Inquisitor will feature 150 hours of play, huge environments, and torture.
For better or worse, games with long development times garner a lot of attention among the industry. Whether looking at the latest Valve title or bemoaning Duke Nukem Forever, games that take nearly a decade to make become near-myths in their own right. Now another such title is coming to our attention. An English-translation of the old-school RPG Inquisitor has just achieved beta status, racking up a stunning total development time of thirteen years.
“The game brings you, a medieval inquisitor, to a gloomy world full of heresy, betrayal and devilish plots,” reads the game description. “You will hunt for perpetrators of the most atrocious crimes and you will meet a lot of cunning enemies. You will find yourself in the midst of a powerful conspiracy striving to destroy even the foundations of the thousand-year old Empire. As one of the three main characters you will explore all the mysteries of this depressing world and gain reputation of a fearless inquisitor and a witch hunter. Carry out dozens of secondary quests and develop your potential in order to face the more powerful and dangerous enemies and challenges. And remember-everything you do depends just on your own choice!”
Inquisitor previously launched to great critical success in Central Europe after ten years development back in 2009, after which the developers spent the following three years translating the game to English. From the sounds of things, that amount of time was certainly required; the original script is reported to be 1500 pages long, and one review stated that the game took 150 hours to complete.
The game has been compared to The Witcher, another European-made RPG, for its emphasis on an alternate feudal universe, difficult moral decisions, and long-term consequences for the player’s actions. On those scores, it’s very possible that Inquisitor will be far darker and more controversial than The Witcher ever was, as the player will be fully equipped with torture devices, including a rack, strappado, pillory, and iron maiden to punish and question your enemies.
While I’m not certain how I feel about the tone, based on the game’s trailer Inquisitor has the old-school RPG feel down pat, and the 1.2 million square miles of environment will have more than enough content for the dedicated player. Fans of old-school games like Baldur’s Gate, or the more contemporary Legend of Grimrock, will likely want to check out Inquisitor to see if it made good use of those thirteen years.
Source Rock Paper Shotgun
