Seven is an upcoming isometric thief-inspired RPG

I am a big fan of stealth games, which by law means I am a massive fan of the Thief series, but I'm also an equally feverish fan of the Witcher games, so when someone tells me that several of the Witcher 3 developers are trying their hand at a Thief-inspired RPG, you bet my ears are all perked up!

The isometric RPG in question is simply titled as Seven, and once complete will allow you to freely explore a sandbox world through a combination of sneaking, stabbing, climbing, and naturally, plenty of decision making. If you're interested in what all of that looks in action, here's a recently released gameplay/story teaser:

 

Do bear in mind that the footage you're seeing in the trailer is from an early version of Seven, so things are undoubtedly going to change moving forwards, hopefully in a positive direction.

That aside, the story in Seven follows the lone traveler as he roams the Empire of Vetrall, a wretched place that is barely able to hide the ugliness that lies beneath its veneer of order and safety. It is hard to blame the Empire, however, as an unnamed apocalypse nearly wiped out all of humanity many centuries ago, and the process of recovery has been a slow and arduous one.

While the apocalypse may have long since turned into a folk tale, ancient relics and pieces of strange, advanced technology are constantly surfacing and making the lives of those who were lucky (or unlucky) enough to survive through the Dark ages all the more interesting.

Seven features technomancers

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic

You will be able to freely explore the entirety of the Vetrall Empire thanks to your parkour skills that will allow you to easily traverse obstacles on any height, both horizontally and vertically. When you combine this with gameplay that's focused around stealth, ambushes, and overall Thief-y behavior you should in theory have plenty of options when it comes to approaching any single situation.

As far as options are concerned, the developers are also teasing a story filled with multiple branching choices and difficult moral decisions that can potentially result in some rather unique twists. In other words, this is where The Witcher 3 influence comes in, and if they manage to capture even a sliver of its excellence, I will be perfectly happy with it.

Seven - the empire of Vetrall

The Empire is not a very cheerful bunch

The final bit of actual information I can give you is that Seven is being made in Unreal Engine 4, so it should most likely be available for all three PC platforms (Windows, Mac and Linux), though the only actual release platform announced so far is simply "PC".

The release date is currently not set in stone, but the team believes it will be coming near the end of 2016, though don't be surprised if you see any delays. Finally, if you're looking for some more information about Seven, or feel like reading up on the lore, head over to the official website.

Seven game concept art for a hillside campfire