The story is set during the Second Pandoran War, during the one year unseen time skip in Avatar: The Way of Water, after the RDA has returned to Pandora. The major conflict of the story is the colonization of the Western Frontier.
Like the Wii/PSP and Nintendo DS games, the story focuses on a Na'vi lead character confronting Resources Development Administration encroachment. The story is a new, standalone installment featuring new characters. The game was not announced as a direct sequel to Ubisoft's James Cameron's Avatar: The Game or a direct movie tie-in game, but expands on the Avatar universe in new ways alongside the upcoming sequel films.[1] While canon, it does not have any major crossover with the films.[2] Instead, there are some minor crossover aspects such as Frances Ardmore being mentioned in the game.
Before the Battle of the Hallelujah Mountains, the RDA's TAP (The Ambassador Program) abducted Na'vi children in an attempt to raise the Na'vi as if they were humans, and turn them against their own species. One of these children is the protagonist. The children were abducted by RDA leader John Mercer, but when the facility was attacked by the Na'vi clans during Pandoran War, the RDA ordered the execution of the children. The children were rescued by their teacher Alma Cortez who put the group of children in cryosleep.
15 years later, the children awoke and were free to explore their world. They are perceived as outsiders by other Na'vi and must reconnect with their original lost heritage. However, the RDA returned and the Na'vi must unite their clans to protect Pandora once more.
In 2146 (8 years before the first Avatar film), the RDA has set up a program called The Ambassador Program (TAP) in which Na'vi are raised like humans to become cultural ambassadors for the RDA's interests. The children have a teacher, Alma Cortez, and the program is directed by John Mercer. The protagonist is one of these children, along with their sister Aha'ri, and other students Ri'nela, Teylan, and Nor. The children are told by Mercer their clan abandoned them, but Aha'ri refuses to believe this. She attempts to escape with the group, but she is killed by Mercer for being defiant.
8 years later, in 2154, Jake Sully has organized the Na'vi for the Assault on the Tree of Souls. The commotion and rebellion encourages Mercer to end TAP, and he orders the executions of the now teenage students. Although the soldiers are about to fire on the student, Alma comes in and shoots them to death. The students and Alma find cryopods and Alma puts them inside to hide and save them.
Almost 16 years later, in 2169, Alma returns with a few members of the Resistance to free the children (it took this long because Alma thought they were all dead due to an explosion). They escape, but the protagonist briefly meets Mercer again as well as Angela Harding, his colonel assistant. Mercer still wants the students dead after all these years. The protagonist meets So'lek and goes to the Resistance HQ where they meet Priya Chen. While the group is safe for now, they are informed of the RDA's decision to recolonize Pandora, especially the Western Frontier.
While assisting the Resistance to destroy RDA bases, the students find a Tarsyu plant where they connect to Eywa. The protagonist learns their clan, the Sarentu, was founded by Entu a long time ago, and speaks to his ancestral memory.
The protagonist also meets the Aranahe clan and befriends Etuwa, the tsahik, and Nefika, a talented weaver. The group of three discover why there is an overabundance of kinglor in their Hometree, and find out the problem stems from the RDA's pollution. With this knowledge, the clan leader Ka'nat agrees for the clan to fight against the RDA.
The protagonist then meets Nesim and Minang, the two leaders of the Zeswa clan, who ask for help dealing with the RDA. The protagonist learns about direhorse riding, and how Harding is poaching animals such as the zakru for a black market of vaulable materials.
After successfully driving Harding out of the Upper Plains, the Resistance hosts a party to celebrate, during which Nor has an argument with Alma about how she condoned much of Mercer's and Harding's abuse. Before the argument can escalate, the base is attacked and destroyed by the RDA.
The protagonist is taken hostage to Mercer's base in the Clouded Forest. Billy Nash, who had pretended to renounce the Resistance, helps them escape but sacrifices his life to blow up the facility. The protagonist learns that Teylan is missing and tries to contact him, learning that he double-crossed the Resistance and gave their location to Mercer. They reconvene with the Resistance in their new hideout in a mountain within the Clouded Forest and learn that many members, including Alma's avatar, are gravely injured and need medicine. The protagonist decides to seek the aid of the elusive Kame'tire clan as they are known for their mastery of herbalism, but Alma warns the protagonist that the clan is untrustworthy.
The player can choose between a feminine or masculine body type and from three different voices: a feminine, masculine, and androgynous one. Hair can be customized with different styles and colors; players can unlock new hair styles and hair tints from game quests. Eye and skin color are also customizable, as are stripe and bioluminescence patterns. Facial features are also customizable, but players primarily must choose from a set of face presets. Players can re-customize their appearance later, meaning players can enjoy and jump into the game sooner instead of having to perfect their appearance. They can collect new armor and clothing throughout the game. Players can choose to make their clothing items resemble any piece of clothing they have unlocked while keeping the stats and bonuses of another. Cosmetic overrides completely replace the look of a part and can be purchased from the shop.
The game is a first person action adventure open world game that was meant to have a living and reactive world. However, it becomes third person while riding animals. The developers were interested in creating an immersive version of Pandora where players can "live an alternate life on the moon".[3] There are plenty of quests and sidequests.
The player can use "Na'vi vision" which helps scan the environment. It highlights the rough area an objective's in as a big light turquoise smudge in the field of view. Na'vi vision can pick up the scent of animal trails. Na'vi vision is also used for the "Hunter's Guide" which essentially acts as this game's own Pandorapedia where they can learn the lore of the flora and fauna.
At certain campfires and resting spots, players can choose to "pass time" in order to progress the day/night cycle. This can trigger characters to appear when they are needed for quests, or to harvest plants at the best time.
A portion into the game, players will bond with their own ikran which they can name, feed and customize. They can experience acrobatics while flying, such as doing barrel rolls, and fight the RDA in aerial battles. The ikran cannot be killed. Every ikran has their own favorite food which is randomized for every play to figure out. Players can unlock different skins for their ikran, and raise their gameplay attributes via the skill tree (e.g. flying faster or doing flying takedowns on staggered enemies). When flying near bodies of water, ikran can catch fish to replenish their energy.
At the Upper Plains, the player can ride direhorses. Unlike ikran, direhorses do not bond for life and are simply used for navigation. Direhorses can be killed; entering any body of water will instantly kill them, likely because they have their breathing holes on the sides of their bodies.
Players can collect resources from flora and wildlife. According to one of the developers, the game is not about "hoarding and taking everything you see" because it goes against the themes of the series. The nature of the Na'vi is that they live in harmony with Pandora, only taking what they need to live, the idea of depicting them exploiting nature for its resources would contradict this. Rather, item hunting and collecting is only supposed to be about "finding the best of it."[4] This is done by a rarity system where players try to find "exquisite" ingredients and materials.
The game has a crafting system, including weapons and dishes; these consumables translate into status effects and bonuses. Better crafting materials in an area become available once the area's RDA base is taken out.
The game's characters react to the environment (e.g. commenting on the weather) and will comment on the protagonist's decisions made and their progress. They may also comment on the character's appearance, complimenting or making fun of their choice of attire.
The previous Avatar: The Game was criticized for featuring bland characters who exist mainly to dish out fetch quests. However, Frontiers of Pandora is claimed to have a "rich cast of characters" that the developers "really wanted to convey the Na'vi culture and heritage." Because of this, each character has their own independent side stories which can be read in the "Characters" section of the Journal. Many side quests in the game are centralized around various interpersonal conflicts between characters.
Na'vi weapons are suited for stealth, and arrows can be crafted by collecting plants that grow in the environment. In contrast, guns are powerful but they are loud. The game will not force a playstyle onto the player, instead allowing them to decide which approach they prefer. Ammo for human weapons can only be replenished by finding ammo at RDA outposts or on dead soldiers.
Over the course of the game, players attack RDA outposts. These facilities pollute the areas they're in, and destroying them allows nature to reclaim them. This translates to new resources for the player to collect. The player can scope out RDA bases using instincts to get a general read on where the humans are, and thus tag enemies. Traps can be set up using a weapon called the Staff Sling. Destroying the RDA's bases allows Pandora's damaged environment to recover from the pollution, allowing flora to be harvested. There is also a hacking minigame at the RDA bases, field labs, and occasional loot boxes using a device known as the Systems Interrogation Device (SID).
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