Ubisoft tries to make up for the umpteenth postponement of Skull & Bones by offering players a new insight into the gameplay of the naval battle game, demonstrating on the other hand that, despite the old declarations, a pinch of narrative will not be missing at all.
During the last episode of the series of video insights The Deck, the Community Developer by Ubisoft Singapore Alexis Cretton and the Narrative Director Joel Janisse talked about one of the so far less talked about components of production, namely the narrative and how it will impact gameplay. Specifically, they have placed an emphasis on Investigationsof narrative missions that players will be able to face alone or in groups in some points of the map.
An investigation can begin in several ways: by retrieving a message in a bottle, by finding a page from an old diary, or by talking to a non-player character. Once embarked on the task, players will be called to find clues to solve the mystery and finally find the inevitable treasure. The Investigation shown during the thirty-odd minutes of the in-depth video focuses on two royals, a brother and a sister, each of whom believes he is the legitimate heir to the throne of an African region. The story of the two unfolds clue after clue and finally rewards the developer with a nice loot. Enjoy it at the opening of the news.
Last July, Ubisoft clearly described Skull & Bones as a game not based on narrative, despite the presence of a background story capable of justifying the exploits of pirates active in the Indian Ocean in the golden age of piracy. However, the existence of the Investigations demonstrates that there will also be something more: far from being able to be defined as a narrative game, Skull & Bones will still offer stories to experience. We just have to play it, a pity that its arrival on the shelves has been postponed to the next fiscal year, therefore in a period between April 2023 and March 2024.
