Celestian Tales: Realms Beyond - Released

HiddenX

The Elder Spy
Staff Member
Original Sin Donor
Original Sin 2 Donor
Joined
October 18, 2006
Messages
20,013
Location
Germany
The crowdfunded RPG Celestian Tales: Realms Beyond has been released:

Celestian Tales: Realms Beyond is a beautifully hand-painted RPG set in a world of questionable morals much like our own. Follow the journey of six Companions, knights sworn to serve and protect the heir of a noble house, as they rise and fall in their struggle to survive a world where one's true enemies are often their closest allies.

A NEW ENTRY INTO THE REALM OF CELESTIAN TALES
Haven't played the previous games? No problem! Although the characters and setting will be familiar, nine years have passed in the story and this game stands on its own.



Key Features

A TALE WITHOUT SIMPLE RIGHTS OR WRONGS
There is no world-eating evil to slay, no force of true good in play. Celestian Tales: Realms Beyond is a story of humanity taking shape in a fantasy world, of people pitted against people with clashing ideals and values.


  • In a quest to stay by your liege, malicious intrigues and conflicting moral principles may stretch your trust in others
  • A story of the natures of humanity in a world also inhabited by elves, faeries, and giants.
  • Opposing points of view clash with no clear rights or wrongs, and you make your choice where it counts.
A BEAUTIFUL HAND DRAWN WORLD
Combining watercolor-inspired environmental art with pixel animations, the world of Celestian Tales elevates the tried and true painstakingly hand-drawn game-making to modern standards.


  • Detailed sprites crafted pixel-by-pixel and frame-by-frame take classic methods to new heights.
  • Illustrated character portraits with emotional facial expressions to immerse you in the thought-provoking dialogues.
PLAY IT HOW YOU WANT
Nobody plays alike. That's why RPGs have parties, right? So whether you're on the 'kill it before it kills you' train, or in the 'slowly but surely' camp, you can create your own perfect party and skill composition to get through difficult fights.


  • Think two or three steps forward in Celestian Tales: Realms Beyond's turn-based combat and utilize all the advantages you have.
  • Six characters with unique skills and equipment to be mixed-and-matched to fit into your personal team strategy.
  • Story plays into combat with new skills embodying each character's personality unlocking as the story progresses.
  • Difficulty settings that allow all to enjoy the game, lore-explorers and challenge-seekers alike.
A COMBAT SYSTEM THAT APPRECIATES YOUR TIME
We get it, you have a busy life and a lot of stuff competes for your time and attention. We're simply not the kids we used to be, with loads of free time to splurge on grinding for levels or items. We know that feeling - and Celestian Tales is made for people like us.


  • Skip the fight-just-too-damn-many-random-encounters! Slither away from them as you like as each encounter is yours to choose. Or just plow through everything in your path if you feel like it.
  • Also skip the boring drink-some-potions-after-each-battle and heal-party-every-now-and-then part. Stats reset by the end of each battle, so you can hit the road right away fresh and dandy.
  • Ever thought that encounters that end in two hits (sometimes one!) suck big time? In Celestian Tales each combat encounter is designed to make you think about your next steps. Even against common enemies, mindlessly whacking away can be a recipe for defeat.
  • All three combinations above let us design battles that matter. So no more enemies soaking your time mashing the normal attack button because you want to save those mana points for the actually important fights.
More information.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
20,013
Location
Germany
Isn't that name a copyright violation? It's sure to be confusing.
 
Joined
Mar 22, 2012
Messages
5,529
Location
Seattle
Isn't that name a copyright violation? It's sure to be confusing.

I don't think names are copyrighted, but you can have them trademarked. If the other lot have done that, they could take action.
 
Joined
Nov 8, 2014
Messages
12,085
It's an unfortunate choice, whether or not they're in legal jeopardy.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
2,473
Location
USA
Yeah. Names, characters, and logos are trademarked, so I couldn't make a game called Final Fantasy or have a game with Darth Vader in it. Copyright protects the actual code and assets of a game, so I couldn't just rip all of the models out of Doom and make a new game with them. And patent protects a unique way of doing something… and actually I don't know of any patents in video games that aren't total BS. But if someone knows of one that makes sense, I'd like to hear about it.

Anyway, what's wrong with the name of this game? Is there a different Celstian Tales: Realms Beyond that came before this one?

Edit: And I even Googled it. There's a Realms Beyond: Ashes of the Fallen that looks like it's not released yet. Was that game announced first?
 
Joined
Jan 31, 2015
Messages
129
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,348
Location
Spudlandia
Ceres has been aware of this title for some time and didn't seem worried about confusion between Realms Beyond: Ashes of the Fallen and this game. IIRC they have trademarked their RB logo but not RB name (see footnotes here) . I guess it's technically possible to trademark names with common words (e.g., inXile > Wasteland, Bethesda >Fallout, etc.) but I always thought it was kind of cheesy when companies do that. I mean, perhaps you should name your game something with a "made up" unique word if you want a TM.

Anyway, I enjoyed Celestian Tales: Old North quite a bit. I'm not normally a big fan of JRPGs, but they managed to avoid a lot of the issues that prevent me from enjoying them. It's far less grindy (really you probably won't have to "grind" at all, as long as you fight some of the non-boss enemies you encounter you should be good), and the combat is actually pretty fun because each character has a decent set of special abilities to choose from. The story is also better than typical JRPG fare (think a less dark version of Game of Thrones / SoIaF). My only complaint is that ends rather abruptly; though considering it's the first part of a trilogy this is forgivable. Also they released a prequel DLC that helped flesh out the background and motivations of some of the characters.

I'll probably hold off on playing this one for a bit because I've seen mention of significant bugs, though apparently a major one has already been fixed.
 
Joined
Apr 9, 2013
Messages
2,343
Location
PA
Back
Top Bottom