With the passing of the year, our team (the two of us) have been listening to your feedback and reviews. We've realized that we may have given the wrong impression of the game to certain players and we're very sorry if the expectations were not met.
While those have played the Prologue believed that this would signify that the larger part of the game would be narrative and linear driven. Unfortunately, this isn't what The 9th Gate is about. The Prologue was a bonus story-driven level we added in to help players 'settle' in and familiarize themselves with the game's mechanics. The main game itself on the other hand is gameplay driven and meant to be a challenge.
Our earliest goal was to realize a horror survival game where you were often trapped between spirits going about their businesses and trying to stay undetected from the ones that were actively hunting for you.
While the primary objective was to searching for the cursed dolls the challenge of the game would especially come once you have the doll in your grasp because the spirits of the apartment would be alerted and they will become even more active and hostile. Your job was to sneak your back back to the circle undetected while trying to evade capture from the more hostile spirits. Each doll you find would unleash even more terrifying spirits that would come after you and on top of all that, nothing is scripted, but designed to challenge you in many different ways.
This isn't a game for those expecting a walking sim, this was a game for players born over burning lava while sand storms raged. Expect to be challenged and be tested!
Some of you may notice, the game description did not highlight this part of the experience so well and we have been taking steps to amend this perception of the game. Players who have owned the game since launch will notice some things are slightly different now (apart from the bug fixes)
Among the changes:
- There is less focus on exploration - while you are free to explore the apartment (on easy mode at least), Listening mode now provides visual aid towards the location of the doll. The closer you are or if you are looking in the correct direction of the doll, the aura will be more obvious. This ability is only available for Kim who is a spirit whisperer.
- The Prologue is no longer mandatory - we've changed the sequence of events so the prologue is no longer mandatory and made the Play button more prominent. It's a small but hopefully crucial change in addressing the perception of the game.
-Difficulty Scaling - the game will now have increased spirit activities even for the 1st and 2nd dolls. We initially made things quieter thinking it would help players familiarize with the layout but it turned out to be too quiet instead. Well, looks like the restless spirits heard your complaints and would like to have a word with you! Some like the toyol are no longer as shy as they used to be.
-The Flash - as part of the perception change exercise, we're adding the ability to "Flash" the ghosts (camera flashes, not anything else!) by snapping a picture of them with the Left Mouse Button during Camera Mode. This will deter most spirits in view and chase them away or stun them if they are too powerful to be hurt (for returning players, you know who I'm talking about). The Flash has a slightly long cooldown and you'll know it's ready by observing the Flash icon with the camera.
And so, these are some of the changes we've been working towards. We still have plenty of things we're keen on adding in the coming year so stay tuned and do let us know what you think of the new changes.
Until then, happy flashing spirits!
