Alta, the studio behind A Township Tale (2021), showed off the latest work on its upcoming dungeon-crawler extraction game REAVE, revealing more about its various systems in addition to a new dungeon and enemy—all of it very much still a work-in-progress.

The game’s latest dev log (seen below) shows off a number of newly updated systems and areas, the largest in the game so far, a massive room called ‘The Fallen Bastion’.

“What we have here is a blend of open space, tight spaces, as well as well-lit areas and those pitch black areas to ambush other players, and […] hide from enemies,” says lead environment artist Sean Ellis.

At its center is a magical pedestal, where the player can summon a boss battle—in this case a giant spider, which is currently being used for testing purposes.

Image courtesy Alta

“Don’t worry, [the spider] won’t be around forever, but it helps us get a feel for a real boss battles while we work on something more specific,” the studio says.

Many of the previously revealed areas are already receiving “lots of changes and improvements,” the studio says in the latest dev log, noting that some may be replaced entirely in the future.

Image courtesy Alta

The studio also teased a new enemy model that will replace the previous placeholder skeleton models, which come in a range of difficulty levels depending on their weapon and armor type.

As an extraction game, Reave is also making heavy use of its in-world currency called ‘Echoes’ (likely a placeholder name) that can be collected in a vessel that fills up over time.

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Killing enemies releases Echoes, however they can also be found in the environment, essentially spurring the player to slay, search and use their Echoes to access loot rooms in addition to spending them to extract from dungeons, returning you back to the social space so you can sell your loot.

You can get a chance to become a tester by joining the game’s Discord (invite link), which periodically offers up limited slots. There’s no word on when the game will release, however the studio has confirmed it’s targeting Quest 2 and above and PC VR headsets at this time.

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Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.