Is Project Athia A Portal Fantasy Like Narnia?
Is the upcoming Project Athia a fantasy RPG about a woman from our world who falls into a fantasy realm…or is it the other way around?
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The under-development PS5 game Project Athia has been described by developers at Square Enix as a “thrilling other-worldly” adventure, a statement backed up by trailer footage which features a sneaker-wearing protagonist traveling across “a world not her own” and fending off monsters with primal-looking magical spells. The default assumption is that Project Athia is a “Portal Fantasy” similar to The Chronicles of Narnia, where ordinary people get transported into realms of magic and wonder… but could there be more to this than meets the eye?
“In a world not her own, where resolve will be tested, truths will be questioned, and devotions will be doubted, she will rise.” These lines of narrative text punctuate the fantastical imagery seen in Project Athia’s premiere trailer, which shows the main character leaping across vast cliffs and canyons like a superhero, conjuring forth glowing vines from the ground, and encountering strange magical being ranging from smoldering hyenas to fire-wreathed dragons. The trailer footage is meant to showcase the breath-taking graphics this next-gen Square Enix IP will feature… but all anyone can focus on is the sneakers on the main character’s feet, which suggest she’s from the modern world.
The “Portal Fantasy” genre, where ordinary people (usually kids) get whisked away to magical fantasy lands, is a trope as old as Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, and the Chronicles of Narnia books by C.S. Lewis. This genre of fantasy fiction has grown quite popular in Japanese media as of late, which could explain why the Japan-based game company Square Enix is building Project Athia around the idea of realistic worlds and fantasy worlds mingling. How this will play out, though, is still up in the air.
What Project Athia Is About
The default assumption of many Square Enix fans is that “Athia.” the protagonist seen in the trailer for Project Athia, is a dimensional castaway, a woman from the real world trapped in a fantasy world of magic and monsters. Going by the way she explores ancient ruins and ventures through wild places in the trailer, it appears she’s searching for a way to return home either through, spell, artifact, or ‘spooky portal’.
Alternately, “Athia” could be a native to a magical fantasy realm filled with portals or subtler paths that lead to the real world. The sneakers she wears could be a trade good or ‘relic’ from this modern world, and her in-game quest could revolve around investigating or foiling factions from Earth who want to exploit the resources/magic of her world. After all, the juxtaposition of fantasy and modern civilization is old hat for Square Enix at this point – not just in their Final Fantasy games, but also in an old Tech Demo of theirs.
Could Agni’s Philosophy Be Connected to Project Athia?
Many have compared the trailer for Project Athia to Agni’s Philosophy, a tech demo published by Square Enix in 2012 to demonstrate the graphical capabilities of their then-new Luminous Engine. Like Project Athia, the footage for Agni’s Philosophy blended together visuals of fantasy magic with modern technology, in which a magical ceremony is interrupted by criminals with assault rifles and one of the surviving mages escapes on dragon-back, flying out of the sprawling slums and towards an advanced-looking metropolis.
Is Project Athia meant to be a game sequel to Agni’s Philosophy? Probably not: the tech demo Agni’s Philosophy was made purely to show off a new graphics engine. Still, many of the the themes in Agni’s Philosophy – a woman mage wearing flowing clothes, uncanny magical creatures, and modern goods in a fantasy setting – do come into play in Project Athia. The biggest difference between these two Square Enix productions is setting: rather than taking place in an urban slum, Project Athia emphasizes open-world exploration, where the main character roams forests, canyons and other wild places, in search of a way home to their old world… or a way to escape a world that restricts them.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/project-athia-ps5-gameplay-release-date-story-fantasy/