The Campaign, Investigation Phase: Part I

Finally we have come down to the actual gameplay part. Knowing how curious many of you are, I'll cut to the chase right away.

The Campaign is consisted of two intersecting phases: The turn based Investigation phase and the real-time with pause Combat phase.

The Investigation phase is comprised of events, strategic decisions and resource management. The Doom Clock is the central piece of this phase: you are essentially competing with time in the endeavor to fend off the looming darkness, if the Doom Clock reaches zero and the Ancient One awakens, there's little chance it can be stopped in its track of devastation.

Every player action reduces the Doom Clock by a certain amount, and some enemy agendas will accelerate the countdown. Moving on the strategic map (like driving from Neo Arkham to Neo Innsmouth), using certain skills, carrying out investigation efforts all consume time. As soon as the Doom Clock comes down to zero, a dreadful Doomsday Event will be triggered and depending on the Ancient One you are facing in this run, different fatal penalties will be applied to the investigation and combat for the rest of the run, snuffing out hope with a deadly grasp thereafter.

There are a plethora of Ancient Ones you shall face in the campaign, but the investigators have no clue which Ancient One is behind the chaos for this run at the beginning of the game. To unveil the lurking nemesis, you have to collect Clues throughout the investigation across the Neo England Colony and beyond.

As your knowledge of the Ancient One grows, it will also notice your presence in turn and start to display its true form. Powerful modifiers will gradually come into play as you collect more Clues: Shub-Niggurath boosts monster spawn rate, Yog-Sothoth creates gates which must be closed to thwart the onslaughter, Nyarlathotep makes investigation more difficult by producing misleading clues and fake information. Azathoth is the most quirky one: it does not bring much maluses until it's too late: when the omnipotent Outer God awakens, its Doomsday Event will spell total annihilation and immediately end the game.

Some Ancient Ones share the same early warning events: for example, Abnormal Tides and Deep One Invasion may be a consequence of Cthulhu stirring in its slumber, or Ghroth drawing near Yuggoth and forces the planet into a tidal lock with its astronomical gravitational pull. So you will only get to know who the villain is exactly after several investigation stages. Upon successfully extrapolating its true form, Dr.Anya will start brewing battle plans to strike at its heart (if it has one) and stop the Doom Clock countdown once and for all.

Fallen Doll: Operation Lovecraft Event Art - Primordial Patterns (YouTube)