Interactive drama video games like Gone Home gamers are ambiguous. Some praise them for the author’s approach, beautiful scenery and interesting history. Others scornfully call it a “walking simulator,” mocking a plot, primitive gameplay and a high price tag. But the studio Red Thread Games is not made up of newcomers – there are industry veterans who worked on Dreamfall Chapters, The Longest Journey and The Secret World. And the help from the studio is impressive: their thriller Draugen had a hand in the specialists of the Norwegian Film Institute, and the European Union participated in the financing. Well, let’s see if such a stellar composition can break established stereotypes.
Noir with A Norwegian Accent
The situation takes place in Norway, 1923. Lost in the fjords of the village of Grøvik we see Americans – writer Edward Harden and his companion Lissie. What brings them here in late autumn, when the first snow falls in the morning, and the ferocious waves make the message with the big land extremely dangerous? Guests from the United States did not come here to spend Christmas in the pastoral landscapes: Edward is looking for a younger sister, journalist Elizabeth. The last letter she sent was from here, from Grøvik, which has been forsaken even by God. But the Norwegian wilderness has a lot more questions than answers.
Where did the few residents of the mining village go? Who left the frightening inscription “traitor” on the door of one of the houses? Why does the local church have so many freshly dug graves? Why doesn’t Elizabeth get into a direct relationship with her older brother, leaving only a hint of herself? Her personal belongings, like a colourful shawl or a graceful hat, Edward every now and then finds in unexpected places. And what is this, finally, a monster called a draugr, the mention of the monster which is often found in an empty village?
It should be noted that the game is pretty puzzle-based. You are often assigned with a task to find something and solve different problems. Due to pride in producing such a game, many local casinos decided to base their Norwegian casino guide articles and other media on the style that’s seen in the game. Actually they decided to incorporate things like finding clues, reading letters etc. which at the same time was very enthralling for customers and attracted more people in the country. This example clearly shows the impact of the game in Norway.
The main protagonist is trying to find answers, and with this case the help comes from the amateur detective Lissie. The writer and his companion complement each other: Edward is gloomy and silent, suffocates after a short jog, avoids expletives and insists on compliance with all conventions of etiquette. Young Lissie, on the other hand, who is cheerful and chatty, jumps on the hills and mountains like a goat, slashes through the word and spits on the rules of decency. Almost all the information in the game is revealed through their dialogues – companions are constantly talking, inspecting the desert of Grøvik, discussing the found evidence and sharing versions of what happened. “Monsters! Bloody hell! Tragedy!” says Lissie excitedly. “No, no! The writer upsets his companion. “We need to find a rational explanation.”
In any other release, perhaps a constant flow of information through endless lines would be tiring. But not in Draugen. First, thanks to the talent of the actors: the voices of Edward and Lissie were given by Nicholas Boulton (Dragon Age II) and Skye Bennett (Xenoblade Chronicles 2). The charm of the characters is in many ways their merit. However, the writers did no less. The main characters speak and behave like people of their time, faced with an almost inexplicable mystery. But Americans are not simple detectives, indifferently investigating someone else’s tragedy.
Very soon it becomes clear that they are the direct participants of the events, and the fate of the abandoned village echoes their own secrets. And the word Draugen, which refers to ghosts in Norwegian, refers not only to mythical monsters. After all, Edward is also haunted by the shadows of his past. It is in Grøvik he will have to face his past …
Scandinavian Walking Simulator
The page in Steam classifies Draugen as an adventure genre, but this is some exaggeration. Even for this class of releases, the gameplay here is very mysterious and more like What Remains of Edith Finch: move from one location to another and interact with pre-marked items. Only Scandinavians from Red Thread Games were without mini-games, and a crazy mansion with many rooms replaced the gloomy northern landscapes. It turned out to be a kind of walking simulator from the IKEA Catalogue: details and decorations minimum, but still beautiful.
Watercolour landscapes and ascetic interiors of the early century are the best decoration for the grim parable of death, curses and madness. To create locations, the developers clearly approached the inherent meticulousness and thoroughness of the German people: consulted with historians, went to museums, and recreated the mood of the 1920s. Here you will not understand whether Edward begins to go crazy from the inability to find a sister, or really in these parts are ghosts and soar curses of the Viking era.
In general, meticulousness and love of game designers to their business are felt everywhere. In 3.5 hours, the Red Thread team managed to fit more interesting details, dialogues and turns than in other AAA hits for 40-plus hours. And even though it does not feature epic scenes, brave battles and heroic victims, it is much stronger. After all, Draugen is about people who sometimes break their own fate so that mythical monsters can only envy.
But is it worth the trip to Grøvik to spend money? Depends on what type of gamers you belong to. If you care how many minutes of gameplay will “produce” each invested dollar, then bypass the Scandinavian thriller game – it is clearly not about it. Those who are looking for new surprises in the first place, it is worth paying attention to the game, because you will not regret it.
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