The Ascent offers at least 15 hours of sci-fi RPG gameplay

Neon Giant's The Ascent looked great when we first saw it last year, and since then it seems like the studio has increased their ambitions further. As a result, it didn't launch in November 2020 when Xbox Series S/X was released as initially planned, but is rather coming later this year.

The Ascent is a sci-fi RPG that can be played co-op for four gamers, and in a recent interview with Wccftech, the game director Arcade Berg and art director Tor Frick revealed that it's a pretty massive adventure waiting for us with.

They have been working on the game since the studio was founded three years ago, and it won't have procedurally generated elements. Berg explains:

"We're focusing on making sure that the experience you get playing through the game is the best it can be. We've used procedural tools outside of the game to help us create and curate the vast amount of content you can find in the game, but you play in a set world where a lot of loot and secrets are determined. Having said that, we do have additional systems on top for unique encounters happening in the world to make sure that when you travel through already explored areas you always have a chance of finding something new. We're more interested in giving you the best experience, than a seemingly infinite one."

We should also expect at least 15 hours just to finish the main story, but there is of course more content, as Berg explains:

"From what we've seen, playing through the Main Missions will land you somewhere around 15-20h. On top of that you have many more Side Missions, treasures to find and a myriad of Codex entries to unlock and read about the world and what's in it."

We also got to know more about the seemingly beautiful cyberpunk world, which the developers say is a living thing rather than at stunning backdrop. It will be possible to change areas from hostile to friendly and they also change organically as people are living there doing their daily stuff, according to Frick:

"We are putting a lot of effort into making the world feel like a real place, with everything from people going about their business and interacting with the world to traffic flying by. Random events taking place in the world, so when you return to a location you have visited before, things are slightly different, and things like that. The game takes place in a dystopian megacity, so the game and world required quite a lot of moving pieces to feel like more of a city, and not just a fancy static backdrop."

Finally, Frick also reveals what we should expect when it comes to the technical stuff outside the 4K and 60 FPS for Xbox Series X, which is "60 fps at 1440p for the Xbox Series S, 4K at 30fps for Xbox One X, and 900p for the Xbox One."

The Ascent launches on a yet undisclosed date later this year for both PC and Xbox, and is also included with Xbox Game Pass starting day one.