Massive Damage’s Fera: The Sundered Tribes is like Monster Hunter meets Frostpunk

Massive Damage unveiled Fera: The Sundered Tribes at Gamescom this week with a new take on the 3D action role-playing game genre.

Brothers Ken Seto and Garry Seto, co-CEOs of Massive Damage, said in an interview with GamesBeat that the team was inspired to fuse the monster fighting of Monster Hunter with the village survival game Frostpunk. Without the cannibalism part.

This 3D action role-playing game (RPG) marks the studio’s first venture into the world of three-dimensional gaming. Combining elements of monster hunting, dynamic aerial combat, cooperative gameplay, village building, and tribe management, Fera offers players an immersive post-apocalyptic fantasy experience. The game is set to be released on PC and major consoles in 2024.

Massive Damage, previously acclaimed for their strategy RPG games Star Renegades and Halcyon 6, aims to captivate players with the new game.

In Fera: The Sundered Tribes, players assume the role of a hunter who has achieved the extraordinary feat of slaying one of the menacing behemoths that plague the land. As the chosen leader of the tribe, their mission is to defend and guide their people through a series of quests, reclaiming and rebuilding the shattered world.

Ken Seto said the game’s development journey, which coincided with the challenges of the pandemic, was a wild adventure.

“Some of us were coming out of a dark time and we wanted to make a game about hope and taking care of one another,” said Ken Seto. “The themes of change, rebirth, and belonging run rich throughout our game – from Fera’s writing, its villagers, and in how you can affect lasting change in the game world.”

Ken Seto acknowledged there are a lot of monster hunter games out, but he noted the focus on maintaining the welfare of the village is a distinct part of Fera’s take on the genre. The story takes place 2,000 years ago in a world overrun with monsters.

Another thing that makes the game more dynamic is Massive Damage’s version of a grappling hook, which players can use to swing around the environment and dodge fast-moving monsters. While you’re swinging around on the rope, you can set traps and attack the monsters from above or make a quick getaway. Each monster has weak points that you can discover through play.

“Our version is more magical and magnetic and allows you to strafe both monsters and the terrain” Garry Seto said.

I saw a demo of the game in its pre-alpha state. You can tell that the tech is pretty high end with the use of the Unreal Engine 5. As you level up in the game, you can do more and more spectacular moves.

Protecting villagers

There are moments when you have to protect villagers from the monsters. You’ll have to think about devoting resources to build a school for the villagers. You can get armor from the village blacksmith.

“We realized early on there are a lot of games where you’re hunting down monsters and we wanted to bring something new. We made this game during a pandemic. We were thinking let’s make a game that focuses a bit more on belonging and making something better. Focusing on the villages and the community made a lot of sense to us,” Ken Seto said. “I think it’s going to really help us stand out.”