Summary
- Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet marks a shift for Naughty Dog into new territory with a unique sci-fi world and lore potential.
- Final Fantasy 16’s Active Time Lore system could provide a solution for navigating complex lore in Intergalactic.
- Implementing a similar lore system could help balance depth and accessibility in Naughty Dog’s ambitious new IP.
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is likely still at least a year or two away, but it already looks like The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog’s most ambitious title yet. Not only does it signal the developer moving away from its most popular franchises for the time being, but it takes place in an entirely different world with brand-new characters, an original story, and fresh gameplay mechanics to boot. As such, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will be a big moment for Naughty Dog, in addition to it potentially having considerable impact on the video game industry as one of its most influential developers shifts gears.
Since it is a brand-new IP set in an unfamiliar sci-fi universe, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet has massive lore potential that it arguably needs to realize. Sci-fi worlds in general are already chock-full of interesting lore, and since lore is the one thing that can give these worlds context, Intergalactic can’t afford to assume players will be interested in its world if they can’t follow its history. Assuming it does place a significant emphasis on its lore, the biggest issue, then, would be for Intergalactic to implement some way for players to both discover and keep track of said lore without any issues. As it turns out, Final Fantasy 16 may have the perfect means for doing just that in its Active Time Lore.
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Intergalactic Should Use Final Fantasy 16’s Active Time Lore
Active Time Lore Served as an Accessible Route to Final Fantasy 16’s Lore
Final Fantasy 16 brought a great number of changes and bold innovations to the series’ formula, with its real-time action combat and highly mature narrative being two of its most prolific. However, with all that it introduced to the Final Fantasy franchise, there may be nothing more innovative or influential than its Active Time Lore system. In fact, the system proved to be such an essential tool for Final Fantasy 16‘s lore that other games with extensive lore, like Metaphor: ReFantazio and Avowed, have gone on to implement a similar system.
Final Fantasy 16‘s developers implemented Active Time Lore when they discovered that even they were having a difficult time keeping track of the game’s lore.
Final Fantasy 16‘s Active Time Lore feature allowed players to pause cutscenes or gameplay and pull up relevant lore entries about characters, factions, locations, and historical events in real-time. In the end, this ensured that players never felt lost in the story, even when complex layers were added to Final Fantasy 16‘s story and world-building, and important terms and references were always available without interrupting the flow of gameplay. Additionally, rather than digging through menus to find a specific lore entry, players could view these as soon as they’re mentioned.
Intergalactic’s Lore Potential Makes a Strong Case for a System Like Active Time Lore
If Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet takes the plunge headfirst into its lore potential, it would be remiss not to feature a system like Active Time Lore, especially if it wants to keep players immersed in its retro sci-fi world. In doing so, certain words in lines of dialogue could be highlighted to indicate that they have been added to the game’s lore, with the option for players to immediately access that lore if they wish to. They could also see the different stages of a lore entry’s development, just as Final Fantasy 16‘s Active Time Lore system allows, thereby giving them a better timeline of the knowledge they’ve gained.
Since it is a brand-new IP set in an unfamiliar sci-fi universe, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet has massive lore potential that it arguably needs to realize.
Given Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet‘s ambition, a lore system like Active Time Lore could be the key to balancing the potential depth of its world with a level of accessibility that any lore-heavy game should arguably strive to maintain. With Naughty Dog stepping into uncharted territory, Intergalactic will need to provide players with the right tools to immerse themselves in its universe without feeling like they’ve been left in the dark. Considering the fact that other major RPGs are following Final Fantasy 16‘s lead, this could be the kind of innovation that helps Intergalactic succeed in the long run.
- Publisher(s)
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Sony Interactive Entertainment