White Essence: Divided World

White Essence: Divided World - Polish computer game kept in the science fantasy climates. The main inspiration was Dark Souls.

Plot
The summary of the plot is shown in the opening:

It was a long time ago.

''On the continent of Olterod, on the planet Avataria, various tribes lived, such as dwarves, giants, elves and ogres. However, they existed in the shadow of the hideous, wild tyrants - the Dark Giants.''

''And finally the humans appeared - they revealed to the natives the power of blancorum, and taught them about technique and combat. Thanks to this, the evil giants were defeated, and the humans - with the consent of the continent’s hosts - divided the island between their two camps: the eastern leader became king, and the western leader - the emperor. That is how they lived in peace and prosperity.''

''But joy also came to an end - a mysterious substance called dark matter, destructive dark energy emitted by it, and unusual natural disasters appeared on the continent - great fires, icy blizzards and floods, powerful earthquakes, sandstorms and deadly winds. Civilization is declining, lawlessness and crime are flourishing, monsters and mutants are appearing, even the living dead are haunting the world of the living. It is possible that this chaos will finally be broken … But are you sure?''

It depends only on You.

Place
The place of the action is Olterod - a continent divided into four kingdoms of no-human (elves, dwarves, giants and ogres) and two countries of humans - Empire Hervenum on the west and Kingdom of Deram on the east. Also, on the Olterod lives some other sapient species too, but they don't have their independent states, which would be recognized so on the continent.

Mentioned in the opening "blancorum" - called also "white essence" - is an unusual mineral, which emits specific radiation neutralizing the dark matter or dark energy, so it's incredibly important weapon against so caled "beings of darkness" - the beings, whose organisms contains dark matter.

There's no - and probably will be no - magic on the Olterod and entire the White Essence universe - it's role is played by the advanced technology.

Classes
The player can choose one of the seven available character classes:


 * Traveller - a thirsty for sensation travel globtrotter. High dexterity. Equipment:
 * Old axe;
 * Board shield;
 * Traveller set: Travel coat/boots/hood/pants/gloves
 * Warrior - fearless man-at-arms. High strength. Equipment:
 * Long sword;
 * Iron shield;
 * Warrior set: Helmet with a visor, Leather studded armor / pants / gloves, Hard boots.
 * Knight - fighting for justice, faithful to his ideals. High protection, balance and vitality. Equipment:
 * Wide sword;
 * Steel shield;
 * Knight set: Grooved breastplate/helmet/leggins/gloves/shoes.
 * Scout - a specialist on hiding, sneaking and critical damage. Equipment:
 * Saber;
 * Leather buckler;
 * Lockpick (a key item, which unlocks lots of the locks - but not everyone);
 * Scout set: Scout mask/robe/pants/gloves/shoes.
 * Scientist - a graduate of a prestigious university. High intelligence. Thanks to the codes, it controls plasma-attacking nanobots (some kind of a "Muggle" replacement of magic). Equipment:
 * Dagger;
 * Encoder (a staff-like weapon needful to using the codes);
 * Code: Plasma missile;
 * Round wooden shield;
 * Scientist set: Gas mask, Protective coat/gloves/boots/pants.
 * Sage - an experienced individual who collects knowledge about the world and willingly gives advice. High wisdom. He writes programs controlling healing nanobots. Equipment:
 * Sage's stick;
 * Octagonal shield;
 * Terminal (a remote-like contraption necessary to use the programs);
 * Program: Healing nanobots;
 * Sage set: Hat/Robe/Pants/Shoes/Gloves of the sage
 * Soldier - a veteran who has survived more than one battle. He knows about ranged combat. Equipment:
 * Short sword;
 * Transparent shield;
 * Short bow;
 * 30 Normal arrows;
 * Private set: Private’s cap / uniform / gloves, Military boots, Cargo trousers

Statistics

 * Vitality - is responsible for the maximum level of health points. When their level drops to zero, the character dies and the game is over.
 * Defense - increases resistance to damage - admittedly the resistance increases with each level, but increasing the level of Defense increases it the most.
 * Strength - affects the maximum load capacity and physical damage of some weapons (especially large and heavy). This is the only statistic that does not have to be at full level to be able to properly use a given weapon - from a certain point you can use a given weapon efficiently with both hands, even if you do not have enough Strength, but only if you use the weapon with both hands - to use a weapon with one hand, you must have the required Strength.
 * Dexterity - increases the physical damage of some weapons (especially those intended for rather quick blows), as well as the character’s movement speed, distance and height of jumps.
 * Energy - affects the maximum level of energy points (when all of them are exhausted, you cannot attack, use a shield, jump, roll, climb), as well as the maximum load capacity.
 * Wisdom - parameter needed to use the programs, increasing their effectivity. Increases the strength of light weapons and resistance to darkness.
 * Intelligence - needed to use codes. Increases the strength of codes and plasma weapons, and also resistance to plasma.
 * Power - increases the maximum amount of power points without which you cannot use codes or programs.

Damage types

 * Physical - the most basic. They are divided into Cut, Jab and Bash.
 * Fire - especially useful in the fight against creatures with a soft body, unprotected by any hard armor, as well as against plants or creatures associated with water or ice.
 * Plasma - useful for smashing hard, especially fragile armor. Useful in the fight against creatures associated with electricity.
 * Electric - dangerous mainly to creatures associated with plasma or crystals, as well as to these resistant to plasma and fire. Especially widely understood reptiles are afraid of them.
 * Ice - good when fighting creatures related to fire and general to heat.

Effects

 * Freeze - the target becomes very slow for a while and cannot jump, run or roll.


 * Bleeding - the victim loses a lot of health points at one time.
 * Poison - the opposite of bleeding - a poisoned creature slowly but steadily loses health over a period of time.
 * Radiation - Similar to poison, but lasts longer, deals higher damage and is usually harder to protect against.
 * Light - deals increased damage, the so-called “beings of darkness”, that is, those associated with dark matter and / or energy. This effect is not caused by attacks by any opponents in the game.
 * Dark - This effect does not belong to any weapons that the player can use. It is only inflicted by your enemies. Not only does it increase the damage dealt to you, but sometimes it can also infect you with the “Scourge” - you have problems with balance and accuracy during the day from the game world, you deliver less accurate hits and it is easier to take you down.

One should remember, that is not a full list of all the negative effects, which can appear in the game.

Controlling

 * "W" - go forwards;
 * "S" - go backwards;
 * "A" - go left;
 * "D" - go right;
 * mouse's left button - weaker attack by the right-hand weapon;
 * mouse's right button - stronger attack by the right-hand weapon;
 * mouse's left button + "W" - kick;
 * mouse's right button + "W" - jump attack;
 * "E" - blocking by the left-hand weapon;
 * "R" - parrying by the left-hand weapon;
 * "Q" - use/talk/examine;
 * "J" - jump backwards;
 * "L" - roll;
 * Space - jumping, climbing;
 * Shift - sneaking;
 * Ctrl - running;
 * Arrow keys - choose;
 * Enter - use the chosen option (especially in the menu);
 * mouse wheel - zooming in and zooming out;
 * 1 - 0 - fast access (powers and items);
 * Tab - switching between groups of slots (they're two, which gives you possibility of using even 20 slots at one time, but you can use at most 10 powers and at most 10 items at the same time);
 * Escape - menu

However, the player can change the key action assignments in the settings at any moment.

Translation to the other languages:

 * Dutch: Wit Essentie: Verdeeld Wereld
 * English: White Essence: Divided World
 * Esperanto: Blanka Esenco: Dividita Mondo
 * French: Essence Blanche: Monde Divisé
 * German: Weiße Essenz: Geteilte Welt
 * Hungarian: Fehér Esszencia: Megosztott Világ
 * Italian: Essenza Bianca: Mondo Diviso
 * Polish: White Essence: Divided World (but the literal translation into Polish would be: "Biała Esencja: Podzielony Świat")
 * Portuguese: Essência Branca: Mundo Dividido
 * Spanish: Esencia Blanca: Mundo Dividido