Greetings fellow Arkham Residents!
Let's begin our update with a pretty lengthy interview we gave to our friend Jérémy "Caparzo" Romand over RPG France. You'll learn more about
Stygian's story, factions, magick, mental conditions and much more in this interview that we share the English version with our backers.
Hello, can you introduce yourself and tell us more about Cultic Games?
Hello! Thanks for the opportunity RPG France
It is a pleasure to get in touch with the French RPG community. I am Can Oral (a lot like Jean in French
) lead designer and creative director of Stygian. By the way I'd like to say that one of my favorite tabletop RPGs is a French Occult themed game called "Nephilim". Wonderful concept.
Cultic Games is a newly formed gaming company from Istanbul. We started with a board game but quickly turned into video game design. Team Cultic is comprised of multi-disciplinarian members from video game, film and music industry. I can say that we're a pretty dedicated and self motivated studio considering the fact that we've been using our own resources to bring Stygian to this state of progression in 10 months.
Lovecraft's universe is unique, and is an infinite source of inspiration for video games, art or movies. Why did you want to make a roleplaying game in this world?
Since the first time I read Lovecraft (I guess I was around 10 when my older brother gave me the book, I still blame him for the weird dreams
) the storytelling style, the themes of facing the incomprehensible and the fragility of human beings against these cold ancient entities left their deep mark on me.
Besides I always wondered why CRPGs were confined to certain settings and themes in the last decades. Think about "Ultima: Martian Dreams" or SSI's "Dark Sun" games or "Albion" from Thalion Software. They are all wonderful and fresh games opening new horizons to RPG gamers. Then somehow games like that started to disappear. Of course there are business reasons behind this. These kind of games require taking a certain kind of risk for the publisher. "Orcs and Elves sell, right? Why change the formula?"
We're living in the indie age now. The gamers are your publishers and you can obtain the template codes of an inventory system from Unity Asset Store. There is breathing space for passion to prevail against established business systems. So why the hell not?
Stygian's world is completely ravaged. So what will be our goal, as it seems that there's nothing left to save?
Each Archetype in Stygian has a short, playable "Prologue" which connects the character to the main story-line. In his prologue, your character meets the aforementioned "Dismal Man", and through this peculiar figure, also meets the supernatural darkness waiting beyond. He tells you one thing: "Find me beyond Arkham, after the Black Day."
Years later, after the wake of the Old Ones, you finally understand what the Black Day refers to. You have no idea why the city of Arkham endures while the rest of the world has been obliterated. So your character begins to follow the Dismal Man's footsteps and you, the player will decide what will you do when you find him in your time in Stygian. Will you take a liking to him because he somehow saved you? Or will you hate him because he indeed has a part in all of this? Or will you just follow him for the answers? Is he the dark angel of your salvation or the subject of your revenge? This will be up to you and your understanding of the events you uncover in the game.
Why did you choose the imaginary city of Arkham especially, instead of Innsmouth for example?
Arkham was the most suitable choice to begin with since it is iconic and hosts some of the institutions that our archetypes has a background in. You may see some other fictional locations like Innsmouth in the future, so who knows what future will bring
Arkham is well known to house the Miskatonic University, will it be present in the game ? If so, will the Necronomicon have an important role?
Let's just say you'll see what's left of Miskatonic
I can not comment on the Necronomicon's role yet... But how can we be the Lovecraftian CRPG without a certain dose of the Book of Madness?
The Old Ones should play an important role according to the title, could we meet them actually?
Our secondary title "Reign of the Old Ones" emphasizes the Great Old Ones' dominance over what we claimed ours. Like our poor planet and reality... Everything you see around carry the mark of their wake and the irreversible damage it brought upon us. So you'll be feeling their constant shadow at every corner from the fauna of some strange dimensions creeping in to Arkham to the raving cultists searching for blood sacrifices for their gods in the forsaken streets of the lost city. However, meeting the Old Ones personally may not be a good idea
By Francois Launet
Speaking of the Old Ones, it has always been a challenge to imagine, and design those creatures since only our minds can figure them out. Is it a challenge for you to represent the universe of Lovecraft?
Definitely, one of our biggest challenges indeed. With your permission, I'd like to make a quotation from our Kickstarter page's "Risks and Challenges" section. It covers this specific issue:
"Lovecraftian horror takes its strength from the fear of the unknown. Stygian is an axonometric, turn based game. We do not hide the horrors from the player which is a big risk unto itself. That's why we have chosen such a stylized art direction, We also focused our efforts on creating unique mechanics to support the themes of madness and the fragility of human beings against these ancient creatures. It is a difficult and sensitive matter, we are aware of this and we're working really hard to hit the right notes. "
Will there be factions? Will the game plot feature complex relationships between the Lovecraftian entities? Can we form alliances with some mythical creatures from the Lovecraftian Mythos universe?
A very good question! There are factions which have important roles in the altered, nightmare status quo of Arkham. The crime syndicate called "Mob" started to rule the town with its iron grip after the collapse of the institutions but the "Cult" is actually pulling the strings of the Mob's boss, letting the mafia organization rule over daily life as long as the Mob provides them what they need. Giving details about the Gods' relationships among each other will be giving spoilers.
Someone should keep the order, right?
We will create our own character in Stygian. Could you tell us more about some archetypes that we could choose? Will our origin story alter the ways we solve the quests?
As I mentioned above, your origin story (prologue) will explain how your character meets the Dismal Man and triggers the chain of events which will shape the main story-line. Every archetype will have its unique quest in Stygian along with special interactions with the characters from the same background. For example a Soldier character will learn more from an old veteran soldier he meets in the game.
In Stygian we can recruit companions. Will all of them come from Lovecraft's stories?
Most of them. There will be a few exceptions but they will all be connected to the lore and befitting the setting.
Generally in the previous adaptations of the Lovecraftian Mythos universe, unlike the investigations, fighting is not important. How important is that in your game?
We have turn based tactical battles with an action point system but we're designing them more towards surviving an encounter than resolving it through complete elimination of your enemies. We believe battle sequences in RPG games create great variety and add another level of game-play with tension but we're making sure our battles are last resort acts of survival containing mechanics like panic, low sanity conditions, merits and flaws coming from mental conditions and most importantly, the "progression escape" which makes you escape a battle after wearing down the enemy and continue your progress in the story opposed to "fleeing" from the combat scenario.
Will there be choices and consequences which could influence the story, and offer a replay value?
Definitely. Stygian is a game which highly values alternate conclusions and different approaches to situations.
Could you tell us more about the spellcasting system and the influence of black magic on our characters?
In Stygian, the path of the dark arts is one of treacherous mental and physical hazard. Spells are not memorized on resting, nor cast from reservoirs of mana. Spellcasters of Stygian must pay a price when using magick, in sanity possibly, health, attributes or their morality.
Let me explain the morality part. As mentioned with detail in our Kickstarter page, Stygian has a mechanic called "Belief Systems" which reflects the character's view of his or her own existence in the tragic world of Stygian. What if a spell you need to cast to achieve a certain goal demands the life force of one your comrades? Can you preserve your "Humanistic" Belief System after committing such an act? You'll learn in the game
The art direction is very strong, why did you choose a 2D platform ?
We wanted the player to feel like he is in an illustrative reflection of the indescribable nightmare actuality that Lovecraft emphasized. We wanted our graphical style to act as a hand drawn mirror reflecting the underlying dread instead of showing it by taking a realistic approach.
The sound design is essential for games, especially for horror games. What kind of compositions do you use in your game to match the art direction?
My long time colleague and composer Aslı Kobaner is composing the themes for Stygian. We've worked on various film soundtracks together in the past and have a great understanding of each other's worlds. I have no doubt she'll achieve the tragic but dreadful, melancholic but malignant quality that Stygian's soundtrack requires. You can check it out yourselves:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCeFKs2Vc2s
Could loss of Sanity be beneficial for our characters? Apart from dialogs, will Sanity affect the universe or the gameplay (during battles for example…)?
Definitely. Let me share some insider info on this issue for RPG France. For example "Mania" condition sometimes awards you with extra action points in combat but also gives you a small chance to lose control of your character and attack the nearest enemy unit. "Schizophrenia" increases your mental resistance but gives you a small chance to enter a catatonic state in combat and lose a round. The specifics are of course subject to change but the core ideas will remain. Thanks a lot!
