Hello everyone! How were your Christmas holidays? We assume they went great since many of you played a ton of Ink Inside! So much so that some burning questions have come up among community members—questions we’ve taken to heart.
Today, we’re here to address them with a new updated version of the game, tailored to meet everyone’s expectations!
After all, you are the reason we make games, so how could we not?
Let’s dive into the Q&A!
1. Can we stream Ink Inside? Is there any copyright restriction or anything we should be aware of?
There are no copyright restrictions to streaming ink inside!
Our music is all original, and yours to stream as you like!
2. Is the game finished? Is Ink Inside a complete experience?
YES.
However, there's been some confusion about the ending of the game...
Currently, after beating the game, there's a “teaser” cutscene of what the next game in the series will look like. This teaser also plays just after the credits. (This has been changed in this version!).
So if you happened to not understand that cutscene as a teaser, then it would feel like the game would be ending abruptly since the credits play after it.
3. Wait... Next game in the series? Will Ink Inside have sequels?!
YES!
We have a lot more story we want to tell...
In total we wrote 3 "seasons" of content. This is because the story of Ink Inside was originally written as a cartoon show for Nickelodeon! So the pacing of that story was broken into 3 seasons worth of material.
INK INSIDE follows the story of "season 1," which is a 9-10 hour long game, or the equivalent of about 24 half-hour-long episodes of a cartoon show.
While we would LOVE to have all 3 seasons done immediately for launch, that would only be possible on a AAA budget for a AAA price. Instead, as a small indie team, we had to decide between prioritizing the quality of the gameplay experience, or the length of the story. So rather than making an alright game with 36 hours of great story, we made a really fun game with 10-12 hours of great story - one that we could readily make some even fun-ner sequels to. (For a $20 price, much less than AAA)!
Which also means - when we make Ink Inside "Chapter 2" - it will not only have more of the story we want to tell - but ALSO new mechanics that you'd want from a sequel!
4. So what exactly is missing from the game?
Only a few story elements.
These are the FEATURES IN THE GAME:
- 2 playable characters (with or without local co-op)
- 3 social area "towns" with NPCs and dozens of side quests
- 3 major "dungeon" areas with unique combat hazards (only 1 looks like an actual "dungeon" though)
- 15 levels of exp and stats to gain
- 33 unique "jobs" to find, complete, and upgrade your character with as you level
- 14 cores with unique combat perks that trigger on getting a "perfect hit" on an enemy
- 3 "secret" cores with unique-er combat perks (each granting an achievement when discovered)
- 20 agility items that change the way you "dodge"
- 21 tech items that change the way you "catch"
- 50+ treasure chests to find
- 30+ secret areas to find
- 8 special moves
- 4 "Artifacts" that add new features to the game like a "MAP" or mechanics like "Finishers"
- 15+ total minutes of live action cutscenes telling the story of "Hannah" the girl who drew the world and everyone in it
- Full VO for 12+ characters
- 50 Achievements
- Full Soundtrack with 20+ songs
- about 9-10 hours of narrative.
This is the narrative “STORY” IN THE GAME:
- The story of Princess Land + Fuzzville
- Where the “Sog” came from, and how it works on the doodles in the world
- Who Detective Fuzz is, and his backstory
- Who Traff is, and her backstory (concluding in their live action cutscene)
- Who kidnapped (dragon-napped?) Fudge
- Who the Ferret Doodles are and how they run their shops
- What Swamp Splash is, and why there's a dungeon underneath it
- What the Singing Skeleton is, and why it's in a dungeon
- Several NPC's and their stories
This is the narrative "STORY" NOT IN THE GAME:
- An answer to Sticks "mysterious" origins (however there's a huge spoiler to what this is hidden in the game)
- An answer to who Cloak is
- Queen Princesses backstory
- The story of the next two "Notebook" locations (these are for the sequels)
We certainly plan to address these missing story elements in the sequels - but there are quite a few hints about them already in the game - at least enough that we've had a few streamers put parts of it together.
Overall, we certainly don’t want players to feel like we’re giving them an incomplete story, but we’ve also already managed to tell a story far more fleshed out than many other serialized AAA games have before us.
For example, the following games likewise end “unfinished” in their first entries:
- Kingdom Hearts 1 - Who the “Heartless” are, and why the characters were taken into the KH world is never explained.
- Half Life 1 - Science opens a portal to another Dimension. No other plot or character development is provided.
- Assassins Creed 1 - Desmond's narrative, Ezio’s narrative, the alien language teaser, and why the Templars are hunting Assassins is never resolved.
Ink Inside contains MORE narrative exposition than you find in these games. (50,000 words worth, we've counted them!) However, much like these games, INK INSIDE also has a narrative that won’t be fully complete until its sequels are likewise complete.
So! If you did not enjoy how these listed games ended “unfinished” when they were released, then it’s likely you might not enjoy Ink Inside either.
We certainly encourage you to still give INK INSIDE a try!
Ink Inside: First Page is free afterall, and covers the first 2-3 hours of the game. There’s a lot more to enjoy in the full game too!
Overall, we hope you finish INK INSIDE excited to play a sequel, rather than not having any fun playing it at all (until the sequels are done).
And... that's all for today, folks!
We hope these answers clear up any doubts you might have had about INK INSIDE, and that the promise of sequels fills you with excitement for the future!
The journey of Stick, Traff, and the crew has only just begun, and like them, you too are made of the stuff of heroes!
Thank you for always being with us!
Always yours,
Blackfield Entertainment & Entalto Publishing