Mass Effect's Jennifer Hale Goes Indie In Masquerada
Jennifer Hale quest to become The Voice of All has taken her everywhere from Scooby Doo: Mystery Mayhem as a poltergeist to Mass Effect as Shepard, and now into a little indie isometric tactical RPG called Masquerada: Songs and Shadows [official site].
This is the story of a civil war between the working class and the elite, taking place in a kind of Venetian city where recently unearthed masks trigger magic powers in a collective within the elitist Masquerada. Check it out below, the team at Witching Hour Studios has let out a new trailer. There are creatures made of books and stuff; it's quite neat.
The game also features the vocal cord talents of Fire Emblem: Awakening's Matthew Mercer and The Walking Dead's Dave Fennoy. It's an interesting concept: A pauseable tactical RPG that focuses heavily on dialogue and running commentary from its characters, even throughout combat.
It's worth pointing out this is also the studio's first true entry for the PC platform. Singapore-based Witching Hour Studios cut its teeth in the mobile market, but has since moved on to the greener pastures of Anything Not Android Or iOS.
"Back when we started, we promised we wouldn’t pollute the gaming market with nonsense," says the team, who have three mobile games in the bag already. "Well, the mobile market polluted itself, and we’ve decided to take our wares where thoughtful games continue to be cherished – back to PC and consoles.
"Singapore is our home – it’s fabled for legendary things like the caning of Michael Bay Fay, death penalties for chewing gum and spaceship casinos. We’d very much like 'mind-blowing vidya games' to be added to the list of fabled things found and made in Singapore. We’re here to stay, so we hope you enjoy our work, and maybe find the inspiration to make your own games!"
Masquerada will be playable in its alpha form during this year's PAX Prime. At the moment the game has a loose release window - spring 2016.
[Disclosure: RPS Bargain Bucketeer Cassandra Khaw is "business cat" for Masquerada publisher Ysbyrd Games.]