I’ve always been one to call visual novels a sort of “adventure-lite” gaming genre. They take a lot of what makes an adventure exciting and fun, particularly a good story and interesting characters, but they generally don’t have a lot in the way of puzzles. So, it’s not much of a stretch to consider taking the best of both worlds and making a hybrid game. Scalemail attempts to do just this in Walkerman.
A “walkerman” is basically another name for monster hunter. Instead of going out with weapons and killing nocturnal beasts with brute force these brave men (and woman) use the legends of these supernatural creatures against themselves. For instance, some can’t cross a barrier laden with salt.
Our hero in Walkerman is a young lad named Jorgen, just starting on his journey to travel the streets and alleyways at night to keep the town safe from these ravenous beasts. As mentioned above, he won’t be armed with sword or bow but rather his wits. He’ll need a keen eye and attention to detail, as well as a good knowledge of lore, to take down his quarry.
That said, he’s not alone in his journey. Walkerman is host to several colorful characters that can help Jorgen in his work. But, there can be others who stand in his way as political machinations are just as perilous as fighting monsters.
Walkerman is essentially a visual novel at its core. But, there’s also plenty in the way of adventure elements as well. You’ll have an inventory, filled with items that you can use to take down the denizens of the night. Some are one-shot items while others stay with you throughout the game. You’ll have to do research and figure out how to take down the beasts before they do the same to you.
Track the progress of the Walkerman Kickstarter in our Campaign Calendar.
Sounds interesting, but not sure how I feel about those graphics.