Although Rare has released a few trailers for Everwild, details on the game remain scarce, even though it's been public knowledge since 2019. It's known that players will take control of Eternals, a group of humans with magical connections to the natural world, and Rare has suggested that it's an adventure game potentially featuring god elements while avoiding combat. Some leaks suggest that Everwild is in the middle of a major overhaul due to a messy development cycle, meaning all of these details could change, but odds are that the final result will still stay true to at least some of these elements. Players will likely control magical humans who use their powers to interact with and protect the natural world.
Based on the trailers released so far, Everwild could put a high focus on its magic system, considering the extraordinary things that Eternals seem capable of doing. One trailer shows Eternals returning a dying animal to perfect health with the help of an elk-like spirit. Everwild's emphasis on magic would feel familiar thanks to Square Enix's upcoming project Forspoken, which also uses magic as the player's main way of interacting with the world. If magic isn't a core mechanic already, Rare could take notes from Forspoken and focus heavily on building Everwild's magic system into a sophisticated but non-violent way to engage with the game world.
Taking Inspiration from Forspoken
In Forspoken, Frey Holland has a long list of different magical techniques that she can use in battle. Players can choose to conjure devastating pillars of ice, fire stones in rapid volleys with high precision, or even run into melee range and cut down enemies with a conjured sword. Forspoken gives players options in their spellcraft, which is bound to make combat feel more flexible and rewarding than it would if Forspoken only featured long-range spells. Forspoken's mobility options and traversal also can't be underestimated; magic goes a long way to improve the game's movement.
While Everwild might not feature combat, it could still take inspiration from Forspoken's design to fuel adventure game elements like exploration and puzzle-solving. Everwild might encourage players to choose paths of investment in their Eternal's magical techniques, which give players new options on how to overcome obstacles. For instance, if a player needs to get past a large, aggressive beast, they might choose between stealth spells that help them slip by or empathic magic that lets players soothe the animal, with either choice having potential consequences on Everwild's world. Even if Everwild focuses on interacting peacefully with creatures and tending to nature, it can still have magical options similar to Forspoken.
Everwild's World Encourages Lots of Magic
Even though Rare hasn't discussed details about Everwild's story, the world details revealed so far suggest that magic-heavy game design would make sense. The Eternals can seemingly commune with nature spirits, and that close relationship could be the perfect source of new magical knowledge. Rare's intention to put god game elements in Everwild also suggests focusing on magical techniques as well. Whether the Eternals themselves learn godlike techniques or befriending certain spirits in Everwild unlocks certain godly favors, Rare has ample opportunity to encourage players to invest heavily in a magic system.
Forspoken is unique because it sacrifices so many other traditional combat options in favor of building the most compelling magic system that it can. It wouldn't be surprising to see imitators run with similar ideas after Forspoken releases in 2022. Ideally, however, not every imitator will use Forspoken's design principles purely for flashy combat. Games like Everwild can lean into sorcery in the same way while applying them to new mechanics and themes, like Everwild's implied focus on peaceful exploration and nurturing the natural world. A broad roster of magical skills that help players take care of the plants and animals around them sounds perfect for Everwild.
Everwild is in development for PC and Xbox Series X/S.