At its core, Heartbound is a charming indie game about a boy and his dog. It takes place from a top-down perspective, just like the old-school 16-bit style roleplaying games that inspired it. Comparisons to recent indie hits like OneShot and Undertale are obvious, but aren’t actually the chief inspirations for this latest experimental endeavor.
“The biggest inspirations for me were things that I personally went through in my life,” explains Jason Thor Hall, Game Director at Pirate Software, and lead programmer on the project. “Seeing how people deal with trauma and mental issues was a big factor and just learning how to gamify those topics in a way that's relatable but not overbearing. In terms of specific games from a narrative and design perspective, I loved Secret of Evermore, Secret of Mana, Earthbound, and Chrono Trigger.”
Pirate Software is more than just Hall though, as the rest of the three-person studio is made up of lead artist Bradie Shaye Rehmel and Netherlands-based music and sound designer Stijn Van Wakeren.
During my time with the alpha demo for Heartbound, I was immediately struck by how much it reminded of the games that inspired it. In fact, returning to a game in this style felt like coming home. Main character Lore wakes up in his pajamas on a stormy night with his trusty talking dog companion, Baron, on the floor beside him.
Hall emphasized the importance of consequences in this world. Everything you do and interact with has a very specific result and can change the narrative in both subtle and major ways. In fact, what you do and say will impact Lore himself throughout the adventure.
A dialogue box appears from Lore’s father as I enter the hallway, but before I can finish reading it, words scramble and alter the meaning of his statements. What first appeared as “kiddo” now says “moron” and a polite request for me to take out the trash turns into an authoritarian demand, followed by a door slam. Subtle moments like this where the game and the designers play tricks on your eyes and make you question what’s going on are central to experiencing Heartbound.
“We know that plenty of people will play our game at face value and not look deeper, and that’s fine, we still want to make something that’s fun for those people,” explained Hall. “But it’s so much more rewarding for the players that want to go the extra mile in understanding the game and its universe.”
One great example of this is the already elaborate ARG in place – a bit unique considering it’s still being actively developed. By inspecting webpage source code, looking at project files in the alpha, and astutely decrypting announcements from the company, fans are able to delve even deeper into the game, both figuratively and literally.
“OneShot was proof to me that players can take a complex puzzle-driven system with meta implications and not be turned off by that,” said Hall. “And Undertale was further motivation because it showed me that anyone can make a game, create something weird and special, and still deliver a quality game even with non-traditional combat mechanics.”
Those non-traditional combat mechanics aren’t shown in the alpha, but can be seen in sample footage that Hall provided. Each encounter plays out like its own self-contained minigame, reminiscent of Wario Ware and less like the traditional stat-based RPG you may be used to. Heartbound has no consumable items or levels to contend with in its adventure.
In addition to the whimsical and heartfelt tale of a boy and his dog, there are other threads being pulled here as well. Every player’s game will be unique in some ways, such as displaying certain pages scattered about, or even different trees in the background. This is to not only make each playthrough a unique experience – particularly for the streaming and let’s play community – but also to extend the experience outside the game. The community will have to work together to combine pages and solve some of the game’s deeper mysteries.
Hall has a long history in the game industry, having worked at Blizzard for over seven years in QA on titles like World of Warcraft, Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, and others. Eventually, he worked his way into an Application Security Team role with his hacker background, but the allure of building his own games was too strong. After a brief stint at Amazon Game Studios, he left to go totally indie and make games under the Pirate Software banner full-time.
“I got to the point where I just had to leave,” explained Hall. “I had to before it was too late and I missed my opportunity. The ideas for this game have been in my head for so long and I needed to tie them all together.”
Before diving into Heartbound, though, Pirate first released a simple arcade game called Champions of Breakfast to get their feet wet, go through growing pains, and get a bit of income flowing. The entire process from idea, concept, and release took less than a month using Game Maker, the same engine powering Heartbound. On Steam Greenlight, Heartbound skyrocketed up the ranks, topping out at #1 on the charts with a 71% yes vote split, passing the Greenlight process in only 10 days.
Whereas Undertale has a decidedly NES style design, Heartbound reminds me most of the SNES era in its inspirations and visuals. If Hall and the rest of the Pirate Software team can channel half of that spirit, then Heartbound – currently without a release date but readying a Kickstarter campaign for the near future – will be a clever game worth watching.
David Jagneaux is a contributor to IGN who loves Corgis and RPGs. Chat with him about both on Twitter at @David_Jagneaux.
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