Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey was launched last year to a rather lukewarm reception, pertaining mostly to a steep difficulty curve that left players to fend for themselves with little to no directions. Envisioned as the first of a trilogy, those who enjoyed the game will be happy to know that a sequel is still on the cards.
Speaking with the Official Xbox Magazine for the latest issue, creative director Patrice Désilets confirmed that the follow-up to Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey has already been “done” on paper. The developer has also finalized design aspects. However, the sequel will not enter production anytime soon.
We didn’t go through all of human evolution, so there are some years left for us to tackle in sequels down the road, because the game finishes around two million years ago, so we’ve still got two million years to cover eventually… so we’ll see. We’ll see if we do [a sequel] in the future. On paper, on the design board, it’s done. Now it’s just a matter of seeing when we’re gonna do it.
Désilets is currently working on his “next game” but that should not be taken as the aforementioned sequel. He noted that his present project will “not be as obscure as Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey in terms of subject matter” and players will be explained “some portions of the game” through the narrative.
Panache Digital Games could perhaps start on the sequel to Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey once the current in-development game is finished. However, the obscurity as Désilets labelled it, could still return. There is no helping hand here for the players as far the developer is concerned.
It’s like, “How can you make a game about a character who doesn’t know much about what’s going on, while being played and controlled by someone who knows everything?” So we made the decision that if we wanted the player’s sapiens to actually experience human evolution, [the player] had to be in the same knowledge sphere as the main character of the game. The subject matter informed that decision.
In our review, we discussed how Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey did well for a unique concept but the charm only lasts for a single playthrough, which should be fine as well for those interested in new experiences.
