Visual improvements is the most basic upgrade we expect to see with each generation of new consoles, and we’ve seen plenty of radical upgrades over the last two to three decades in this regard. However, we’re now at a point where graphics in video games are hitting unbelievable new highs each year, to the point where it seems like photorealism – actual, true photorealism – can’t be too far away.

Matteo Sciutteri of indie studio RuneHeads – who’s serving as the game designer on the Darkest Edition of the story-driven RPG Fall of Light which originally launched two years ago – hopes to see exactly those sort of improvements with the PS5 and the Xbox Scarlett (or whatever Microsoft ends up calling the next Xbox).

“I’m very curious,” said Sciutteri in an exclusive interview with GamingBolt when asked about his expectations from the next generation of consoles. “Because they can’t stay sticky on their strategy for a long time: the PS4 is impressive as power and the photorealism is really near. I guess that we’ll achieve it with the PS5 / Scarlett. After that, I guess they will improve other aspects – like Nintendo is doing with Switch.”

While photorealism – or getting ever closer to it, at any rate – is something we can almost take for granted at this point, Sciutteri’s remark about investing in other areas’ improvement is particularly interesting. Nintendo have done what they do best by turning their home console into a handheld, and it’s fair to assume that Microsoft and Sony might play to their strengths as well. Perhaps better VR integration in the PS5, and furthering services like Game Pass with the next Xbox? Those seem like exciting investments, to say the least.

Our full interview with Matteo Sciutteri about Fall of Light: Darkest Edition and a few other interesting topics will be going live soon, so stay tuned to GamingBolt.

Fall of Light was a narrative-driven action RPG that launched more than two years ago. Developed by indie studio RuneHeads, the game showed some promise, which it has sought to fulfil with Fall of Light: Darkest Edition, which launched over a month ago on the PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

While the newest edition of the game features new weapons, new enemies, and a new dungeon by way of new content, the question some of you might have is- has it been visually enhanced in the two years since its original launch? We recently got the chance to ask Matteo Sciutteri, game designer of the RPG and and Daniel Santos Fonseca (Stage Clear Studios, cofounder) some questions about the game, and asked them as much.

They gave us very specific details on the frame-rate and resolution targets of the game on all the consoles it’s launched for, and it seems like it’s achieved some Xbox One X or PS4 Pro enhancements. On the base PS4 and Xbox One, Fall of Light: Darkest Edition runs at 720p and 30 frames per second, but on both the enhanced consoles, the game runs at 1080p resolutions, while maintaining the same frame-rate.

What about the Nintendo Switch? On Nintendo’s handheld-console hybrid, the game runs at 720p and 30 FPS in docked mode, same as the base PS4 and Xbox One. However, in handheld mode its resolution seems to take a pretty significant hit. Though it retains its frame rate of 30 FPS, it’s rendered at a resolution of 450p.

Our full interview with the development team of Fall of Light: Darkest Edition will be going live soon, so stay tuned to GamingBolt.

"The game is a fully linear experience.  The main focus of the story, however, is the choices made (or not made) by Desmond. The man suffers from really hard times and he learns that every decision has consequences."

The game’s story describes the protagonist as being able to influence the battle between good and evil. Does this mean that players’ choices are crucial in the game?

The game is a fully linear experience.  The main focus of the story, however, is the choices made (or not made) by Desmond. The man suffers from really hard times and he learns that every decision has consequences. His character arc is  from being a bit foolhardy in the beginning into full-fledged badass. He comes a long way from the man who doesn’t really know what he wants to the person that  starts to care  about his life (which he screwed up big), friends, girl and, mostly important, about making his own decisions…

What can you tell us about the combat system in the game?

In short, melee with spell-like skills. Desmond becomes hell’s executioner – that gives him the powers to draw from the  ever burning flames inside of  him,  fueled by the souls that he collects. He even gets the ability to turn himself into demonic form, which allows him to challenge the toughest  of  enemies. Desmond relies on melee attacks that he can chain into combos and use his  other  supportive skills – be it AOE, or fire and forget type. So,  we want give plenty of choices for the player regarding the methods of dealing with enemies.

Being the first game this studio is working on, what has the experience been like so far?

Challenges and more challenges! ☺ But,  also,  it gives us a lot of positive experience. Starting a company from scratch is always a difficult task. We needed to manage all the basic things from finding people who share the  same passion for games as we do while also having the incredible skills in each of the fields required In game dev. That’s why we wanted to announce our first title when we’ll be sure that we can succeed with it.

Are there different play styles available for players to choose from?

We are aiming for a system in which the player can create their  own style. Once unlocked, the skills and combos can be activated and deactivated at any time – that allows the players to create custom “builds” that suits their own playstyle. If you’re more into beat’em up style – just shift your point into a more sophisticated combos and you’re good to go. If you prefer dispatching your enemies with magic-like devastating attacks – shift your points into skills and start burning foes with hellfires. Of course,  if you want, you can use both for spectacular synergic actions.

"The game is story heavy and we want to offer different difficulty settings – starting with “The Story” setting intended for the players that are interested in experiencing the narrative"

What is the progression system going to be like in the game?

Desmond can reap the souls of enemies. By collecting them,  he can unlock new combos as well as learn new devastating skills. The progression is nonlinear – it’s up to the player where he wants to allocate his hard earned points. Unlike other games, the progression will be more about “changing” than “growing” – the player will need to make a  decision which skill to drop to be able to try the different ones. We’re going for skills quality, not the quantity to make those choices meaningful for the player.

From what we’ve seen of the game, it looks like there will be lots of deadly enemies that players will have to fight. Is the game going to be quite challenging to master?

Yes and no☺. The game is story heavy and we want to offer different difficulty settings – starting with “The Story” setting intended for the players that are interested in experiencing the narrative. Generally,  we’re going for giving the players more fun than super hard challenge – but, of course, playing skills are going to be properly gratified and there will be lots of enemies to test the player’s skills.

What can you tell us about the game’s setting?

The player will visit three completely different areas – one is the southern s city, second of course it’s Hell – the place where the Demons dwell and the final one – We’d like to keep that one in secret – I can only tell that is some ancient city where you can’t tell if it’s  reality or  a dream.

How long is the game going to be approximately?

Finishing the game should take no less than 6 to 8 hours.

The game will feature Xbox One X specific enhancements. What can players expect if they are playing the game on Xbox One X? Is 4K/60fps on the cards?

We’ve just started console development so I can’t go into details, but with so much graphics power,  I think we will  surprise the players in a good way.

And how will the PS4 Pro version turn out in terms of resolution and frame rate?

As I said earlier – It’s too early to go into details, but we didn’t encounter any performance breaking issues.

"The only concern is, if the future generation power will not be eaten up completely by the 4k – which I think is going to be standard next gen resolution…"

From a development perspective, how do you find the Xbox One X to be? With so much GPU power, we are sure you must be doing some amazing things.

Yes. As I mentioned – our programmers are very eager to test the system to the maximum, but it’s too early to give details.

How is the game running on the original Xbox One and PS4, frame rate and resolution wise?

We just started console development – it’s too early to give details.

Do you have any plans to bring the game to Nintendo Switch? If not, why?

First we want to focus on PC/XBOX/PS4 versions of the game. After those versions are ready,  we can look into Switch – the platform proved its capabilities by some big third party releases, so we don’t rule out this.

Next gen is coming sooner or later. From a development perspective, what is your biggest expectation from the next PlayStation and next Xbox?

More RAM, more CPU/GPU power, SSD, and not meddling with gamepads – standard controls are what the majority of players expect. The only concern is, if the future generation power will not be eaten up completely by the 4k – which I think is going to be standard next gen resolution…

The next generation of consoles is probably a couple years away at this point, but that hasn’t stopped us from talking about what we want to see when it finally arrives. Recently, we conducted an interview with Layopi Games’ Michał Sadowski, who is the game director of the upcoming action title Devil’s Hunt, and after chatting a bit about the game itself (the full interview will be going up shortly), we ended up asking him about what he expects to see from the PS5 and the next Xbox.

While he has some pretty standard expectations in terms of increased RAM and CPU/GPU capabilities, he also ended up giving interesting comments on what he wants from controllers next generation, as well as – hopefully – better integration of SSD.

“More RAM, more CPU/GPU power, SSD, and not meddling with gamepads,” Sadowski said when we posted the question of what he wants to see from next-gen consoles. “Standard controls are what the majority of players expect. The only concern is, if the future generation power will not be eaten up completely by the 4K – which I think is going to be standard next gen resolution.”

While I don’t think either Microsoft or Sony will be heavily reworking their controllers with their newer consoles, the point about SSD is quite pertinent. Other developers have also talked about it, and it does seem like something that next-gen consoles could greatly benefit from. Meanwhile, I agree that 4K will probably become the standard resolution when next-gen arrives, something that seems to be a common opinion– although there are some who disagree.

Devil’s Hunt, which is based on the Polish novel Equilibrium, is due out some time in 2019 for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. As I mentioned earlier, our full interview with Sadowski will be going live soon, so stay tuned to GamingBolt.