Toplitiz games, the studio behind the life sim Dynasty Series gave us a tour of the upcoming title Medieval Dynasty and showed us just how they are building their new game.
Initially unveiled at Gamescom 2019, Medieval Dynasty is set to be the latest iteration on the Dynasty life sim series. Taking place in the dark times, before the PC gaming was the mainstay of my own nightly activities or TikTok became a daily distraction, Medieval Dynasty is an open-world adventure game that challenges players to survive in the age before modern enlightenment. You’ll be expected to survive, build, and rule an empire, but it seems that crafting a new legacy isn’t always straightforward.
When we first jumped into an early look at Medieval Dynasty, this grim-looking adventure dragged yours truly through a torrid opening. Lost in the dead of night and trying to tend to a despondent family, the first few moments of our earlier foray in Medieval Dynasty was a distinctly grim narrative reality. Instead, Developer Render Cube has completely changed how players introduce themselves to the world of Medieval Dynasty, letting off the reins a bit and opening up on a lush new valley where you’ll begin to build a life.
For those of you that aren’t familiar with Toplitz’s latest we asked the team behind the game to describe what exactly this is about. Via Render Cube:
Medieval Dynasty combines the most interesting elements of several game genres. The need to survive and overcome hunger from survival games, as well as the ability to build and craft a convergent with simulation games. Interacting with NPCs, taking care of them and doing quests for them like in RPGs or The Sims series. Expansion of the farm into the village, management of inhabitants and gathering resources like in strategic games. All this set in the realistic world of medieval times with the FPP view.
Stepping into this new world, it’s clear to see that Medieval Dynasty looks distinctly different this time around. Gone are the dark tones and good enough graphics of early prototypes and the new Unreal powered backdrop sprawls out into the distance. Over 4 square KM of forest, farmland, and village life provides a lush and inviting opportunity to make your own way in the world. Little touches like new material textures, lighting and the tone of the verdant hills that brought us back into Medieval Dynasty really let the Unreal powered look stand out and draw the player into this world.
Largely, that seems to be the intent too. While our last trip burdened us with a narrative-heavy tutorial, this time round this Dynasty doesn’t delve too far down that rabbit hole. You'll still be able to skin the critters if you catch them though. Many of the same game mechanics exist that we saw before still exist but you’ll be able to engage with them at your own pace. NPCs still wander the locale and basic systems like buying, selling, picking up quests are still crucial but you do not have to tend to them if you don’t want. This time we simply sauntered off to gather sticks or pick up rocks for your own purposes, not to build a fire at the behest of a narrative plot device but because we wanted to build a house. This freedom leans the title much further towards its survival sim than an RPG adventure and Medieval Dynasty seems to benefit from this change. It’s a balance that reminded me of the recently released Last Oasis, but you are more likely to find cattle than giant woodpunk machines here. That doesn’t mean that you won’t see a narrative element. Everyone from your future spouse to royalty can provide quests and it’s largely up to you to decide what will benefit your own Dynasty, in the end.
Set in Medieval times, as you might expect, the survival element of this Dynasty is crucial. While you will be expected to build an empire and expand your own sphere of influence, early moments are centred around more reasonable goals. A fully formed skill and crafting system is already in place allowing players to quickly throw together axes, fell trees, build houses, and skin animals. There’s plenty of variety already available in Medieval Dynasty and a ton of skills to learn. It even appears as if players will be able to farm their way to agricultural glory, which is way more difficult than it sounds, especially with a manual plough.
These are times when, unless you were born into a rich family, it was not easy to survive. It was hard to get food, building a house needed a lot of physical work, even warming up required a lot of effort. Other people were really needed to help each other. It was also very important to pass on the heritage to their descendants so that they would have a better start. It’s a fascinating period and we wanted to give the players the chance to experience the harsh but exciting medieval times.
While you’re surviving the nights, cold, hunger, hypothermia, and other elemental problems, this is still a life sim. That means that in order to build a dynasty players will need to get to work on offspring. Save points won't let a lowly farmer respawn, so while NPC quests are optional, you’ll need to make sure you keep up with the locals to keep that lineage going. It’s an interesting concept for a survival sim and one that expands players horizons beyond the tree line of tomorrows adventure.
Not only does the multi-generational approach of Medieval Dynasty give players some freedom to build an empire, but it also provides some serious risk of failure. You’ll have to balance the social, physical, and financial needs of you and your new family and the game isn’t always going to help you. Surviving the seasons is one of the most obvious goal's of early players and with the freedom on offer, there are plenty of ways to slip up too. This isn't Story of Seasons. Medieval Dynasty will punish you fr not tending to crops. Manage to keep enough coin or food to get past the festive season and you’ll probably find that Medieval Dynasty is far more than a simple survival game. It seems that as Render Cube’s adventure gets into the mid game things change up distinctly. As fun as fishing n the summer months is to get by and skinning local rabbits for cash is, Medieval Dynasty is really a strategy management title.
Beyond just building and banking all your valuables for the winter ahead, Medieval Dynasty allows players to choose how to get by the harshest of times. You can craft to bud a manufacturing empire, horde grain for the good season, or think even bigger. The macro strategy management of one player against the world changes with success. Render Cube designed Medieval Dynasty to allow players to hire NPCs , choosing to staff a larger empire, tend to crops, and provide services for the player. The specifics are still a work in progress but from what we could tell, as you slowly climb Maslow’s Pyramid things expand from a simple craft and survival sim into a sprawling management strategy, supporting a city full of inhabitants.
You start with nothing and you have to earn and learn everything by yourself. Over time, the single-family farm develops into a small settlement, where other residents start living and working. Ultimately, it can be developed into a city.
While we found out plenty about the basic survival strategies in our previous walk through, it looks like the more time we spend with Medieval Dynasty, the more we find that this isn’t any other Toplitz title. If you are thinking of getting into game when it arrives on PC, the prepare for for the long haul and find out more about Medieval Dynasty on the official website nowl
