On Thursday 18th January 2024, Xbox streamed their Developer Direct Conference. Five companies showcased their games at the conference, including: Obsidian, who showcased their new game, ‘Avowed’; Ninja Theory, who showcased their new game, ‘Hellblade II’; Square Enix, with their new game, ‘Visions of Mana’; Oxide Games, with their new game, ‘Ara: History Untold’ and MachineGames, with their new game, ‘Indiana Jones and the Great Circle’.
In this blog, I will be telling what each of these games are, whether there’s any rumours currently about the accessibility features that are going to be included, and what accessibility features I believe need to included.
Avowed
Avowed is an upcoming first-person action-adventure game, developed by Obsidian Entertainment. It will be playable on the Xbox Series X/S, on PC and on GamePass.
Taking place in the Pillars of Eternity universe, Avowed is set in a new part of Eora, where gamers will set out to investigate rumours surrounding a deadly plague that has been ravaging the land.
Accessibility wise, not much is currently known. From the gameplay that was shown off during the Developer Direct event, it looks like the game could be accessible in the way that Lies of P, Mortal Kombat and Hogwarts Legacy are, in that some things could become more accessible to some physically disabled people who can move round the controller quickly if they have a handheld controller and a Xbox Adaptive Controller set up in co-pilot. But when it comes to actions in the game, some things have made me worried, such as the combat skills.
Some of the skills that were shown off include fights with demons, turning creatures into stone and slashing them and defeating some creatures with a wand. If it was possible to slow down how quickly the battle scenes happen it would be great, but there might also be a point for a Toggle option, as well as an option that could be called Easy Jump.
Although it wouldn’t exactly count with objects like swords, wands and guns are a completely different story. Some disabled people struggle to hold down more than one button at the same time, which is why it would be good to see a setting that will give you the opportunity to press one button at a time to toggle those options on and to shoot with another one. However, it would also be good to include an option called Easy Jump, which could activate a jump feature that won’t call for gamers having to press down on two buttons to do it, like the ease of jumping that is shown in Hogwarts Legacy.
Hellblade II
Hellblade II is the sequel to the first Hellblade game, which is due to be released later this year. Taking place in the Age of the Vikings and after the events of the first game, the trailer reveals that Senua is also living with Psychosis. The game will therefore challenge you to engage in combat, to dodge fire attacks and to slink through myriad creepy tunnels.
Plus the creators of it have admitted talking to people who actually have psychosis, which is something that I really appreciate.
But like what I said about the first game, there currently aren’t any leaks about the accessibility features that will be included in the game. Furthermore, if we think about the original game — released in 2017 — there were only a few accessibility options originally included in it, though there are a few more options included in it now.
It would therefore be nice to see better accessibility features on launch, such as the ability to slow down combat, to remap buttons if that makes the game easier to play, to use voiced controls and the ability to slow down jumping or to turn on an option that will make jumping easier if you can’t use two buttons at once. But of course, there are other things things which other disabled people with other disabilities will believe could also be added, so these won’t necessarily be the only features that might need to be considered.
the visions of Mana
It wasn’t expected, but SquareEnix also took part in the conference, showcasing their new game, Visions of Mana, which is the first mainline title in the Mana series in over 15 years.
A game that immerses you in the vibrant landscapes of the world it is based in, you’ll be able to journey through enchanting locations within the universe, while experiencing the powers of nature blending into the elemental aspects of Mana.
Set in a world where alms are chosen to travel to the Tree of Mana every four years to rejuvenate the flow of Mana power, a soul guard is also traditionally chosen to ensure the alms have a safe pilgrimage, one of which is a character called Val.
On the day of the festival, Val brings his childhood friend along to the event, and the aim of the game is to help them throughout their journey.
There’s a lot of gameplay throughout the game that seems extremely hard for physically disabled people to play, such as going up into the air, fighting with enemies, flying and jumping. However, it’s worth mentioning that on the game’s page on Xbox’s website, it says that 5 accessibility options included in the game, although there’s no details about what these will be currently.
So although these suggestions might not be the accessibility options that will be included in the game when it’s released, here’s what I would like to see in the game.
It would be good if a Press to Hover in Air option could be included, that can help someone who can’t hold the button down as long to do it. I would also like to see an easy jump option, so that jumping can be made a lot easier, as well as options to slow down combat, in case the normal speed for fight scenes is too hard for others to play.
But nevertheless, those are the only options I think could make the game more accessible, so let’s hope the developers were thinking the same thing.
Ara History Untold
Ara History Untold is an upcoming Strategy game that is due to be released in the Autumn on Game Pass for PC, and is developed by Oxide Games.
Ara will let you create your own nations, redesign famous monuments throughout history, compete against your neighbours as you fight over whoever has the best nation, decide how your nation will be ran and get involved with wars.
As a history buff, I’m really excited to try out this game, but there are a few settings I think need to be included to make the game more accessible, which I’ll lay out now.
For starters, it would be good if an accessibility option called ‘Click to add to playground’ could be included, so that physically disabled players can click one button to add an item to a playground. Although I can drag on a trackpad most of the time, it can sometimes become difficult, and other disabled people will find it impossible. For this reason, it would also be good if disabled people playing the game could choose whether it would be easier for them to click the left or right button, which I believe you should be able to choose as well.
Elsewhere, it would also be good if you could choose whether you’d prefer to craft by clicking or craft by dragging, so that people can decide what is easier for them.
Indiana Jones & The Great Circle
Indiana Jones and The Great Circle is an upcoming game for Game Pass, the Xbox Series X/S, Windows and Steam and developed by MachineGames.
A first person game that is set in between the first and third Indiana films, Indiana Jones and The Great Circle allows you to play as Indiana himself, as you uncover the universe’s next hidden mystery.
Set in the year 1937, sinister forces are searching the globe for the secret to an ancient power connected to the circle, which only Indy can save them from. Throughout the game, you’ll be able to play through Indiana’s next journey from his point-of-view, such as when swinging across to another part of the universe, bringing out weapons and attacking other characters, or when using Indiana’s whip, as you play through the mission.
However, As far as accessibility goes, it is disappointing that I haven’t been able to find any details about the accessibility settings that will be included in the game, as it doesn’t matter which time period the game is based in for many gamers, as long as they can easily play the game.
I’ve tried to play Indiana Jones games in the past, and each time I’ve tried to play them, I’ve found jumping extremely hard. It would therefore be good if an Easy Jump option could be included in the game, so that people who find it difficult to hold down two buttons at one time will have another option.
But there is another area of Indiana Jones games that will be equally hard for some disabled people to also do, that being when you have to use a gun. If it was possible to set up a latch control, so that someone who is physically disabled will only have to press a button so they can aim, that would make it accessible. However, it would also be good if you could turn a setting on that would automatically aim on a particular character and follow them, so that people who find it difficult to follow the character around can still play the game.
I’m happy, so far, with everything else, nevertheless.
Final Thoughts
It would have been nice to hear more about accessibility during the conference — especially giving how much attention Xbox has given to it over the last few years — and since the Xbox website now includes an Accessibility tab, so that disabled gamers can see what games are more accessible to them, it would also be nice to see accessibility features that will be featured in upcoming games being made open to the public before a game’s release, so that disabled gamers will know whether or not to pre-order them.
But nevertheless, I am looking forward to the days when all of the games will be released, and stand by the accessibility settings I have said should be included. No, these suggestions will not be the only ways that the games included in the conference will become completely accessible for everyone. However, as nothing regarding the accessibility settings in each games are exactly known for sure, I think I’m going to wait until the games come out to see how accessible they are, at which time I will do accessibility reviews for all of them.
Phoebs Lyle Tech Reviews 