Ballad of Antara: Everything We Know

Merge Final Fantasy and Dark Souls, and you might get something along the lines of Ballad of Antara. While still very early in the development cycle, Ballad of Antara is already setting high expectations for a thrilling, high-fantasy action RPG to come. Some rumors even suggest the upcoming game may be free-to-play. We’ve gathered all the official details about the upcoming Ballad of Antara’s story, gameplay, release date, and more. So, be sure to read till the end of our Ballad of Antara: Everything We Know article to get up to speed.

What is Ballad of Antara?

Ballad of Antara is an upcoming single-player, high-fantasy action RPG. It’ll take you on an immersive epic adventure taking place across two overlapping worlds. “Essences,” a special resource of power, are getting pulled from the normal world into the other world called Para. As a result, a few chosen warriors, known as “Emissaries,” cross over to Para, where they stumble upon all sorts of strange monsters and environments. 

The mission? To retrieve the essences that have been lost at all costs. You’ll assemble all the other emissaries in the fight against the monstrosities of Para. Each emissary will have unique skills and abilities. Meanwhile, you’ll need to unravel the secrets of Para to get to the bottom of the destruction that is striking the strange lands and affecting the normal world along with it.

Story

Based on the announcement trailer, it seems the story will revolve around a man and his daughter. The man carries his daughter on his back throughout the journey. It’s likely the story will unravel from the man and daughter’s perspective. We’ll possibly see them face all sorts of challenges, with the man protecting his daughter at all costs. According to the Ballad of Antara PlayStation blog post, the young girl will be the key to your entire journey. Players will see her through undoing the calamity that has befallen Para through “trials, twists, and confrontation,” all while we “witness her growth along the way.”

On the flip side, the same blog post says that the game will feature multiple playable characters, each with their own unique abilities and “enticing, mysterious stories we want to tell.” Prepare to embark on a treacherous journey in Para, packed with emissaries to connect with, strange mysteries to unravel, and monsters to defeat. A mist-like phenomenon has taken over the normal world, bathing it in an unknown malice. To find answers, you’ll have to brave the perilous journey into Para, where formidable creatures and twisted secrets reside. 

Gameplay

While the essences have been sucked from the normal world into Para, finding and wielding them will grant you new powers. Ballad of Antara plans to incorporate multiple, unique classes. Each class will have unique skills and abilities, thus providing room to craft a unique playstyle. At the heart of gameplay will be a mysterious but captivating single-player tale. This will include exploration of the unknown. You’ll forge into a mysterious dimension with danger lurking at every corner. Throughout the perilous journey, you’ll seek answers and recover the lost essence of your home.

According to the Ballad of Antara PlayStation Store page, the upcoming game will have you combing through “handcrafted gameplay with intricate, exploration-oriented level design.” Furthermore, Ballad of Antara will feature diverse regions, with each destination in Para having unique stories, heroes, and enemies. But you can look forward to multiplayer as well, with up to three players per session. These will allow you to take on the dangers and monstrosities in Para with friends and other online players. Multiplayer will incorporate everything from story quests to exploration and venturing into “intricately crafted dungeons.”

Development

TipsWorks Studio and Infold Games are currently working on Ballad of Antara. The upcoming game has been in development for four years now. And now, the developing team has finally been able to reveal its ongoing development via the PlayStation State of Play Showcase 2024 event. Ballad of Antara will use the power of the Unreal Engine 5 to deliver over-the-top visual fidelity. Alongside the reveal came the launch of the Ballad of Antara PlayStation Store Page. Players may want to add the upcoming game to their wishlist because it’s been confirmed that Ballad of Antara will be free-to-play on release.

Trailer

Check out the Ballad of Antara official announcement trailer out now via YouTube. It showcases the story, environments, and overall gameplay you can expect in the final game. From over-the-top flashy combat to immersive environments and supernatural entities, Ballad of Antara seems to draw heavy inspiration from the likes of Final Fantasy and Dark Souls. Some of the monsters and environments will feel familiar to fans of Elden Ring. Here's hoping Ballad of Antara offers enough unique gameplay to attract a player base that keeps the developer motivated to keep it going for years to come.

Release Date, Platforms, & Editions

It’s official, Ballad of Antara is coming sometime in 2025, with an exact release date still under wraps for now. Still, you can take comfort in the fact that Ballad of Antara plans to continue updating the game post-launch. The developing team will be adding new emissaries, biomes, story beats, and more. “We hope the world of Ballad of Antara stays with you and grows with you for years to come,” says Yang Yang, Head at TipsWorks Studio. 

As for the platforms, Ballad of Antara will launch exclusively on the PlayStation 5 console. However, we might be getting our hands on a beta test sooner than 2025, with Yang Yang confirming that the game’s beta test will soon come to the PlayStation 5 console. Editions remain unconfirmed at this time.

Do keep an eye out for new updates, with Yang Yang promising more updates to come later this year. You can do so via the official social handle here. Alternatively, stick with us right here on gaming.net for new information on upcoming games.

So, what’s your take? Will you be grabbing a copy of Ballad of Antara when it drops? Let us know over on our socials here.