Interview: Siprhien Courtois – Director of New Game Esoteric: Dark Hierarchy
Esoteric: Dark Hierarchy is an awesome new puzzle based horror game where you play as a detective who discovers dark supernatural elements at play while investigating murders. You can contribute to the game here and check out our interview with director Siprhien Courtois below.
Dread Central: So this is your first game?
Siprhien Courtois: Yes, this is the first game I’ve been working on since I become an independent game developer. For over a year and a half I was planning, writing and exploring different themes and stories that have the feeling of something enjoyable but also terrifying, not only by the gore but the story itself.
DC: Are you working with a small team?
SC: I started working on this project by myself, in the beginning the idea and story wasn’t that big, I was thinking to make a short point and click adventure for IOS and Android. Afterwards I thought that this could be a bigger and more complex game by making a third-person adventure for PC and consoles but this had a big downfall – lack of a team. This is one of my priorities, to assemble a team of talented artists to make an awesome game.
DC: Do you find that creating the game independently gives you a greater level of freedom?
SC: Not only that, the success or failure of every indie product is on the same page, you’ll be a winner no matter what happens.
DC: In terms of basic gameplay, how would you describe the game?
SC: The gameplay is from a third-person perspective, you play as a police inspector solving murder cases with the help of oracles and others. The challenges from the game are to solve the puzzles and the riddles, the game is full of them. The mechanic for this will be something complex.
DC: What attracted you to the setting of Victorian London?
SC: I’m passionate about old history, I like to play games which involve historical events and ancient cultures. The Victorian Era is one of my personal favourite periods and I had to implement it into the game.
DC: You play as an inspector called Jonathan Connor, how does he come to be involved with the supernatural?
SC: Jonathan Connor is the lead male protagonist in the game, he’s my own version of Sherlock Holmes – smart as a whip. He enters into this mysterious world by trying to solve the case he was assigned. Seeking knowledge to decipher the clues he encounters different people with gifted powers that blows his mind.
DC: Will the killings that he encounters be particularly gruesome?
SC: Since this is a different world with unknown powers the killings will be more graphical and violent then he expected, that’s one of the spices I’m preparing.
DC: Are you going for a cinematic feel?
SC: Absolutely, I want the players not only to play it but watch it, the cut scenes implemented into the game are essential for creating the atmosphere.
DC: Will there be a mixture of action and puzzles?
SC: Yes, the puzzles are the heart of the game, without resolving them you can’t go on, the difficulty and challenges increase more and more towards the end.
DC: And is suspense a big part of the game?
SC: The suspense is from start to finish, I don’t want to spoil the story but I’m confident that everyone will enjoy it and talk about it.
DC: What else do you feel really makes the game stand apart?
SC: The thing that makes a game stand apart is its uniqueness, the story, the dialogues, even the bugs, and I don’t want to reinvent the wheel, but I can customise it to be different from others. What makes a good game is after you play it you want to play it again, the endings will be different depending on which choices you make, you will be put in the situation to choose left or right, depending on what road you walk, the destination you will find out in the end.
Categorized:Horror Gaming News
