Ninja Theory has released a developer diary for latest project Hellblade, and in this video the company shows how they’re building the game world and the inspirations behind it. The game itself is set in a realm of Viking mythology called Helheim, which is self is set in a location known as The Land Of Mist & Fog. The Hellblade team is tiny with just one environment artist tasked with bringing the world to life, and a total of thirteen people working on the game.
The way Ninja Theory is approaching Hellblade is by building the world first and from there fleshing out the story, and the various systems like combat. In the developer diary it is stated that it may be possible to wander around the world for ages without getting into a fight, allowing you to explore more freely. There’s a central Citadel which will players will be able to see from almost anywhere in the game too.
Source: Ninja Theory
bunimomike
Good stuff. Wasn’t sure in the beginning but it feels like they’re still going in the right direction. However, I’d be far keener for them to let it be story-driven like the usual method but if they can write a good story around the world they’ve created, that will truly do. :-)
TSBonyman
Heavenly Sword was excellent so i’m quite looking forward to seeing how this turns out. I guess with such a relatively small team it makes sense to build what they can first and then fit everything else in afterwards – presumably they have an outline of where they are going with the story and just need to figure out the setting for each scene based on what they can achieve. And i’m thinking the combat might involve some environmetal elements although i wouldn’t be surprised to see something along the lines of HS’ combat.
TheShepanator
I really love games where exploration is it’s own reward, not many games are like this