After a brief stumble at the tail end of 2016, Witchmarsh developer Inglenook has been hard at work keeping backers up to date on the game’s progress. The latest Kickstarter update demonstrates how far the project’s narrative aspects have progressed since the its £102,430 campaign.
Initially text was presented in a speech bubble with players having 2-4 options with which to respond. The new system supports a scrolling text box with up to eight dialogue options. Character specific dialect has also been added for each investigator. While the Gentleman delivers his lines with a touch of the King’s English, the enigmatic Moose communicates primarily though gestures and mime. It’s a seemingly small touch that can make a huge difference in a story-driven game.
Other outstanding editions to the RPG aspects include more robust NPC communications. So far, key NPC’s have roughly 25-30 pages of optional dialogue for inquisitive players to parse though. This allows for additional, in-depth scrutiny of the game world for those who wish to seek it. Those who want to jump right into the action can still choose shorter, more terse options. Cutting right to the heart of the narrative.
Charm Anyone Who Gets In Your Way
The new text box also enables players to loop back to re-read important conversation points. Additional choices will unlock based on their character’s specializations. This gives the new system a significant gameplay impact as well.
Witchmarsh may still be well behind schedule, but its incremental progress since the introduction of Marsh-Frog Monday updates is undeniable. Hopefully, these improvements will see backers rewarded for their patience.
