DokeV made a splash when it appeared during Gamescom 2021's Opening Night Live presentation. The eventful trailer was certainly mesmerizing, but ultimately left us completely befuddled on what DokeV is actually all about.
Thankfully, developer Pearl Abyss was happy to elaborate. Another trailer for DokeV landed at the Gamescom 2021 Future Games Show which featured small interview segments from key staff working on the game. We're still a ways off fully understanding DokeV, but we're now glad to have a few more pieces of the puzzle in place.
To recap what we knew previously, DokeV is an open-world action adventure game coming to PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC sometime in 2022. The player teams up with adorable creatures known as Dokebi, who can help you in combat against giant robotic enemies. But combat's just one activity DokeV presents, as we'll be able to explore the open world in all manner of vehicles, and seemingly be able to run odd jobs and side quests while out and about.
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Lead producer Sangyoung Kim gave additional context on Dokebi, stating: "Dokebi are spirit-like entities that appear in traditional Korean folktales and they were a source of inspiration for me.
"The story of the game revolves around collecting Dokebi and embarking on various adventures with friends. The story will progress as you meet different people, listen to their stories, and help them out with their problems."
Actually collecting Dokebi seems to be quite an involving process, too, as Kim explains: "As the story progresses, you'll come across and collect more and more Dokebi. When you fulfill specific requirements a special event for that Dokebi will appear, and you'll progress through a unique storyline to collect that Dokebi. Hints about the Dokebi can be found not only within towns but across the world."
Analysis: Finally, some clarity
Honestly, we were quite worried we'd have to wait some months before receiving any more clarity on what DokeV is about. Thankfully, this new trailer has shed some much-needed light on the project, and we're even more excited for it now than we were after Opening Night Live.
From what we know now, Pearl Abyss seems to want DokeV to be a game you can take at your own pace. As game designer Changkee Nam explained: "Currently, the gameplay trailer consists of mostly combat scenes. But there is a wide variety of gameplay in DokeV and you will have the freedom to try them out in the game."
It all sounds very Yakuza, doesn't it? In the sense that the meat and potatoes of the game is this high-octane combat loop, but there's a ton of side activities that can become just as immersive as the main game itself. That's the direction we hope DokeV is going in.
We still have no idea if DokeV is going to be a purely solo experience, or if some multiplayer component will feature. We'd hope for the latter, as the game was originally billed as an MMO before being scaled back. Here's hoping some of those more MMO-centric features will appear in the final game.
In the meantime, we hope Pearl Abyss will keep us regularly updated on DokeV as we head into 2022, when the game is currently slated for release. So far it's looking pretty well polished, the open world looks like loads of fun to explore with all the different traversal options, and the combat with Dokebi looks utterly bonkers.
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