Knightfall: Empire

Knightfall: Empire is an Open World Action Role-playing Game developed by DECA UK and published by NINE100 Studios as an Anima 2 exclusive title. It is a sequel to the critically acclaimed Knightfall and expands on the predecessor's core gameplay systems of utilizing a massive sandbox to its highest potential.
==Development==
Empire moves the setting to the east coast of the Americas. In the alternate history timeline of the franchise, the Americas are never colonized by the European nations. This made the east coast a freehold for rich people escaping the European rulers, opportunistic low class people and the indigenous people. Compared to the scientifically advanced Europe, America uses technology only sparingly in the few large cities.
The game was pitched with a simple term: "Steampunk Pirates". With the previous entry focusing on land and air combat , the next title would introduce a new gameplay loop using naval combat. To continue the trend of a single man fighting an entire army, instead of focusing on conventional ship-to-ship warfare, the team was inspired by guerrilla and pirate tactics of boarding and taking down/over. The traversal system is also deepened to reflect this, introducing more verticality and flanking than the previous entry.
Similarly, like how the first game focused on introduction of electricity as a weapon, Empire takes fire as it's core new innovation. The player's arsenal is expanded with oil canisters, small explosives and the gauntlet is improved with a module that releases a burst of overheated metal in close range, burning enemies and igniting oil and explosives. This heavily contrasts with the water setting and introduces a gameplay loop of sinking ships. Since the protagonist is not a traditional knight, the game features less 'traditional' melee combat, introducing shorter blades and more aggressive techniques.
The game also features a new social system. Unlike the previous game, the player starts off with no allies. Instead, they have to create contacts by aiding noble houses, local misfits and city mobsters, setting up a network of allies to fight the German army. The goal is to create an effective resistance, while also functioning as a spearhead to takedown high-ranked individuals in the Americas.