I know I am a bit late on this but if you haven’t heard of it already, Thousand Threads is a game to keep an eye on. Thousand Threads is a game being developed by Seamount Games. The most recent gameplay trailer was released May 2017, so hopefully development is still going strong, and we can expect the game soon. You can learn more about the game on their website.
I really want to like Thousand Threads. I love the art style and aesthetic of the game. It looks like a beautiful minimalist 3d experience. I also really love the unique concept of the gameplay. In Thousand Threads, NPCs remember how you helped them or screwed them over. It is a game about dealing with the consequences of your actions.
Gameplay Trailer
From the gameplay trailer though, this game looks like the thing I hate most about games with ‘intelligent’ NPCs like Assassins Creed or Fallout. You make one mistake, piss off the wrong person, and you spend the next several minutes of gameplay either running or in combat. You are pretty much screwed because the only way to get out of this situation is to either let your pursuers kill you, or kill them (or in the case of Thousand Threads knock them out). Or of course run and hide and never talk to or encounter them again.
What I would want to see from a game like this is a way to resolve conflicts without violence. I want a way to explain myself to the NPCs. Or, on the morally grey side of things, a way to bribe or otherwise convince them not to hurt me. Perhaps the types of characters who are open to this sort of thing exist, they are simply not demonstrated in this otherwise extremely entertaining gameplay trailer.
Regardless, I look forward to further developments of the game. If it can demonstrate more facets of conflict resolution other than ‘knock em out’, I will be extremely excited to play Thousand Threads.
Pirate Ferret.com 