In the short time I see Wild live in action, the main character – a fully-customisable shaman (like a doctor but a bit more magical) – is out on a mission to save a poisoned friend. You might have seen this in Sony’s conference at Paris Games Week but what you didn’t see was creator Michel Ancel and his friend take control of a baby wild boar. But I did and I lost my mind.

“This was meant to be just a video but I really wanted to show you how the gameplay works live,” Ancel tells a roomful of journalists while his assistant leaves his shaman’s body and takes control of a massive, brown bear before running down a hillside, while an eagle flies overhead carrying a panicking snake. This is Wild and for the first time in a long while, it really feels like I’m seeing something new.

“Every animal has its own specific movements but most will have a stealth mode, too.”

“ it really feels like I’m seeing something new.

“We’re not sure yet but one cool thing is that if you take control of a pack’s Alpha, you can then command the entire pack to help you.”

Ancel’s assistant takes control of the shaman again and points out just how huge the map is, but insists that the size of the world is there for us to do with what we will.

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“Some people like to explore in games and continually find new areas, others may like to just stay in one place… it’s up to you to make your own stories.”

This idea of a unique story will start early in Wild too. You’ll take control of your shaman when they’re a child, choose the sex and appearance and start your journey. The tattoos we see on the shaman in the demo are indications of that particular shaman's journey, each representative of a story from his life.

“ The tattoos we see on the shaman in the demo are indications of that particular shaman's journey

Ancel insists that every story will be different too and he reveals that players may find themselves starting out in a completely different part of the world to others, ensuring that everybody’s experiences are different.

The subject of multiplayer is broached and Ancel manages to open up the world even further by telling us that you’ll be able to invite players into your world or enter theirs in a way similar to Bloodborne.

“In Bloodborne, players can enter your world and help you or choose to take you on. We wanted to do that in Wild so that real people can enhance your story.”

The Bloodborne comparison isn’t immediately apparent in Wild’s colorful and welcoming world, but then the sun sets and in the distance we hear some ominous chanting and I’m back in The Unseen Village of Yahar’gul. It turns out the Wild chanting is coming from a cannibal tribe who I watch get infiltrated by the cutest bunny rabbit ever before Ancel and his assistant turn a bunch of crows on them.

This idea that you can control the animals to your own end is one that will feature heavily in the game but again and it will be totally different for everyone. I can see myself, for example, whacking every tiny bit of effort into becoming King of the Wolves and ensuring that the wolves eat every snake, because you can never trust a snake. You on the other hand might be all about the snakes, and so your world might be overrun with the slithering Judas’. If it turns out I need some snakes for a mission, I can always call on my good friend, Monsieur Snake Charmer, to bring some snakes into my world and while you’re here, why not take some wolves back with you for the kids?

It’s all about giving the tools to the player to make their own fun. It’s not an entirely new concept, it feels like gaming has been pushing in that direction for some time but Wild actually feels like it’s taken the idea to a place we haven’t seen before.

There’s a particularly senior, curmudgeonly journalist in the room with us that doesn’t get this concept whatsoever:

“... but… what is the end goal of the game? Are there objectives?”

Ancel insists that there will be goals in the game but they’ll be incredibly open and once again, they’ll be different for every single person.

“We’re releasing Wild exclusively on Playstation which has a unique ‘Share’ button on every gamepad. What is the point of having that if people are going to share the same thing? You want to give players something unique that they’ll want to ‘Share’ with their friends and that’s what we’re trying to do with Wild.”

If I can fulfill my dream of becoming King of the Wolves, I’ll be sharing that experience with just about anybody that will listen.

Gav Murphy enjoys digging up mosquitoes fossilized in tree sap and cloning dinosaurs from the blood he finds inside. If you’ve got any dino DNA, give him a shout on twitter.