One of the biggest innovations in Grave Seasons is that the identity of the killer and their victims is rerolled upon each playthrough, drawing from a set pool of possibilities within the NPC cast. This rewards players going back to replay the game, not only solving a radically different version of the story’s driving murder mystery but providing significant variation to the story itself. Son M. credited the game’s narrative team and code for supporting such constant variation, noting that this was a way to reward a player base known for diving into every aspect of lore throughout farming sims.
“We have a few [characters] that can be serial killers,” the studio director says. “They operate as the killer for the entire story for that playthrough. The entire narrative changes because of that, so that means that people’s comments and people’s homes that you can break into change. How the town is affected by the deaths, who dies, all that stuff is drastically impacted by who that killer is and that route.”
He continues, “The best thing that we can do, especially for a community that really likes playing and diving into every aspect is give you multiple ways to dive into every aspect. That includes having multiple serial killers and having things that get unlocked after a certain amount of playthroughs. We have storylines that change and have an effect. You can romance the killer. All this stuff helps build this alive and living town.”
If Grave Seasons subverts common tropes in farming and life sims, Crisol: Theater of Idols presents a gorgeously realized take on survival horror first-person shooters with its own sanguine twist. The Spanish developer, Vermila Studios, drew from their country’s extensive history and culture to build the world and enemies of the game, with the story influenced by Spain’s distinctive folklore. For the development team, the game was a true labor of love over the past five years while celebrating their unique culture in creating the nightmarish island setting of Tormentosa.
“In order to make something different and unique, we have to create every minute detail,” says David Carrasco, the CEO and co-founder of Vermila Studios. “Our concept team is very strong. We tried to play with a lot of different eras in Spain with different art styles and different architecture, and combine them in a way that feels grotesque and different enough, but plausible. When you’re playing, you’ll find similarities, but you will not feel that this is Spain or a world that you’ve visited.”
Players control Gabriel, a holy warrior who takes on the enemies often made from inorganic material as evil artwork animated to life to hunt down and kill him. Most of Gabriel’s weapons, including ornate variations on pistols and shotguns, are powered by his divine blood, meaning each shot can drain the player’s life as they fight back against the monsters pursuing them. That adds a tactical emphasis to the experience rather than just having players blast anything and everything that moves like a Doom game.
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