Fifth Dusk: Story

Story

1325 - The founding of Tenochtitlan. A tired group of Mexica wander through the desert. Their leader, is given a vision from the god Huitzilopochtli: they shall see an Eagle perched on a Cactus, eating a Snake. Their incursion into the Mexico Valley leads them to Colhuacan, and the King Coxcox, offers the Mexica a deal: a tract of land of their own in exchange for their military prowess in defeating a nearby tribe, the Xochimilco. The Mexica were successful, but requested King Coxcox daughter, Toci, who would be venerated as Queen of the Mexica. Coxcox concedes, but upon attending a ceremony in his daughter’s honor, finds that she has been sacrificed to the god Xipe Totec (Toci was flayed, and her skin worn by a dancer in the ceremony). In his rage, King Coxcox expells the Mexica, driving them into the land around Lake Texcoco. Upon the island of Tenochtitlan in Lake Texcoco, the Mexica see the sign promised by Huitzilopochtli, and settle there, building a city.

1519 - There have been many omens, many telling of the fall of the Mexica, that have instilled a quiet panic among the people of Tenochtitlan. While sacrifices are made and ceremonies performed to appease the gods, the Mexica ruler, Moctezuma II, is convinced of the invulnerability of Tenochtitlan. Knowing his folly, the gods take matters into their own hands, resurrecting their first offering, the daughter of King Coxcox, and bestowing her some mystical abilities, a dagger, and the directive ‘have fun.’

Gameplay

This is a game about Violence, and its absurd intersections with Entertainment and Piety. The Mexica were brutal warriors, and in conjunction, The Fifth Sun pits them in a life or death struggle against the Spanish. Violence is the path dictated by the gods, and as such, the game requires a visceral, bombastic combat system.

And as a Tarantino-esque revenge fantasy, it would be weird if there weren’t torrential blood. A central tenet of Aztec belief was the power of blood sacrifices to maintain the balance of cosmic forces, and in the game, a meter tracks how much blood has been spilled - the more blood, the more the player curries favor from the gods, the more they are able to use their abilities.