Summary
Very little is still known about Naughty Dog’s upcoming new IP,Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, after its reveal at the 2024 Game Awards left many questions in its wake, and what the developer has revealed about the game is still very much in an “in-progress” state. Apart fromNaughty Dog’s obvious departurehere from the familiar formulas ofUnchartedandThe Last of Us, it has been confirmed thatIntergalactic: The Heretic Prophetis set on the lone planet of Sempiria, a world that has been isolated from the universe for over 600 years. This meansIntergalacticwill adopt a much smaller scale than some of the more recent sci-fi games to be released.
Considering what more recent sci-fi exploration games likeStarfieldandNo Man’s Skyhave been able to accomplish, it might seem like a bit of a step back in some ways forIntergalactic: The Heretic Prophetto focus its setting on only one planet. Even older sci-fi games, like theMass Effectseries, have taken players beyond the confines of a single planet and allowed them to explore multiple galaxies. While the idea of exploring the furthest reaches of space in a video game is enticing, however,Intergalactichas a chance to avoid the pitfalls that many other space-exploration games have succumbed to.
Intergalactic’s Small-Scale Approach Could Benefit Its Worldbuilding and Gameplay
Intergalactic’s One-Planet Setting Could Give It More Freedom to Flesh Out Its World
When it comes to much largerspace-exploration games, likeStarfieldandNo Man’s Sky, these titles don’t necessarily need to give their planets much of an identity, since their primary motive seems to be the exploration of the universe, rather than individual planets. However, this isn’t necessarily a good thing, as games likeStarfieldhave proven. For example,Starfieldmay feature a massive explorable universe filled with over 1,000 planets for players to discover, but it ends up being spread too thin in the end, resulting in what generally feels like an empty world. The large quantity of planets in the game inevitably results in a lack of attention given to each planet’s unique identity, so they all end up looking and fundamentally being fairly similar in the end.
The same could be said ofNo Man’s Sky, which relies on procedural generation even more thanStarfieldto create its planets.
SinceIntergalactic: The Heretic Prophetis taking place on only one planet, it has a greater opportunity set before it to delve into the planet’s unique history, cultures, and societal structures more than other recent sci-fi titles have been able to accomplish. In the end, there is more potential forIntergalacticto produce a richer and moreimmersive storytelling experience, as there will possibly be less attention placed on the size of the explorable world and more effort put into fleshing out Sempiria’s unique identity in the universe.
Intergalactic’s Small Scale Has a Chance to Avoid the Gameplay Pitfalls of Larger Worlds
Intergalactic’s smaller scale won’t just potentially impact its narrative, as its gameplay is likely to feel the positive effects of such an approach as well. For example, limitingIntergalactic’s setting to just one planet allows Naughty Dog to produce more detailed and interactive environments. In a sense, this encourages exploration even more than larger sci-fi games have been known to do, as the discoveries that players make are likely to be far more meaningful and not just another item checked off their list. In short,Intergalactic’s gameplay has the potential to achieve much higher quality than the repetitive loop found in games likeStarfieldandNo Man’s Sky.
In the end, Naughty Dog’s decision to focus the upcoming game’s setting on one planet may turn out to be one ofIntergalactic: The Heretic Prophet’s best characteristics. By focusing on a single setting,Intergalactichas the opportunity to avoid the shortcomings of larger-scale sci-fi titles, delivering a world that feels alive and purposeful. This choice could produce a level of immersion and storytelling that more expansive universes often struggle to achieve, but time will tell as more is revealed about the game in the future.
