Witchfire - What We Know So Far
While E3 was canceled in 2022 yet again, Summer Games Fest was still on. There were a ton of great titles revealed across many different genres, but one game stood out for all the right reasons: "Witchfire." Imagine a world like "Elden Ring" or "Skyrim" and add guns to it. From what developer The Astronauts have shown off, that's exactly what "Witchfire" will be. The concept is the kind of first-person shooter that will blow you away with its uniqueness in both tone and gameplay.
This wasn't the first time people had seen "Witchfire." It was originally announced in 2017, but things had been so quiet for years afterward that many wondered if the game was still coming out. Summer Games Fest reintroduced the game to everyone and got people excited about it again, and it confirmed that the game was still in development while also giving some details about a potential release date.
What's the release date for Witchfire?
There's good news for anyone looking to play "Witchfire" – the game will be released in Early Access for anyone and everyone very soon. According to The Astronauts, the goal is to have it ready for PC Early Access in Q4 2022, and it'll be available on the Epic Games Store.
The developing studio is very interested in getting feedback from players before the game is released. In fact, it believes that Early Access will improve the game and help make it better in the future. In a previous blog post from January 2022, developers mentioned that even the way fans reacted to the trailer of the game was "crucial" to development. Early Access opinions will more than likely hold a lot of weight.
The game will first be available on PC only, but the studio has said that the plan is to bring "Witchfire" to other platforms later on.
Is there a trailer for Witchfire?
"Witchfire" was shown off with a trailer at the 2022 Summer Games Fest. The trailer introduced mechanics that expanded on what the previous teaser trailer featured. While it was always known that the next big first-person shooter wasn't what anyone thought, this dark fantasy shooter (or roguelite, as developers called it) has many impressive elements.
Between dashing around while lighting up enemies with guns that have magical abilities, forcing enemies backward with magic, using massive AOE attacks, and double jumping through the air, there are plenty of surprising aspects of the game. The teaser trailer showed some of the same combat techniques, but focused more on the environment of the world, showing off overgrown, abandoned castles and beautiful nature scenes.
The one thing that neither trailer showed was the story of the game and what players will actually be doing while shooting up enemies.
What's the gameplay of Witchfire like?
The "Witchfire" trailer is full of actual gameplay, as The Astronauts explained on Twitter, and the game's description on The Epic Games Store gives some explanation for the story of the game.
According to the game's description, the FPS takes place during a time when the Church is fighting a war against witches. In order to gain the upper hand, the Church calls on "pagan magic" to create people called preyers, which are sinners turned witch hunters. The goal for these preyers is to find the witch of the Black Sea and take back an artifact in order to win the war.
In a blog post, The Astronauts explained that the magic system in the game — which translates to gun power as well — is based on the four elements: earth, fire, water, and air. This leads to abilities like freezing enemies or even decaying them, along with the other abilities shown off in the trailer like pushing enemies back with air.