#wispfire

My former internship, indie game company Wispfire, is looking for participants for a narrative research project, and if you participated in all of them you will recieve a free key for  “Herald: An Interactive Period Drama - Book I & II”!

About Herald: 

“You are Devan Rensburg, a man of mixed heritage living in an alternate 19th century - in a world where the west is united as a single colonial superpower: The Protectorate; a world divided by race, class and culture. You were born in the eastern colonies - but raised in the west, in the Protectorate’s capital. In search of your roots, you booked passage on board of the HLV Herald, a ‘Protectorian’ ship set for your country of birth. During your voyage, news of colonial unrest created tensions between the diverse crew and passengers. Months later you alone are dragged ashore. No ship, no crew. All that remains is you, your journal and a captain's coat you were wearing. A mysterious woman is holding you captive and demands you to tell her what happened to 'your' ship. What you tell her, is your choice.”

IndieCade #SoundWall: Herald: An Interactive Period Drama - Book I & II

Title: Main Menu Theme Composer: Bart Delissen Game: Herald: An Interactive Period Drama - Book I & II Developer: Wispfire

Herald: An Interactive Period Drama – Book I & II are the first two episodes in the Herald series of episodic adventure games. The game is a mix between a point-and-click adventure game and a visual novel. The game is currently available for PC, Mac and Linux and sold through Steam, GoG and Humble Store. 

This choice-driven interactive period drama takes place in history, but has a strong message concerning our modern-day social interactions.

Herald tells the story of Devan Rensburg, a man of mixed heritage who was born in the eastern colonies of a fictional colonial empire in the 19th century. Adopted and raised in the wealthy western capital of this so-called ‘Protectorate’, Devan develops an interest in finding out where he comes from, so he boards a clipper ship to book passage to his country of birth.

Vivek and Roy of #HeraldGame took us along for a ride on the high seas

Vivek Bhurtun and Roy van der Schilden join us to talk about the upcoming Herald Game from Wispfire studios, casting voice actors and dealing with imperialism in the 19th century. Vivek voices the games protagonist and Roy is the lead writer.

We have tees, and other items in the I Need Diverse Games spreadshirt shop. We’re splitting the profits 50/50 with @Chachibobinks. There’s a blog to…

Publisher Fellow Traveller and developer Wispfire have announced Red Kiss, a “dark and stylish” narrative RPG about a house of vampire spies navigating the dangerous political paranoia of Cold War Berlin. It will be available for PC via Steam. A release date was not announced.

Here is an overview of the game, via Fellow Traveller:

Red Kiss is a dark and stylish narrative RPG where you join a house of vampire spies and take part in heated espionage across the graffiti-filled streets of 1980s Berlin.

Red Kiss blends strategic gameplay, seductive relationships, and reactive RPG storytelling into a blood-fuelled thriller about loyalty, paranoia, and desire, all set at the end of the Cold War. You will take on the role of an “Augur,” a newly turned vampire capable of telepathically directing your agents across Berlin’s underground rail network. Recruited by the mysterious and manipulative “Daddy,” you will build a found-family of dangerous operatives while balancing espionage missions, personal relationships, and bloodlust. Daddy will give you purpose… and he says you are the most exquisite specimen he’s ever seen.

Between clandestine operations and high-risk heists, you will deepen relationships with an eclectic cast through intimate conversations, late-night missions, and blood bonds that unlock new abilities and alter the course of the story. The team at Wispfire have used a new approach to in-game character performance by combining Live2D animation with motion capture technology typically used by VTubers, allowing its 2D cast to move and emote with an ambitious level of intimacy and immersion.

Watch the announcement trailer below. View the first screenshots at the gallery.

Announce Trailer

Herald is a point-and-click alternate history visual novel set in the 19th century. There are moving character portraits in a warm painted style, multiple choice answers to any given conversation you have, and the overarching promise of some sort of terrible drama at sea from the opening scene. The first two chapters are $9.99 on Itch.io with two more to come.

You take on the part of Devan Rensburg as he experiences a life at sea, and oh boy is it so much more complicated than that. Within the first few minutes, I was given the choice to lie about who I was and what I was doing to an old woman. Not long after I was given the chance to be extremely nosy about an argument between two family members. There is also the opening blurb that promises that the story will change depending on the actions you take, which with these kinds of games always feels a bit threatening. I love it.

So far, the dialogue trees you have allow you to be agreeable, disagreeable, or quiet as hell. I'm having so much fun mixing it up, having the main character pretend to be better than the urge to eavesdrop, then riffle through someone's belongings in order to find the source of a point of conflict. There are multiple places you can click onto the ship that give you a sense of underlying issues between ideals and laws. Hell, one of the first conversations between two other characters gives insight into a conflict between the Protectorate, from which you and the rest of the crew are from, and the colonies, where you are going. I won't say much more than that, but it's all very promising and I can't wait to delve into this on my own time.

Herald: An Interactive Period Drama – Book 1 & 2 Review

Herald: An Interactive Period Drama Lands On GOG.com | #IndieGame #PointandClick

Period dramas are in rare supply these days. The world of interactive entertainment has become so homogenized with me-too cookie cutters and tried-and-tired MOBAs and hero shooters that it’s great to see a company like Wispfire try something new by targeting a segment of the market who might be interested in a classic adventure tale set during an alternate take on the early 19th century. (more…)