaking of the talents, I did look through the list of all the ones available, and they seem to dramatically change how some abilities work. Would that be accurate?

Yep, that was a big, big thing for us. There are a lot of games that have had very minor changes, right? So, Jason, our lead combat designer, really wanted to focus on making sure that those changes are really impactful to you and to the choices that you make. They really do change the way that you're able to play the game.

immortals leylodon

Q: Could you talk about some of those gameplay styles you're providing players?

The red magic provides hot-and-heavy, in-your-face combat scenarios. Leaning into that will give you a more up-close and personal Doom-style experience. We've also got green magic, which is a little bit more tactical, a little bit further away, so that's a mid-range scenario. When you get into blue magic, you're getting more into your sniper stuff, which is one of my personal favorites. Being out there, really being able to be fully tactical, and look at things and go at it from a distance. Then, how you combine those things because our control spells, fury spells, and your sigils are all based on those three magic colors affects that. So you get even more variation there.

Q: How did the team achieve that real "punch" when using the spells in combat?

That was one of the most important things to us, really making it hit. I mean, so Bret comes from Call of Duty, right? We also have a lot of other people from Call of Duty, and those always bring a big punch, right? That's one of the major sorts of pillars, if you will, of that gameplay experience. We really wanted to do that, too, and that's one of the things that we recognize as lacking overall. In games with magic, whether it be MMOs, RPGs, or whatever, that strength is something that's lacking. Being able to provide that then was paramount for us.

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Q: How difficult was it to achieve that punch of a CoD weapon but the spectacle of magic as well?

Oh, it's difficult. It took a lot. I mean, we've been working on the game for five years. We've got an unbelievable team of effects artists too and that's a huge thing when it comes to magic, right? The key thing that I love about our studio is we really work closely together, all of us. We're always talking to each other, we're always playing the game, we're always looking at different things, and we're giving feedback to each other, right? You know, all the departments collaborate to give that feedback and also receive that feedback and say, like, "Hey, how can we tweak this? Or how can we tweak that"? So what you're seeing here is really that it's just that iteration right of being able to go through and really look at things and own things. And hopefully, when it releases, perfect them.

Immortals of Aveum screenshot showcasing main character Jak.

Q: Is there any significant meaning to the tattoo on Jak's face?

That is a really good question. I can't answer that. But yes.

Q: What I've played so far today does feel like a straightforward Call of Duty campaign. Are there going to be more open areas, things like collectibles, things that take you off the Golden Path?

We have side quests, and we've got these hubs. Out from there, you're able to go around and explore. There's a lot of re-traversing and stuff like that.

Yeah, I saw those areas where there were barriers I couldn't get through yet.

I encourage you to play and look around a lot because there are a lot of little hidden things out there to find.

Immortals of Aveum Magic Attack

Q: What was the most important aspect when working on the UI of this game?

The most important thing I'd say is making sure that we created something that is unique and new, but also spoke to the game itself. It had to have a modern flair to it, if that makes sense, because our game is not a traditional high fantasy with tons of filigree and all this stuff. When I looked at it, the art director Dave Bogan and I sat down and said, "What are our major pillars?" It was the military and that high fantasy aspect. Then, it was really thinking about how these pillars spoke to things. It was making sure the utility of military, of having something that's cleaned, focused, and does what it's intended to do. At the same time, we needed to offer a little bit of flair that feels magical, feels different. The toughest thing was honing in on that. But again, we iterate a lot, we work on things, we have feedback, we go forward, and we see where we can target this or that and make changes. What you're seeing here is where we've arrived, up to this point. We've really spent a lot of time honing in on this distinct vibe.

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Q: How did the UI team work alongside the designations of "red, blue, green" magic?

One of my big things and one of Dave's big things was to make sure we also have a lot of shape language. So Red is triangular, sharp, and angry, right? Green is amorphous and round, which is why we use circle motifs. And then blue is cubed, as it's more structured and everything. We really made sure to pair those things, so we're not just going off of color. However, those different colors, they really do speak to overarching ideas of chaos, magic, and life magic. For Blue, it's got more of a Force aspect to it, so we really feel like it paired well.

Q: What's something that you're super excited about players experiencing at launch?

I think just the overall experience. I'm really excited to see people, especially here. It gives me great joy to see people using all of our spells, using our Furies, our control spells, and our sigils. It is just awesome to watch because that's the way the game is really meant to be played. In a lot of magic-based games going all the way back, people tend to just settle in and only use a very small aspect of what they can. And so it's great to see people really exploring and taking on the full experience.

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Immortals of Aveum launches July 20, 2023, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

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