Dreamfall Chapters devs reveal Norwegian mystery Draugen
What dark mysteries lie in this pretty landscape?
"We first announced Draugen in 2013--perhaps, in retrospect, a bit premature--with a highly optimistic release date of 2015," writer and creative director Ragnar Tørnquist (of The Longest Journey and The Secret World fame) said today. "This obviously didn't pan out quite as expected."
It did not. However, Red Thread Games are now confident that the first-person explore-o-mystery 'em up set in a 1920s Norwegian coastal community is now on track, and should launch in 2019. Why, they've even whipped together its first proper trailer to introduce it to the world. Here, come see the landscape and meet the chum who'll accompany us.
We'll play an American in search of his missing sister, accompanied by his ward, Lissie. Which possibly makes us Batman? That might come in handy, given that ugly things are afoot in this pretty place.
Our former Adam (RPS in peace) talked Draugen with Tørnquist back in 2014, but the game has changed loads since then. Back then, our American was to be alone as he explored a deserted village across seven in-game days. You might find that an interesting read for perspective on what Red Thread have done since.
"It's not like the game's been on ice since then, however," Tørnquist said in today's post. "We've tinkered with it continuously, and we've rebooted the project on several occasions. The current version of Draugen is the best version of Draugen, and I'm personally relieved that we never got around to finishing any of the previous versions. They wouldn't have been nearly as good."
Tørnquist does add that Red Thread are still working on Kickstarter backer rewards for Dreamfall Chapters, saying "we will continue to do so until we've delivered on everything we promised back in 2013."
Draugen's due some time in 2019. See its website and Steam page for more.