The Letter, a horror visual novel
Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 1:01 am
What is The Letter?
- The Letter is an interactive horror, visual novel game that is currently under development by our team, Yangyang Mobile. It is inspired by the famous Japanese horror films, Ju-On: The Grudge & The Ring, by the Korean web-comic, Bongcheon-Dong Ghost, and by horror jRPG games such as Mad Father and Corpse Party. Development for The Letter will take one year to finish. Our approximate release date for the whole game is on October 2016.
"At the heart of Anslem village stands a 17th century English mansion that is rumored to be cursed by a vengeful spirit. Various disappearances had been linked to the mansion, while people living near the vicinity spoke of seeing and hearing unearthly things. Dismissed as a hoax, the mansion was listed for sale by Briar Realty Corporation. Before its grand opening to the public, Isabella Santos, an agent under BRC, was double-checking the place when she accidentally uncovered a letter that said “HELP ME” over and over again. At the bottom of the letter was the phrase Send this to 5 people or else..."
While The Letter is mostly horror, the story will also focus on basic human relationships, such as romance, friendship and betrayals. In the story, the player has control over how the characters will respond to each other. Basing from this, it’s entirely possible for all of them to be against each other, or for all of them to be in friendly terms.
Unlike most visual novels that are narrated in only one character’s point of view, the story of The Letter will be divided into six chapters in a non-linear order. The player takes on the role of a different character in different chapters. This way, the player gets to understand and experience all of the major characters on a deeper level. Their thoughts, feelings and their struggled throughout the story will build them and, hopefully, help players sympathize with them.
The player has the power to choose who will die or who will live. Major choices and whether a character lives or dies will influence the next chapter. From there, a domino effect occurs that will affect the ending in the long run. Can you get the best ending and save them all? Or can you pick the correct decisions, save the right people to discover the real ending?
What makes it a unique visual novel?
- Told in 6 point of views (a.k.a. 6 playable characters). Yep, that’s right! The story of The Letter is told in not one, not 2, but 6 character point of views. Each chapter (total of 6) will be narrated in a non-linear order by a different character that can either result in the life or death of that character.
Beautifully rendered characters & backgrounds. The characters and backgrounds are drawn painting-style by our artists. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing to look at, but it also offers a refreshing take from the usual vector-style visual novel art.
(Optional) Quick-time Events. Since it is a horror game, the characters will be chased around by the ghost. No exceptions. This is what we call quick-time events; when characters encounter the raging ghost, they must repeatedly press Z in order to escape. Here is a sample quick-time event from our game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQlTPuXQAmU
Animated characters, backgrounds and cut-scenes. Our team is hard at work in taking visual novels to the next level. Because of this goal, all of The Letter’s backgrounds and characters will be animated. The backgrounds will be animated using particles and shaders, while the characters’ movements and emotions will be animated using the bones and mesh structure of Spine Pro software.
Psychological thriller & jump scares. Apart from jump scares, The Letter also focuses on the effects brought by the ghost to the characters emotionally and psychologically. There will be points in the story wherein they will question their own sanity. These instances will make the characters doubt themselves, which creates an entire new conflict (man vs. self), apart from the ghost itself.
Distinct characters with varying personality and attitude. One of the storytelling features we’re aiming to reach is the diversity of our characters. Since each chapter is told in a different perspective, we’re very meticulous in our characters’ attitude, the way they talk and the way they approach things. We will make sure they would be very distinct from one another.
Mend or break relationships. Friends won’t stay friends and enemies won’t stay enemies forever in the game. It is entirely up to the player how the characters will interact with one another. From this, romance, friendship and betrayal can blossom altogether depending on the relationship choices the player pursues. Be careful though; relationship choices will be carried on to the succeeding chapters.
Other Features
- Approximately 6 hours long, with at least 180,000 words. The game will have 6 chapters, and each chapter has at least 30,000 words. That’s easily 180,000 words, and the endings are not yet included in that word count. We’re estimating the entirety of the game to be at least 6 hours worth of reading time.
Over 30 Backgrounds & 20 CGs. The game will feature several locations and over twenty key happenings. All drawn in a stunning painting-style.
12 short-endings and around 3 long-term endings. That’s 15 endings in total. The short-endings either result in life or death, while the long-term endings can be unlocked based on the remaining survivors.
Memorable music composition that will send chills down your spine. We’ve teamed up with respectable music composers who will help us breathe life into The Letter. We’re very eager to bring original music scores that will give our players goosebumps just by hearing it. Listen to our game's main theme BGM here: https://soundcloud.com/yangyang-mobile/ ... main-theme
The Characters
