To capture the essence of a first-person, open-world survival game set in the transition from Chenla to the Khmer Empire, the best title should evoke both the primitive struggle and the grand historical unification of 802 AD. The game should feature distinct eras. Players start in a prehistoric/neolithic survival phase (similar to Far Cry Primal) focusing on hunting and basic tool crafting. As time progresses through the Chenla period, the gameplay shifts toward complex agriculture and base building. Players must help Jayavarman II conquer or ally with the "patchwork of small kingdoms" (Water/Land Chenla) to form a centralized authority by learning to hunt and farm, then transition into a warrior-leader assisting Jayavarman II’s unification campaigns (similar to Kingdom: Come Deliverance II) as a realistic first-person system where players manage stamina, hunger, and seasonal farming along the Tonle Sap and Mekong River to become an independent sovereign of the Khmer Empire through military conquest and religious ritual.
