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Tales From The Mabinogion video game to launch worldwide

By David Owens
Tales From The Mabinogion titles

David Owens

A video game based on The Mabinogion created by one of the designers of the bestselling Assassin's Creed has been announced globally today.

The Welsh language is being put on the world stage with the launch of the new game, the debut indie project from Stevan Anastasoff, a veteran video game designer with credits from blockbuster titles including Assassin's Creed, Warhammer Online, and For Honor.

This narrative-rich, third-person adventure game, presented entirely in the Welsh, has released its first trailer, showcasing an immersive journey through ancient Welsh folklore.

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In Tales from the Mabinogion, players assume the role of King Pryderi as they navigate a once peaceful wilderness now shrouded in a deadly, cursed fog.

The game’s story unfolds as players unravel the mysterious cataclysm that has left the Kingdom of Dyfed in ruin.

Pursued by the lethal fog, players must follow the trails of the beasts of Annwn which lead them ever deeper along their quest.

Mythical animals will seek to hinder progress as players uncover the thousand-year-old stories contained within the pages of the Mabinogion.

Tales from the Mabinogion is brought to life by a talented team of creators. Alongside Stevan Anastasoff, the project features contributions from Gav Thorpe, author of New York Times Bestseller The Lion and a household name in Warhammer storytelling.

The game’s immersive Welsh-language experience is further enhanced by National Eisteddfod Crown winner Rhys Iorwerth - who is translating the ancient stories - and award-winning voice artist Phil Rowe, who provides the narration.

The soundtrack, arranged and performed by celebrated Welsh folk musician Oliver Wilson-Dickson, adds a rich, atmospheric layer to the game’s enchanting world.

A scene from Tales From The Mabinogion

The cliffs, coasts, and countryside of ancient Wales are as integral to Tales from the Mabinogion as the characters themselves. Players will navigate sweeping hills and confront snarling hounds, traversing treacherous landscapes rendered in a visually stunning oil painting style inspired by Erin Hanson, Vincent Van Gogh, and Claude Monet.

Tales from the Mabinogion marks the first-ever full video game adaptation of the earliest Welsh prose stories, The Mabinogion - bringing these ancient tales to life in an innovative and immersive way.

When discussing his focus on using the Welsh language in Tales from the Mabinogion, Stevan Anastasoff, the game's creator, said: "Welsh is a beautiful, ancient, musical, magical language - the language that inspired Tolkien's Sindarin, the language of the Elves. There is no more fitting way to tell a fantasy story."

Tales from the Mabinogion will be launching on PC via Steam in 2025.

Find out more HERE

A scene from Tales From The Mabinogion

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2 comments

Shân Morgain

Highest praise for narrating in Welsh with English subtitles. Artwork good, can't say I took to the music which is harsh and jerky. It's a neat interpretation of the Diffeithwch Dyfed/ Desolation of Dyfed. But two major criticisms immediately, speaking as a Mabinogi expert (10 years in depth study & PhD). There's no such person as King of Dyfed, which is never called a kingdom. Pryderi was Pendefig Dyfed/ Prince of Dyfed - and yes it matters. Britain in the Mabinogi is a single unified State ruled by a High-King which goes back to the founding of Britain itself. Under this single king are many Pendefigion such as Pryderi. The status of Welsh rulers is obviously sensitive so why transgress the records? Secondly the work is titled Mabinogion but I doubt it covers the eleven tales of the Mabinogion. Since the game centres on Pryderi I'd guess it explores just the Mabinogi. People already find the two names confusing so why add to it? I shall be very interested to see its interpretations of other Mabinogi characters and events. HELP Mabinogion = a loose group of 11 tales mostly unconnected, and the word itself is an error due to a scribal mistake. Mabinogi = a tightly related set of four tales, strongly connected, about 3 families one of which is Pryderi's Dyfed. Books of the Mabinogion tales always contain the Mabinogi - see the larger word contains the shorter one.

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Richard Griffith

A video game will have a narrative, a quest, or goal much clearer than the actual collection of tales, and elements familiar to game players. It will have to be "loosely" based on the Mabinogi and numerous errors are inevitable. But the Term Mabinogion is the one everybody knows in popular culture for the last 100 years. It has been very popular in literature all over the world under that name so to market it to a core group the developers are no doubt going with what is already out there, wrong or not. I read the translation by Gwyn Jones here in the USA when I was a young boy and never distinguished the two terms. But I do like the corrections here, I'm not complaining, thank you for the information that is basic to the collection. In the big picture however this is a very exciting development that is likely to spawn all kinds of misinformation and new interpretations in the Gaming community which will have an audience potentially in the millions. Hopefully there will be links to Welsh language learners sites, history and culture, and launch a group of learners craving the true immersive experience of the game through the ancient language displayed.

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Highest praise for narrating in Welsh with English subtitles. Artwork good, can't say I took to the music which is harsh and jerky. It's a neat interpretation of the Diffeithwch Dyfed/ Desolation of Dyfed. But two major criticisms immedi...

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