Tales of Kenzera: ZAU Studio Announces New Afro-Gothic RPG

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU developer Surgent Studios has announced a new ‘Afro-Gothic RPG’ codenamed Project Uso, which is largely inspired by Planescape: Torment. The studio is currently looking for a funding partner to help get the project off the ground.

As reported by Video Games Chronicle, Surgent Studios head Abubakar Salim talked about Project Uso and the studio’s aspirations for the new title. Salim showed VGC a pitch for the game, though the studio is currently seeking funding. Project Uso will be an isometric RPG. “It’s still in the Tales of Kenzera universe, but it’s darker, it’s more visceral, it’s gritty,” said Salim. “The best way I can describe it is a single-player, isometric, Afro-Gothic action RPG.”

Salim went on to talk in a bit more detail about Project Uso:

“The story (with Zau) is that as a shaman you’re challenging the God of Death as a way of looking at the idea of healthy handling grief, so I came up with the idea of what if one reader is inspired to defy death itself, so they create this android which is fashioned to cradle the spirits of the dead. And what if that spirit isn’t a human being, it’s a God, Eshu, the God of Chaos, so now you’ve got these two mentalities in one frame? That’s something I thought would be really cool to explore.”

Salim says he envisions the price of Project Uso to be the same as Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, which launched at $19,99 or R349. “I like respecting the player’s money and time,” he said. “We want to really focus our time and attention on the mechanics, on the gameplay on the feel of it as a whole, because I think that’s what’s really key. That’s what is going to make it really sing.”

“As passionate Dungeons & Dragons players, the Surgent team and I knew we wanted to try our hand at creating our own RPG system,” Salim added. “As a way to give Project Uso a fast-paced, real-time feel, we created the Crucible system, which requires players to roll against themselves.”

Source: Video Games Chronicle