How Sands of Aura Brings Soulslike Combat and Sandsea Exploration to Xbox

In case you’ve ever bounced off a soulslike as a result of it felt punishing, obscure, or overly cryptic, Sands of Aura has a special sort of problem in thoughts.

Launching at the moment on Xbox Sequence X|S, Sands of Aura is a darkish fantasy motion RPG constructed round quick, reactive fight, significant exploration, and a world formed by loss. Gamers will discover themselves in a realm the place the ocean is gone, and an enormous sandsea stretches between the final remaining islands. It attracts inspiration from CRPG’s whereas putting story, characters, and buildcrafting extra immediately on the middle of the expertise.

And for the console launch, the group has taken the chance to refine the expertise with new techniques designed particularly round how Xbox gamers discover, struggle, and experiment with builds.

A Soulslike That’s About Extra Than Punishment

“Soulslike” has come to imply many issues to gamers. For some gamers, it’s shorthand for punishing issue, gritty worlds, and the ever-present “git gud” mentality.

However after I spoke with the group behind Sands of Aura, they described a special basis: basic CRPG design, significant quests, and development that rewards real engagement.

“We grew up on CRPGs stuffed with wealthy, significant quests and character exploration that reward real engagement,” says John Sadler, programmer at Chashu Leisure. “Video games the place progress demanded actual effort and ability.”

That philosophy is mirrored all through Sands of Aura. The builders wished gamers to know the characters, perceive the world, and really feel that the story is current and not hidden behind obscure lore fragments.

Additionally they leaned closely into buildcrafting and experimentation.

“We wished to give gamers huge flexibility to create wildly totally different, deeply customizable builds that synergize in sudden and generally absurdly highly effective methods,” Sadler says. “We weren’t afraid to allow you to break the sport in enjoyable, artistic instructions.”

That flexibility is a serious half of what makes the sport really feel private. You’re not simply surviving the world, you’re shaping the way you survive it.

Quick, Reactive Combat with Room to Experiment

Within the opening hour, Sands of Aura is designed to train its fight rhythm shortly: a quick, reactive loop constructed round attacking, dodging, blocking, parrying, and weaving in spellblade skills to create openings and capitalize on them.

As you acquire confidence in these fundamentals, the sport begins to floor the depth of its gear techniques. Weapons, armor, and talismans aren’t simply stat modifications; they meaningfully alter the way you method fights and what sort of fighter you develop into.

“The purpose is for gamers to really feel the tempo of fight early, whereas realizing there are lots of of viable builds and playstyles ready to be explored,” Sadler says.

New Concentrating on Help Constructed for Controller Movement

One of essentially the most significant enhancements for Xbox gamers is a brand new focusing on help system designed round a easy purpose: interpret intent quite than demand excellent precision.

“In fast-paced fight, we discovered that gamers typically missed assaults whereas quickly switching targets and activating skills,” Sadler says. “This new system makes use of the participant’s normal aiming route to intelligently information actions towards essentially the most applicable goal inside that house.”

The result’s sooner, extra dependable ability execution that retains fight fluid and responsive with out eradicating participant management.

It’s the type of enchancment you may not consciously discover at first. However when you’re deep right into a struggle, it’s the distinction between feeling such as you’re wrestling the controls and feeling such as you’re totally within the movement.

A Sandsea World Designed for Scale and Discovery

Exploration in Sands of Aura is break up between two distinct areas: the islands, the place the primary story and motion unfold, and the sandsea, which supplies you room to breathe, replicate, and chart your personal course.

As an alternative of utilizing a conventional overworld map the place you merely choose the subsequent location, the group wished journey itself to create a way of distance and scale.

“We may have gone with a conventional overworld map for selecting the subsequent island,” Sadler says. “As an alternative, we prioritized making the world really feel huge, deep, and full of actual distance.”

Crusing throughout the sandsea builds that sense of scale and creates alternatives for hidden discoveries. Distant islands and secrets and techniques are simpler to conceal when the world is one thing you bodily cross quite than merely click on via. As an alternative of appearing as a transition between locations, the sandsea turns into half of the journey itself, opening the world up to gamers who discover thoughtfully and listen to what’s on the horizon.

A Compass UI That Helps Exploration With out a Minimap

The console model additionally provides one other main quality-of-life enchancment: a compass UI on islands.

As a result of Sands of Aura makes use of an elevated, three-quarter perspective, spatial consciousness and distant landmarks can generally be tougher to learn at a look.

“The compass helps gamers keep orientation as they transfer via dense or unfamiliar areas with out counting on a full minimap,” Sadler says. “Our purpose was to encourage thorough exploration of every island whereas lowering the friction of feeling misplaced or disoriented.”

The purpose isn’t to take away the sensation of discovery. It’s to assist gamers keep targeted on what issues: uncovering secrets and techniques, discovering new routes, and staying prepared for no matter is ready across the subsequent nook.

Stability Updates That Make Builds Extra Enjoyable to Commit To

Lastly, the console model features a broad set of steadiness modifications geared toward one of an important components of the sport: construct experimentation.

The builders made modifications to scale back friction between committing to a construct and permitting you to experiment with totally different weapons, armor, and talismans. Enemies and bosses have been additionally tuned to assist that experimentation, with adjusted well being swimming pools and harm output.

“We’ve made lots of modifications to scale back friction between committing to a construct and permitting gamers to experiment,” Sadler says. “There ought to now be a bit extra back-and-forth play, like a dance between boss and participant.”

That shift additionally helps scale back the sensation {that a} single mistake ends the struggle immediately.

“No extra feeling of ‘one flawed transfer and you’re lifeless,’” Sadler says. “We wished the sport to really feel enjoyable and difficult, not irritating and grindy.”

The place to Start Your Journey

In case you’re on the lookout for a darkish fantasy motion RPG that blends soulslike-inspired fight with story-driven exploration and deep buildcrafting, Sands of Aura provides a novel journey, now refined for Xbox gamers with console-focused enhancements.

Sands of Aura launches at the moment on Xbox Sequence X|S.