A slew of games were shown off during the PS5’s reveal event stream last summer. Tons of new and exciting sequels like God of War: Ragnarok and Horizon Forbidden West were announced, but several brand new games were showcased as well. Square Enix would later steal this game’s spotlight with the reveal of Final Fantasy 16 in September, but before that, the publisher had revealed a brand new IP: Project Athia. Almost certainly a working title, the mysterious Project Athia came alongside the PS5’s official reveal with a short teaser of the game’s world. Since then, it’s been near-silence up until recently, when the game was announced for release in early 2022.
However, while there’s been sparse information revealed by the game itself, there have been some interesting revelations following Project Athia‘s reveal. Thus far, it’s been confirmed that Project Athia is a completely new universe for Square Enix, unrelated to Final Fantasy. There’s also been some hints on the lead writers behind this new world, many of which are veterans from movies, television, and fantasy literature as well. The tidbits of gameplay that were shown off in the trailers seem very familiar to a certain other Final Fantasy title, but the similarities are few and far between. Here’s everything currently known about the mysterious Project Athia at the moment.
Similar in scope to Final Fantasy 15, Square Enix’s Project Athia is an open world, action-adventure game set in a mysterious unnamed fantasy world. Sony’s briefing at CES 2021 recently announced that Project Athia is planned to release in “January 2022,” however that could potentially be a target date. Sony recently uploaded an official version of the livestream’s trailer that removed any mention of third-party games, so Project Athia may not necessarily release in that timeframe. It’s more info than the initial reveal trailer provided, which gives no clues as to when the game may release, not to mention Project Athia almost certainly being a codename for its official title.
Luminous Productions is the development studio behind the project, a subsidiary of Square Enix formed by the development team behind Final Fantasy 15. Named after the same game engine used to power Final Fantasy 15, the Luminous Engine, the studio was first announced in 2018. Founded by Final Fantasy 15 director Hajime Tabata (who has since left Square Enix), Luminous Studio was designed to create new IP alongside Square Enix’s existing lineup of franchises. The end result of that secretive triple-A project that Luminous Studio was allegedly working on appears to be Project Athia, though it’s likely not releasing any time soon.
In terms of story content, there’s sparse details from the game’s first trailer, but the title does have an admittedly surprising writing team behind it. Gary Whitta, screenwriter and author who’s worked on notable films like Rogue One and The Book of Eli, announced he was lead writer for the project. According to an announcement from Whitta on Twitter, he led a team of writers from various forms of triple-A media to design the world and narrative of Project Athia. Outside of that, the only ominous and foreboding specifics from the trailer itself detail “a world not her own, where resolve will be tested, truths will be questioned, and devotions will be doubted.”
The initial, short reveal trailer for Project Athia did end up showing off a surprising amount of gameplay. The environments themselves seem to suggest some kind of medieval fantasy setting, filled with castles, dragons, magic, and other creatures. However, the actual player character itself (presumably “Athia”) seems to be wearing modern attire with a cloak. This leads back to the “world not her own” hint, which could indicate some kind of inter-dimensional/interplanetary travel of some kind a la Star Ocean. Alongside that, in-engine gameplay shows her making leaps and bounds, as well as summoning roots from the ground to attack/capture wolves in the wild.
Aesthetically and gameplay-wise, there’s clearly some inspiration from Final Fantasy 15, even if the game itself doesn’t look too similar. Of course, both games utilize the same Luminous Engine, but even the movement mechanics seem to resemble Noctis’ warp strike ability. The new magical abilities, however, are wholly unique to the gameplay in Project Athia. Environments and creatures shown throughout the teaser do seem to emulate Souls-style designs, though with plenty of Final Fantasy-esque flair. It seems like the game’s themes suggest the usage and perversion of nature through magic, and the large-scale creatures in the teaser seem to resemble boss fights.
It’s clear that Project Athia is very much a fantasy world with some kind of modern twist. Presumably, the “she will rise” marketing tagline is referring to the protagonist’s journey throughout the game. Perhaps “Athia,” or whoever this unnamed female character is, will be in a fish-out-of-water scenario looking to survive in this unknown world. At some point she seems to gain magical powers and the capability to manipulate the natural world around her, to her advantage. None of this is confirmed, of course, but it’s a seemingly promising concept; a character harnessing the power of nature to battle unnatural foes in an unfamiliar world.
Project Athia is currently in development.
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