The premise of a basic slasher film, the exploration and puzzle mechanics of basic Resident Evil and Silent Hill video games, and the ever-present of a menace of a killer on the lose, ruled by dynamic AI that responds to what you do- Homebody is a sport that survival horror fans have had their eye on, and with a premise like that, it’s straightforward to see why. The sport lately turned obtainable on Steam following its launch earlier this month, however previous to that, we reached out to its builders at Recreation Grumps with a number of of our questions on what gamers can anticipate from the sport. You possibly can learn the total interview under.
“The sport’s themes embody matters of nostalgia and our relationship with the previous, so it felt acceptable for the participant and the sport’s protagonist Emily to each expertise the story in a means that felt retro.”
Homebody makes use of fairly a putting visible aesthetic. Are you able to discuss the way you selected this search for the sport, and the way you’ve ensured that it gels with the tone of the expertise?
The sport is impressed by basic horror video games, together with PlayStation classics like Clock Tower and Resident Evil and PC/DOS video games like Alone within the Darkish, video games with wonderful senses of place and of the relative powerlessness of the participant. The sport’s themes embody matters of nostalgia and our relationship with the previous, so it felt acceptable for the participant and the sport’s protagonist Emily to each expertise the story in a means that felt retro. Plus I’m only a actually huge fan of dithering!
Homebody’s slasher premise is one which’s immediately interesting to horror fans, with its setting of a resort haunted by a mysterious killer. How did the thought for this setting first come about? Are there any horror tales throughout media that you just regarded to for inspiration?
Horror tales are nice at offering pulpy enjoyable whereas additionally conveying severe metaphorical weight. A mysterious masked determine with a knife can imply loads of various things relying on who they’re stabbing, when, and why! Reconnecting with estranged pals in a musty outdated rental residence in the course of nowhere felt good for the sport’s themes associated to nervousness and the previous.
The slasher horror parts of the sport had been influenced so much by basic giallo movies like Suspiria and the campy slashers of the 70s and 80s just like the Friday the thirteenth sequence. The sport additionally has a extra melancholy and surreal facet that was impressed largely by the movies of David Lynch.
It looks as if Emily’s relationships along with her pals can be an vital a part of the story, alongside the central menace of the killer. How essential will that side be to the sport’s story?
Emily and her pals being trapped on this explicit home, at this explicit time, and on this explicit time loop, is the crux of the sport’s story. We actually valued making the story darkish and creepy but in addition bittersweet, unhappy, and infrequently humorous, and dialogue with Emily’s pals is a big a part of that. Gamers should uncover precisely why on their very own, however Emily’s relationship along with her pals, and the way in which it has modified over time, is central to the sport’s themes… and she or he’ll want their assist if she needs to flee.
“Horror tales are nice at offering pulpy enjoyable whereas additionally conveying severe metaphorical weight. A mysterious masked determine with a knife can imply loads of various things relying on who they’re stabbing, when, and why.”
Will gamers be capable of have an effect on the result of the story by means of their dialogue selections?
The sport doesn’t have main branching or a number of endings, however it’s suffering from non-obligatory interacts and dialogue matters that may deepen the participant’s understanding of Emily, her pals, the proprietor of the home, and the character of the time loop and the killer. All through the sport, the participant’s dialogue selections will have an effect on the emotional states of the characters and investigating sure dialogue paths will unlock new ones later within the story in sudden methods.
What ought to gamers anticipate from a mechanics perspective relating to attempting to keep away from the killer as they make their means by means of the resort? Will Homebody characteristic dynamic encounters on this entrance? Will the killer have persistent stalker-like AI?
The killer has a dynamic AI system that meticulously stalks the halls of the home. At a sure level every loop, the killer seems and systematically hunts Emily and her pals, and it’s capable of examine curiosity sources similar to sounds within the surroundings to trace down the participant. Gamers needs to be prepared for some sudden behaviors too, such because the killer hiding in wait to ambush the participant in important areas of the home.
What kind of stealth choices will gamers have?
You are able to do easy issues like breaking line-of-sight to throw the killer off your path, or conceal in closets to look at and wait because the killer (hopefully) strikes on. The killer can also be attracted to varied sounds within the surroundings–together with Emily’s footsteps, so operating with the killer close by is a assured technique to entice its consideration.
“The sport completely takes inspiration from Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and different survival horror classics in its puzzle design, with some staples gamers will acknowledge from these video games.”
What are you able to inform us in regards to the sport’s puzzles and the way they’ve been designed? Does Homebody take inspiration from style classics like Silent Hill and Resident Evil on this space?
The sport completely takes inspiration from Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and different survival horror classics in its puzzle design, with some staples gamers will acknowledge from these video games. The home was designed as an open-ended, non-linear puzzle field, with a number of puzzles to work on at any given time, just like a extra puzzle-focused journey title like Myst or the horror basic D (which additionally not directly impressed the sport’s time loop factor).
Will Homebody feature any fight parts?
None in any respect. Your solely selections are to run and conceal! We actually wished to chase that slasher-movie feeling of powerlessness and the killer as an unstoppable power.
Roughly how lengthy will a mean playthrough of Homebody be?
Finishing the sport’s puzzles and story ought to take gamers a mean of round 8 hours, with extra relying on the period of time they spend investigating each nook of the home and interesting in dialog with Emily’s pals. And naturally, their luck/talent at evading the killer.
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