Hello, Survivors!
In last week's Dev Note,
[Stage Narrative: Checkpoint], we introduced the Stage Narrative as one of the methods we’re using to deliver our game’s narrative.
Previously, we mentioned that our Development Team is designing individual stages so that each stage can serve as the smallest unit of the gameplay experience. These stages are interconnected, weaving together to form a complex story.
Let’s take the “Checkpoint” example from last week. The layout of the checkpoint is based on the concept of a military and administrative zone meant to control access. To pass through the checkpoint gate, players must navigate this intricate terrain. Through this experience, players face the challenge of overcoming both the unfavorable landscape and the humanoid enemies and monsters blocking their path to the Pleasure District.
What makes the narrative of the Checkpoint even richer is its connection to the neighboring stages with their own unique settings. The Checkpoint, situated on a main road, serves as the gateway to the Pleasure District. However, the disaster in Remore that struck both the inside and outside of the Pleasure District simultaneously has plunged the checkpoint into chaos, where humanoid enemies and monsters are locked in a tense standoff. It has become a hellish battleground, with no way forward or back.
Rising Expectations, Growing Tension
Today, we’d like to introduce the Herbarium, a stage deep within the Pleasure District, where the darkness of the REMORE lays thick.
Our goal was to create an experience where stages are seamlessly connected in real-time, with the changes from one stage influencing the next. For example, if you encounter humanoid enemies in the previous stage, you might find their remaining allies, abandoned weapons, or even their corpses in the next stage.
The Checkpoint stage doesn’t strongly reflect the atmosphere of the Pleasure District itself. Instead, it hints that something “terrible” has happened inside, as those who once lived there fled into the outside world, escaping the darkness. Once players pass through the checkpoint and enter the district, they will fully witness what the Pleasure District has become. The stage design was crafted to build this sense of anticipation and tension.
The original Pleasure District was a place of surreal, dangerous beauty, adorned with vivid red fabric. It was home to hosts preparing to greet guests, impoverished individuals barely surviving by exploiting or being exploited, and the Herbarium, a site where hallucinogenic fantasies were cultivated for those unsatisfied with reality.
For those lost in indulgence, the darkness seeped in silently, deeply, and fatally. Those in the deepest parts of the Pleasure District have transformed into monsters, while those spared from direct exposure to the darkness fled in utter terror. Now, this place has become a battleground for the desperate few who couldn’t even reach the checkpoint, fighting their final stand.
The district's once-deadly beauty is now entwined with streaks of corruption, turning everything into chaos. These dark streaks, woven into the essence of the stage, grow thicker and more menacing as you venture deeper into the district, foreshadowing an ominous fate ahead.
The Herbarium: Where Indulgence Lingers and Consumes
Following the dark streaks with unwavering steps, you eventually encounter crimson buds blooming atop them. These flowers, once symbols of the Pleasure District’s excess and indulgence, now bloom anew from the tainted, blackened stems—a grotesque and unsettling sight.
As you stand before this garden of blooming flowers, the truth dawns on you. This is the Herbarium, where the red flowers of indulgence were cultivated. And just as they always have, these flowers will ensnare humans, captivating them and turning them into prisoners of their allure.
The exact mechanism behind the creation of these monsters, or the true origin of their corruption, remains a mystery. All that is clear is the overwhelming threat before you must be overcome, and the source of the corruption must be found and eradicated.
The Herbarium introduced today is just one of the many intriguing stories within the Pleasure District. Among these is the introduction of a new enemy, the Petal. Both strategically and narratively, a variety of elements are in place to challenge you in how to confront them.
We’re eager to introduce the many other areas that will follow the Pleasure District. We can’t wait to show them off!
Thank you once again, Survivors!!
REMORE