Enter a world that has felt an alien touch upon its sun. An ever-increasing shadow that creeps across the sun’s brilliant face, with consequences that are only now becoming horrifically apparent. The city of Shar, once capital of a mighty empire that covered the continent, still remains the most powerful of the city-states of the ancient South. With its huge defensive stone walls that have withstood attacks for over a thousand years, its lofty towers and elaborately-constructed domes capped in gold, and massive ziggurat temple at its center upon which godly sacrifices are performed, the metropolis stands as an oasis amidst the hot desert of the Singing Sands. Yet all is not well in the Golden City, for a plague has come to Shar. A plague so deadly the Sharians name it Aya’s Wrath - a curse from their god.
The Shadow Sun is a dark, heroic fantasy RPG that combines the classic adventure of Dungeons Dragons, the fear of otherworldly horrors of H.P. Lovecraft, and the grim sword and sorcery of Conan the Barbarian. Rendered in full 3D graphics using the Unity engine, the game offers a deep, single-player role-playing experience with a gripping story, important player choices, dynamic NPC dialogues, and multiple ways of solving quests. Do battle against the strange creatures native to Shar and unspeakable horrors not of this world in real-time, visceral combat like The Witcher 2, using a dozen different weapon types, special melee attacks, powerful magical spells, and deadly traps.
Designed and developed by Ossian Studios as an original game for the mobile platform, The Shadow Sun brings together everything the team has learned from working on the triple-A RPG franchises of Neverwinter Nights and The Witcher, with the ultimate goal of creating a top-quality PC/console RPG experience on iOS.
A premium, full 3D Western RPG with a story filled with complex characters, intrigue, danger, and shocking surprises.
A 10-15 hour adventure where you delve into the decadent imperial city of Shar and the exotic desert lands around it, as the Golden City languishes in the grip of a plague and simmers in defiance against the kingdoms of the North.
Gorgeous graphics using the Unity engine, including normal/specular mapping and dynamic lighting on the characters, as well as anti-aliasing and bloom.
Create your own male or female character and customize them with different appearances and over a dozen types of armour.
Choose from among 30 skills to suit your play style and grow those abilities exactly how you want as the game progresses.
Ally with one of four companions to adventure alongside you, each with their own personality, abilities, and romance options, and gain their approval or disapproval on your actions.
A useful journal and detailed codex help you keep track of quests and the people, places, and things you encounter.
Explore over 70 finely crafted areas and uncover 200+ unique items, hidden secrets, and ancient treasures.
A striking and compelling orchestral music score by long-time Ossian composer, David John.
Includes Apple Game Center support.
A universal app for iPhone (3GS and up), iPod touch (3rd gen and up), and iPad (1st gen and up), with Retina display support. Graphics will scale with device.
Wow, that looks very crisp and professional. Love the art style you’re going with here. We definitely need more thought provoking, RPG games for mobiles. From what you have on your features list, it looks like it’s going to be a great game. Awesome work.
Here are a couple of new screenshots from The Shadow Sun! Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to stay up to date with the latest news about the game. Enjoy!
All of the RPGs created by Ossian Studios feature detailed and engaging stories, and The Shadow Sun is no exception. Here’s a short quote from a Gamezebo interview with our Lead Writer where he talks about the story background.
“I wanted a setting that eschewed high fantasy in favour of a gritty, more realistic world. At the same time, full-on grimdark has now itself become something of a cliché. It’s important to focus on the fantastical aspect as well as the political scheming, moral ambiguity, and visceral combat that have become so popular in the wake of the success of A Song of Ice and Fire novels, as well as The Witcher and Dragon Age games. Hence, while the world of The Shadow Sun is a complex, brutal place full of vying groups, nations, and unimaginable horrors, it is also one full of incredible beauty that has been torn apart and reshaped through centuries of devastating magic and a continent-shattering cataclysm.”
You mention that is if were talking about Bethesda software, never even heard of Ossian Studios, and theres no problem with that at all, do you just assume we are all acquainted with your past epics somehow? Game looks great btw.
No worries; The Shadow Sun is an entirely new game set in any entirely new world so you don’t need to be familiar with any of our past games to enjoy the adventure. Personally, I think great RPG games begin with great narratives, so I am always looking for new story-driven games to play.
I guess we’ll think about that more after we get through the mobile release this summer. Beta testing is proceeding very well so it shouldn’t be too much longer.
The current release date is summer 2013 for iOS. You can like us on Facebook or follow us on twitter to get the latest news on release dates and ports.
We finished recording all of the voice overs for The Shadow Sun. We hired some of the same actors and actresses who voiced Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, and Mass Effect. Check out our Facebook page for details including more pictures from the recording sessions!
WOW, This has come along quite nicely. Awesome work.
I saw this back in 2010 (or was it 2009?!) and have been wondering if this project is still going on…
You had me worried for a while!
BTW, if you don’t mind me asking but how much have you spent on the project?
Seems like an incredible production - I would say it looks better than Oblivion (and that was made with a large team).
Thanks for the kind words! The Shadow Sun was built over several years by a small team of dedicated RPG players operating on a very modest budget. I’m very sorry about the lengthy wait for this game. RPGs take a long time to build and really good RPGs take even longer! As a gamer myself, I’d rather see fewer but higher quality games available for purchase in iTunes. Do you agree?
Look for some new character models from The Shadow Sun posted on our Facebook page. Here’s a sneak peek at the Undead Sorcerer that you’ll meet in the middle part of the game. He doesn’t look very friendly, does he?
At the start of The Shadow Sun, we decided that creating all of the art assets in the game from scratch was the only way to achieve the beautiful environments that we all wanted to see. For example, the grand architectural style of the imperial city of Shar, for example, was inspired by ancient Babylonia and required a large amount of concept artwork. As an illustration of our work process, we’ve updated our Facebook page with several images illustrating how we transformed original concept art into detailed 3D models and finally into the gorgeous vistas that you see within the game. Please take a look and let me know what you think!
Look for some character renders on The Shadow SunFacebook page this week. Here’s a high-poly render of a certain Sharian named Abbadas. He is one of the game’s four companions who, depending on your choices during the game, might join your party. Abbadas is a strong fighter with some unusual magical abilities. His interesting back-story can be uncovered while playing the game!
