Interview: Escape Purgatory in DEEP REST
The horror genre is expanding with a wide variety of games of all types. The infamous game Limbo, followed by it's predecessor game that won Best Indie Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2016, Inside, has once again become the inspiration for a new side scroller 2D horror adventure game with a puzzling story.
Aza Game Studio, an indie studio consisting of the sole developer Benjamin Azaxor, is working on a new game called Deep Rest. This psychological horror game will have a focus in the story in a few ways; directly, indirectly and in unique features. It will utilize a point and click interactive system, combine aspects of different genres and innovative mechanics, such as time travel, drawing sigils and paranormal events, while you shape the story and have the ability to make dramatic changes.
As a big fan of both Limbo and Inside, I am excited to see another game matching this style coming out soon to play through and experience. Trying to figure out the puzzles while also trying to piece together the story behind the events is an amazing double-puzzle concept that I hope expands to be a series of games, instead of just a few. This game is a step towards having more games fit the theme.
Story
A lost girl discovers that her mother has gone in to a deep coma for unknown reasons. Upon the discovery of this horrific news, she decides to end her own life. But when she wakes up, she finds herself faced with the purgatory world of Deadwood. Engulfed by the mysterious forest that keeps changing shape and form, you soon realize it's a dead end. She quickly finds herself overwhelmed by the journey that challenges every emotion, life experience and mental illness she suffers from. During her time in Deadwood, she encounters strange characters and entities, which she later has to decide the fate of as she learns of a newfound ability to time travel in this world.
It will be up to you, the player, to find out why you are stuck here in a loop, solve the mystery of what really happened to your mother and find the answer to a question that burns within your character, "Did I kill myself for nothing?"
Q&A with Azaxor
What can players expect while playing your game?
"Player's can expect a memorable gaming experience, in a very atmospheric and surrealistic world, that almost feels 3D and can be both very dark and disturbing, but also very colorful and beautiful. Amazing high quality audio created by my composer Chris Wirtz. There will be 7 chapter's in the full game."
What inspired you to make this game?
"Indie games like Limbo & The Cat Lady are some of my largest inspiration's for the game, but also my own life experience's and dreams are big inspiration's for the game."
How long has it been in development?
"At least 1 year now, I started by writing a game development document, and created a simple prototype."
What style of game play will it feature?
"Deep Rest will feature smooth platformer controls, deep storytelling and many secret's including secret NPC's and side stories to uncover. The game utilizes a point-and-click interaction system. A bunch of innovative mechanics, such as time travel, drawing sigils, portals & many more unique mechanic's, that are found in each chapter in the game, so each chapter bring's something new to the player."
Will there be enemies to fight?
"Probably not."
Would you consider this more of a puzzler, platformer or a mix of both?
"I wouldn't consider Deep Rest any of the above, but if i had to i'd say it's a mix between a platformer and point-and-click adventure game, but with much more flesh and juice added to the mix with puzzles, and unique game mechanic's, all the while keeping focus on storytelling."
How challenging do you think this game will be?
"On a psychological level, the game has the potential to be very challenging to some. Due to the design of the game with each chapter's focus being on different emotion's, but it highly depends on the player. Each experience will be unique though, due to the story changing depending on what choices the player makes. There is also multiple ending's to the game, and secret's, which add replay-ability to the game."
When do you plan to launch Deep Rest?
"With the game already greenlit, I have focused on finishing the game, so I expect the full version to release 2017 Q3 on Steam. That's all I can say for now, since no official release date has been decided yet."