The latest game from the successful tag team of Square Enix and PlatinumGames is known as Babylon's Fall. The trailer we were treated to at E3 2018 seemed light on substance at first glance, but there were tons of details offered throughout once we sat down and really picked it apart.
So, what is Babylon's Fall? Good question. The obvious answer is that it's some sort of fantasy game set in what appears to be a much different version of Babylon than the one from mythologies of old. Keep reading to find out everything else you need to know about this exciting upcoming PlayStation 4 title.
What is Babylon's Fall
Babylon's Fall is the product of another rockstar collaboration between PlatinumGames and Square Enix. The duo created Nier: Automata, which was one of 2017's most compelling games.
Unfortunately, we weren't offered many details on what sort of game this would be. Knowing PlatinumGames, we're likely getting some sort of action-focused game that may have RPG elements.
Story
While the announcement was light on details, the trailer packed enough of a backstory to start getting us interested in the world of Babylon's Fall. The story begins in the Helos Empire during the year CE 5000, where the people of Albeland — keen on expanding their kingdom — discovered something called the Oversoul. The Oversoul is a mysterious energy source that seems to imbue its handlers with great power.
The earliest usage of Oversoul was by the Seers, who were using it to induce visions of the future to make predictions about things that may happen in the world. The Seers wrote these prophecies down in the Ephesian Book, which effectively makes it their version of the Bible.
Everything seemed well until one of the prophecies told of an apocalypse that would be brought down upon the lands by an "all-consuming darkness." It prompted a man named Waland to travel south, with him believing that he was a beacon of hope for mankind.
It's unclear what Waland's exact mission is, but back home things have taken a turn for the worst. Commoners are rioting and protesting against the ruling class for their use of the Oversoul. Despite the backlash, the rulers of Babylon continued to use the Oversoul for their various needs, and the riots eventually developed into full-blown warring.
Things got so bad that divine forces had to step in and dole out punishment. That's right — the prophecies were true and an apocalypse delivered by the Elder Gods wipes out much of humanity.
By CE 5205, a new goddess named Gaia is born, and her purpose is to help save humanity from extinction. She does so by instating a new world order designed to maintain peace. Peace did follow, and Gaia's impact was so effective that a high priest named Darius formed the Scholars of Gaia to ensure people stayed on the right path.
The Scholars were no ordinary church, however. They had become a full-blown enforcement agency, executing the first non-believer in the year 5347. This event caused a great deal of tension among the masses, and the noblemen of Babylon once again looked to take back control. What followed was years of conflict and fighting.
The warring reached a peak around CE 5385 when the "Soul plague" fell over the world. The Scholars of Gaia — among other groups — looked to use the public's fear of this plague to convert as many people to their creed as they could.
By now, the Ephesian Book had all but been forgotten, and even the Scholars were taking advantage of Gaia's mercy. A Seer named Maria ended up finding the book in CE 5428 and took heed of the prophecies written in it. Fearing for the future, Maria established the New World Academy to try and get everyone back on the right path.
But it was too late. Gaia already made her mind up that humanity had failed, and her anger caused her to punish them on her day of judgment.
Following the cleanse, a race of people known as the Nomads were born within something called the Shrine of Souls, an event that is eventually known as The Awakening. We're not sure where or what this shrine is, but the nomads were somehow born with the resolve and power to fight back against Gaia, and that's exactly what they set out to do once they come of age in the year CE 5500.
And that's presumably where Babylon's Fall will pick up. The trailer hints that you may control one of these nomads in their mission to save their people.
As you can tell, PlatinumGames has already fleshed out a pretty deep backstory for the game. The company has never been one to fumble in the storytelling department, but we've never seen them set up a stage as deep as the one for Babylon's Fall is. That tells us to expect a game full of rich lore and perhaps forms the basis of a new franchise that can be explored over multiple games or episodes of downloadable content.
Gameplay
As we mentioned before, PlatinumGames didn't have anything to show or talk about in terms of Babylon's Fall gameplay, with its trailer offering little more than concept art. For what it's worth, studio head Atsushi Inaba said this game is "a new challenge" for his studio, suggesting there may be some new gameplay constructs in the works that we may not be used to from the studio.
This developer typically sticks to action-based gameplay elements, with different buttons for light and heavy attacks, a dodge system, and sometimes quick-time events being used.
Evidence of the classic PlatinumGames gameplay was briefly shown at the end of the trailer, where a titan-looking creature was damaged by some sort of slashing attack. Many have drawn similarities between both the character and attack to something you might see in their previous games, notably Bayonetta and Nier: Automata. While that does nothing in the way of confirmation, it's clear PlatinumGames will eventually do what it does best.
One last thing to mention: the trailer made it clear that there are multiple nomads. Four were shown, to be exact. There's a chance we could eventually hear about some co-op elements, though we have little but conjecture and speculation to go on at this point.
Release Date
Babylon's Fall doesn't currently have a release date. PlatinumGames and Square Enix have mentioned that it'll launch at some point in 2019. You'll be able to play it on PlayStation 4 or PC.
