In a fast-paced two-minute trailer, Platinum Games (creator of Bayonetta) announced Babylon’s Fall, a new title for PS4 and PC. The first minute of the video consists of “snapshots” of the history of the world, bringing us up-to-date with the present day. It’s easy to miss what’s going on, but the timeline has labels, if you’re quick enough to read them. If you aren’t, here they are:
CE 5000: Discovery of the Oversoul. During Albenland’s era of expansion, its people discover an unknown energy known as the Oversoul.
CE 5017: The Age of Dawn. After years of experimentation, the Helos Empire succeeds in developing weapons that – the Oversoul
CE 5029-5083: The Oversoul Prophecies. A small group of seers hailing from all kingdoms use crystallized Oversoul fragments to predict the future and write down these prophecies in the Ephesian Book.
CE 5085-5089: The Apocalypse. The seers have visions of an all-encompassing darkness.
CE 5095-5099: Waland’s Journey. By order of the Helos Empire, Waland [unintelligible] to the darklands in the far north, foretold by the Ephesian Book as the location of [unintelligible]
CE 5108-5109: The Soul Riots. With resentment rising against the ruling class over its use of the Oversoul, riots break out among the masses.
CE 5110-5113: World War. As the rules of each kingdom turn against their respective populaces, the riots escalate into a full-blown war.
CE 5150-5200: Divine Punishment. Disgusted by humanity’s unwillingness to learn from its past mistakes, the elder gods unleash their wrath upon mankind.
CE 5205: Birth of a Goddess. With the purpose of rescuing humanity from the brink of extinction, a new goddess, Gaia, is born.
CE 5208: Birth of a New World. Gaia creates a new world in order to give humanity one last chance.
CE 5220: Age of Harmony. Humanity begins to inhabit the new world and a period of peace follows.
CE 5323-5338: Scholars of Gaia. Concerned about people losing their faith in Gaia, the high priest Darius forms a consort known as the Scholars of Gaia.
CE 5347: End of a Dream. The public execution of a nonbeliever by the Scholars of Gaia creates tension among the masses.
CE 5356: War of Beliefs. Unable to overcome their ideological differences, the Scholars of Gaia and the Helos Order start engaging in frequent skirmishes.
CE 5385: Spread of the Soul Plague. The unexplained outbreak of the soul plague prompts the different factions to capitalize on the people’s fear and expand their efforts to convert the masses.
CE 5427-5330: New World Academy. Fearing for the future of mankind after rediscovering the Ephesian Book, the seer Maria forms the New World Academy amid the rapidly worsening war.
CE 5434-5450: Punishment. On the Day of Judgement, Gaia turns against mankind.
CE 5461-5475: Awakening. Deep within the Shrine of Souls, the Nomads are born.
[Here, the image behind CE 5475 transitions into a cutscene focusing on an average-sized, heavily-armored humanoid. When the camera zooms out, viewers see that they are kneeling before a large, monsterous, blue-and-gold creature, also wearing heavy armor. The same red glow and red lines that appeared in illustrations relating to the Oversoul appear again, emerging from the humanoid and rocketing up towards the monster, wrapping around its arm, ripping it off and then cutting it with its own arm and sword.]
CE 5491-5500: Rebirth. Led by the Nomads, Humanity strikes back against Gaia.
[End.]It’s possible that some of the things listed here as time ranges didn’t actually take place over several years. Scrolling numbers are often used as a stylistic choice, but they didn’t appear on all “event cards.” However, they’re included all the same because they could be important. As of now, we have no confirmation one way or another.
If you’d like to watch the trailer for yourself, you can watch it on YouTube, here.
