One of my favorite elements of Atlantica Online is that it utilizes the familiar lands of Earth to tell its story. "From Tokyo to Bangkok, Paris to Detroit, players will traverse the land of our planet in the search for the mysterious lost land of Atlantis ". This week the producer of Atlantica Online, Kim Tae Gon, gave Allakhazam an exclusive look at the 'Wide World of Atlantica'.

The Wide World of Atlantica  

In most fantasy-based games, the game world is usually filled with unfamiliar continents, islands,  countries, etc. These fantasy lands take players to somewhere they have never been before, countries developed from the minds of man. Players would visit different societies, various cultures and creative landscapes that can only be accessed through these unique games. But Atlantica’s approach to being a unique game takes players to a familiar land. That’s right; Atlantica Online takes place on our very own Earth.

From Tokyo to Bangkok, Paris to Detroit, players will traverse the land of our planet in the search for the mysterious lost land of Atlantis. Even though players may never have had the opportunity to visit these cities in real life, Atlantica gives them a chance to visit a virtual version of these destinations, to see the different cultures and architecture of these real-life areas have to offer. Beautiful landscapes spanning around the globe, players will be in awe as they take their virtual selves on a journey that may only be available to them through a video game.

Atlantica’s real-life implementation does not stop there. Players will recognize some of the characters they must interact with to further their journey to Atlantis. Atlantica takes historical heroes and villains, as well as characters from our world’s legends and myths and uses them to populate the Earth that we have created. Players will take orders from the legendary hero Hashiba (later known as Toyotomi Hideyoshi in Earth’s history) to go and defeat the Japanese feudal lord Oda Nobunaga. They will also make frequent visits to the alchemist Nicholas Flamel, who will aid players in their staff crafting skills. Running errands for Geppetto to help him make marionettes feel real emotions will remind players of a certain story they may have heard of as a kid.

Atlantica is a hodge-podge mixture of stories and legends that all take place in a world everyone can recognize. Because Atlantica is a game popular worldwide, it gives all players a sense of familiarity with the  game’s surroundings. As Atlantica further progresses in its life-line, more and more areas of our world will be available for players to travel to. More stories, whether historical or mythical, will make their way into Atlantica and their prospective characters as well.

In a sense, you could say Atlantica is a study aide for a geography, history or ancient Greek class. Combined with a realistic, player-driven economy, functions that allow guilds to act as factories and the ability for players to form nations, it will indeed would make a very hands-on tutorial. Of course, education was not the prime objective of Atlantica. But after playing the game, we guarantee that all players will never forget the name “Howard Carter.”

By making the Atlantica world so closely parallel to our own, we’ve given our players the opportunity to place the fantasy - being the hero, leading a nation - on their own doorstep. It adds some small amount of extra investment in the story of the game. You aren’t fighting to protect a distant far-off nowhere land; you’re fighting to protect Europe, Asia, and in the future, America as well. We think that by making Earth the sandbox in which you play this game, we’ve added a degree of immersion and excitement that can’t quite be achieved in a made-up world.

So, I hope to meet you by the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Or perhaps I’ll see you as we’re exploring the mysteries of the pyramids, or taking in the haunting beauty of the Hanging Garden of Babylon. It’s a big world, so let’s explore it together!

Kim Tae Gon
Producer - Atlantica Online