Kenshi

"A brand new concept in gaming."


Developer: Lo-Fi Games
Publisher: Lo-Fi Games
Release Date: TBA
Platform(s): PC
Genre: RPG
 

Games are too centered on winning and being special. It always seems that some sort of protagonist or troop is the sole beacon of hope for the world or is otherwise important. Kenshi isn’t like that at all and doesn’t play around either. It runs on a brand new concept in gaming, which for some reason has never been applied outside of real life. The player isn’t special, there isn’t some sort of hero and in no way are people overpowered to others. If anything, people will learn through experience and that knowledge is taken in beatings.

 

 

How the world of Kenshi works is that the player starts with one generic basic dude and just needs to find a way to survive in the desert lands, where bandits roam. There’s no real goal and the limits of the game are only bound by one’s imagination. But again, as all is created to be equal in the game, survival will only be reached by keeping calm and not rocking the boat. In real life, going up to a band of trained mercenaries as just one guy results in death. The idea of Kenshi is to keep things realistic and not be patronizing towards consumers. Therefore, going up in an unmatched brawl will result in failure, no exceptions. Even in victory, severe wounds or even permanent damage to many body parts can occur and players will need to forge alliances with others or keep their heads down and run a lot.

Players can get lethal wounds, get disfigured or maimed and get replaced, as long as there’s a band of warriors to continue with in the end. Getting into conflicts and fighting will make warriors more proficient, whether they win or lose and in the beginning, losing is all that can be done. No scrub starts off winning; it’s surviving the beatings that make a true warrior persevere. But the novel concept of Kenshi is that it doesn’t strive over adversity. Whether big or small, players will always be up to par with other characters in the world and never simply walk over opponents. Luckily, getting wounded also comes with healing and learning from past mistakes. As such, players can bandage multiple key body parts and heal up. And there will be tons of healing, because fighting with sharp things hurts.

 

A brief explanation of the vast medical features in Kenshi.

 

The fighting mechanic itself is also mostly based on sucking at first, then gradually sucking less, without ever pulling off flashy moves. When swarmed by 6 bandits, it’s not possible not to get hit, because in real life bandits don’t wait their turn to hit, they just do. So naturally, a lot of time will be spent taking damage and not doing cartwheels and spins. It’s minimizing this damage and trying to find key points to strike that will be essential to survival. There are several modes of fighting, based on not getting hit or not getting injured, which can minimize hits until others swoop in to the rescue. But of course, getting into controlled risks and coming up with heads still attached will also make the character more proficient in the end.

Luckily, this game of falling and getting back up isn’t restricted to just going out and looking for trouble, for that would end in swift failure. It’s also possible to just keep heads down and trade or join people that actually know what they’re doing and learning from them. Also, by picking up fallen equipment and covering up, the chances of survival get raised and trading and saving up for better items increases this and so on. In the current build it isn’t possible to do much, but the idea it presents is extremely varied and solid. The fact that the game isn’t based on superiority, but just living life and making the best of it without dying is something that needs to happen more.

 

Trading and Stats in Kenshi.

 

At this stage, Kenshi is still in the most basic of productions and doesn’t look like much, but it’s selling an idea, not a visual concept. Just roaming the earth and gradually becoming the best one can be is really all a game needs. And becoming better always goes hand in hand with many failures. It’s perseverance that is the key. We hope to see a lot more from Kenshi.

Daav Valentaten, NoobFeed. (@Daavpuke)