Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Dev Explains Why There’s No Traditional Skill Tree

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As a seasoned gamer with decades of experience under my belt, I can confidently say that Indiana Jones and The Great Circle is a breath of fresh air in the action-adventure genre. Having spent countless hours navigating skill trees in countless games, it’s refreshing to see a title like this take a different approach.

For enthusiasts of the franchise, “Indiana Jones and The Great Circle” offers a fantastic chance to accurately depict Indy’s realm within a video game setting. This action-adventure game has been crafted by MachineGames, a studio renowned for its expertise in first-person games due to its work on the Wolfenstein series. One of MachineGames’ primary goals was to deliver an authentic Indiana Jones experience, which means that the game lacks a conventional skill tree system.

Game Rant recently had a chat with Jens Andersson, the director of Indiana Jones and The Great Circle, to delve deeper into the game. He explained that the way players learn skills and abilities in this game deviates from the usual method, which might be refreshing for fans. Additionally, he hinted at some of Indy’s secret talents that players will stumble upon and how they enhance the overall gaming experience.

Indiana Jones and The Great Circle Approaches Progression With Innovation

In Indiana Jones and The Great Circle, the player’s skills and capabilities deviate from typical games that heavily rely on skill trees, a feature increasingly prevalent over time. Instead of adhering to the conventional skill tree structure where players earn experience points to acquire new abilities, MachineGames opted for a more engaging method. Players are required to discover Adventure Books, which grant them game-altering skills upon finding them. During our conversation, Andersson elaborated on their reasoning behind this choice.

To ensure our game offers an authentic and engaging experience, we opted against using a traditional skill tree. Instead, allowing players to uncover and read books to unlock abilities seemed more fitting for our protagonist who is both an archaeologist and professor. Additionally, we aimed to reward exploration and mystery-solving with something special. What could be more exciting than stumbling upon a previously unknown ability?

Exploration in The Great Circle Will Be Richly Rewarded

For those players who choose to venture beyond the usual routes, it can be incredibly fulfilling if their exploration is adequately compensated. Uncovering hidden secrets and Easter eggs frequently serves as the player’s primary motivation to inspect every corner and crevice. The game Indiana Jones and The Great Circle emphasizes this aspect by concealing some of Indy’s skills in tricky-to-locate spots within the game itself. Andersson added:

In this game, each skill is developed based on Indy-like characters’ traditional tools and playstyle, such as melee combat, whip, and gunfights. Additionally, there are unique skills, like the Lucky Hat ability, which provides a second chance if you’re defeated while wearing the iconic adventurer outfit with your fedora on. However, the difficulty lies in the fact that all abilities are optional and can be tough to locate, making it uncertain what skills a player has acquired at any given moment during the game.

In the creation of “The Great Circle”, the developer is deliberately maintaining the distinct ambiance and atmosphere of the Indiana Jones universe. By concealing certain skills and making them elusive or easy to miss, they are undeniably enhancing the game’s replay value, providing an additional reason (though perhaps unnecessary for those playing an Indiana Jones game) for players to delve deeper into the game world.

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2024-12-02 22:35