The debate about teraflops and which of the two upcoming next-gen consoles is going to have the advantage over the other rages on, and various developers have chimed in about it. While the Xbox Series X has the advantage in terms of raw numbers, is the difference between the two consoles going to be that significant? Many developers believe that that won’t be the case – at least not for multiplat titles – and another developer who agrees with that line of thinking is Charles Marcolim, Founder of Coffee Addict Studio and Game Designer of upcoming exploratory adventure title Hazel Sky.

Speaking to GamingBolt in a recent interview, when asked about the effective difference between the PS5 and Xbox Series X’s GPU clock speeds – 10.28 TFLOPs and 12 TFLOPs respectively – Marcolim said that in his opinion, the difference is going to be “minimal,” since in his view, anything above 10 TFLOPs is “heaven” from a GPU perspective.

“Minimal in my opinion,” he said. “We always think about low end PCs running our game so we always try to make the game optimized as possible and anything beyond 10 TFLOPS is just heaven for us, GPU-wise.”

Marcolim went on to say that according to him, raw power doesn’t really make a difference, and things such as Microsoft’s software-focused policies – including purchasing and cultivating first parties, choosing high quality indies to support, ad more – are much more significant.

“I don’t think power really matters,” Marcolim said. “If it did, Switch would not be a success. I feel like the studios that Microsoft bought and are making games and the care they are taking to really choose each indie game that enters their store so it doesn’t become the pseudo games graveyard that Steam did are way better signs than the raw power of the console.”

Coffee Addict Studio’s Hazel Sky is due out later this year for the PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

"There is a stupid amount of content hidden through the game. Full unique mechanics that can only be used if the players search for them and use environmental storytelling to understand the world."

Clearly, Hazel Sky is placing quite a bit of emphasis on its narrative and storytelling- what’s the process been like for getting those aspects of the game, especially the characters, just right?

It’s a weird experience. We never did such type of game and all of this started with the dialog. I wrote the radio conversations between Shane (Protagonist) and Erin right after I broke up a seven-year relationship. So I got this built-up tension that I wanted to release so the way they talk as much they don’t even know each other is really personal for us. From that dialog and on we started to expand Erin, Shane, Flynn Casey (Shane’s father), and from that we got to even think about that engineers eat in Gideon, etc…

The divide between engineers and artists in Hazel Sky seems like an interesting element- is that something that will make its way into the game as gameplay mechanics as well?

Kinda. Mechanics that require logical thinking or “Engineering Skill” are the main ones, the ones that move the plot forward and the game towards the end. All the side stuff is artsy like playing guitar and other mechanics that we prefer to keep under wraps as of right now. So pretty much how an old boomer sees art, as something that doesn’t move forward your life is how the art mechanics are used in the game. But I don’t know. Maybe a secret ending needs them.

How much of an emphasis on Hazel Sky place on exploration? Can you tell us what players can expect from the game in that area?

There is a stupid amount of content hidden through the game. Full unique mechanics that can only be used if the players search for them and use environmental storytelling to understand the world.

From all that we’ve seen so far, it seems platforming and parkour are an important part of Hazel Sky. Can you speak about that a little bit more? Were there any games in particular that served as inspiration for that side of Hazel Sky?

We have a lot of platforming that may look like it’s from Uncharted but we are trying to make it as dynamic as we can. We pretty much combine Climbing, Sliding, and Rope Swing to make this “fun parks” where the game becomes more platforming focused to break up the mood.

"We have a lot of platforming that may look like it’s from Uncharted but we are trying to make it as dynamic as we can."

How does repairing and building airplanes materialize in terms of gameplay mechanics?

Those are the mechanics that evolve the most in the game. We start only adding coal to the machines and fixing up holes using a stapler and later on moving whole sections of bigger scale machines around to create one. There is also this whole analogy in the game that the first engineer that created the floating city made three machines and became kind of saint for all engineers. There is even a statue of him in the middle of the city. He created all the rules from the trials to the civil behaviour of engineers.

Hazel Sky has a very striking aesthetic. Can you speak about the process of landing on the game’s look?

We wanted a cartoon look but not without details. So we started looking at something like Dishonored or Bioshock and is closer to these types of games and we thought we would land on.

Roughly how long will an average play through of Hazel Sky be?

That’s hard to tell right now but I would bet around 6-8 hours.

Since the reveal of the PS5 and Xbox Series X’s specs, a lot of comparisons have been made between the GPU speeds of the two consoles’ GPUs, with the PS5 at 10.28 TFLOPS and the Xbox Series X at 12 TFLOPS- but how much of an impact on development do you think that difference will have?

Minimal in my opinion. We always think about low end PCs running our game so we always try to make the game optimized as possible and anything beyond 10 TFLOPS is just haven for us GPU wise.

The PS5 features an incredibly fast SSD, faster than anything that is available out there. How can developers can take advantage of this and what will it result to, and how does this compare to Series X?

This can allow areas of the game to be loaded only when necessary if it’s that fast. An open world not loading the entire map before going in and when loading if it doesn’t stop the game (hopefully) would be amazing. Think of Skyrim doors where you would wait when going in and out and just remove the time and add an opening and closing door animation.

What are your thoughts on the Xbox One X’s Velocity architecture and how will it make development easier on it?

Pretty similar to the SSD answer. This looks like it compresses data to make it faster to get it from the memory. Again, could only give you my feedback if we had our time with the dev kit.

"We wanted a cartoon look but not without details."

So, there is a power difference between the two new consoles, there is no doubt about that. But do you think that power advantage of Xbox Series X will matter because of Microsoft’s cross gen policy?

I don’t think power really matters. If it did switch would not be a success. I feel like the studios that Microsoft bought and are making games and the care they are taking to really choose each indie game that enters their store so it doesn’t become the pseudo games graveyard that Steam did are way better signs than the raw power of the console.

How are you ensuring that your engines/framework/tools are up and running for PS5 and Xbox Series X?

That’s really easy with Unreal Engine 4. Epic Games does such a fantastic job making sure everything is always compactible with the latest technologies and advancements in the industry.

There was a comment recently by a developer who stated that the PS5 is easy to code for compared to Xbox Series X. What are your thoughts on the same?

I can only speak from PS4 and Xbox One perspective. PS4 certification is smooth and fast and Xbox One is not far from there but in our previous game, we faced more technical problems porting for Xbox than PS4.

Microsoft have announced that the Xbox Series has a 12 teraflops GPU- what’s the biggest impact this is going to have on development of games in your view?

This will be able to push VR a lot further and it’s always great to have upscaled resolution and better framerate and… That’s probably just that.

Dark Star Games Studios’ Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption, a Souls-like title that encourages players to grow weaker with every boss battle, had fairly low-key reception at launch. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like the developer is done supporting it. To coincide with its launch on Steam on February 19th, the developer has announced two new weapons, new game modes, and a new boss

The new modes in question can be found in New Game+, which add three new “Trials” for Adam to overcome. Trial of Speed will provide swiftness but removes invincibility frames while dodge rolling. Trial of Consequence is a permadeath challenge, and Trial of the Sinner is a combination of the two.

The new boss is Cowardly Modic, who is – no joke – a giant chicken covered in armour. Beating Modic will unlock two new weapons – twin swords along with a sword and shield – based on existing boss kits. Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption is currenly available for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Discord. Look out for the new features to arrive on those platforms in February as well.

Development

SINNER: Sacrifice for Redemption was first announced in 2017, and confirmed for a launch on PS4, Xbox One, and PC in April of 2018. However, two weeks before the game’s originally intended release date, it was delayed to October of 2018, while a Nintendo Switch version of the game was also confirmed, which would be releasing simultaneously with all other versions in October.

SINNER: Sacrifice for Redemption’s developers at Dark Star have stated that they draw heavy inspiration from FromSoftware’s Dark Souls series in terms of difficulty, combat, and boss design, while they have also cited games developed by Team Ico, such as Shadow of the Colossus, as having influenced them in terms of character designs and boss structure.

Story

SINNER: Sacrifice for Redemption takes place in a dark fantasy setting called the Kingdom of Cavanis. Players play as a nameless warrior, a man who has lost his memories, and must atone for his past, which he recollects bit by bit, by fighting against seven deadly monsters, who are the manifestations of his own sins from memories he cannot recall.

Gameplay

SINNER: Sacrifice for Redemption’s gameplay is heavily influenced by Dark Souls, and features similar movement, combat, and mechanics. Players have light and heavy attack options, and can also use projectile weapons, while there are also options such as sprinting, blocking, or rolling. These moves are dependent on a stamina meter and require stamina. Unlike Dark Souls, however, SINNER does not have any exploration or larger levels to speak of. Instead, as a boss rush game, it focuses solely on boss fights and encounters against large enemies. Storytelling is sparse, and is either done through short cutscenes, or through background lore, which is also similar to FromSoftware’s Dark Souls games.

There are eight bosses in total, with seven of them representing the Seven Deadly Sins of the protagonist, the nameless warrior, while the eighth boss is the final boss of the game. The developers describe the game as being purely skill based, and as such, have said that though nearly everyone can play the game and understand its mechanics, not everyone will be able to finish it and beat all its bosses. There is a short tutorial at the beginning of the game before any of the eight boss fights that familiarizes players with the most basic mechanics. Before fighting each progressive boss, players have to sacrifice something from their abilities to be able to face the boss,. which means players have to “level down”. This sees their character’s abilities and powers diminshing, and the “sacrifices” remain permanent even after the boss fight.

These penalties can range from being more vulnerable against heavy attacks or having weaker attacks to having lower health, stamina that depletes more quickly, or being able to use fewer items. The seven bosses can be tackled in whichever order the player prefers. These are access through a hub location that has seven shrines, and players access each boss by going into their corresponding shrine. Put together with the “level down” mechanic, this encourages players to strategize and plan in which order bosses should be tackled. Bosses also have multiple phases during fights. Several bosses might require specific strategies for which players have to be careful about what abilities have been levelled down and which ones have been retained.

Each boss also presents specific and unique challenges that player must sometimes tackle using cues or aid in the environments. After defeating each boss, players are also given an enhancement to one of their stats, which helps offset the incurred penalties, or “sacrifices”. In the eighth and final boss fight of the game, the player is forced to incur every single penalty, but can choose which order to take them in. One players have completed the game, they unlock new weapons that can be used in further playthroughs as well. There are several new weapons that players unlock, which can provide unique advantages or even disadvantages.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.

DARK STAR’s SINNER: Sacrifice for Redemption is out next week, and to celebrate the occasion – especially following delays – it has a new launch trailer. Check it out below and marvel at the Souls-like gameplay. In case it wasn’t obvious, the game is aiming to be tough (but fair).

Though it looks distinctly like Dark Souls, especially when it comes to fighting against eight unique bosses, SINNER’s gameplay is more about giving up strength. Each time you defeat a boss, you must “level-down” and sacrifice some of your stats to keep progressing. The Kingdom of Cavanis is apparently wallowing in “blasphemy”, and it’s up to the protagonist Adam to redeem himself (and probably save some of the people he wronged).

Along with different weapons to unlock – including items that might help with the strength you lose – there will be multiple endings to experience. After completing the game, there are new challenges to be had, thanks to new game modes. SINNER: Sacrifice for Redemption will release on October 18th for Xbox One, PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

Sinner: Sacrifice For Redemption has been pushed back from its nearly imminent release date of April 25th, to sometime in Q3 2018. But for the trouble, the unique take on the boss rush game will also come to Nintendo Switch with a simultaneous launch and come with a wide variety of supported languages.

Sinner is being published by Another Indie, and developed by Dark Star Game Studios, an indy studio comprised of many AAA veterans from a variety of backgrounds like Ubisoft, Konami and Blizzard. The game follows a soldier who must face down monstrous representations of the seven deadly sins, giving up a part of himself with each battle and a permanent debuff. Should he hit a brick wall, the player can roll back his conquests and try the challenge anew.

When the game does finally launch, it will hit all modern platforms including PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC and Mac, cost $18.99 and support English, Spanish, German, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Russian languages. Check out the new trailer just below.