And will be the darkest game in the series
The Blackwell series of adventure games have been going on since 2006, with Dave Gilbert and Wadjet Eye Games developing five spectral detective romps featuring writer Rosa Blackwell and her ghostly buddy, Joe. Well, four with Rosa, and one with her aunt Lauren, who also found a companion in the long dead, wise-cracking spirit.
Wadjet Eye Games recently announced the next installment in this long-running series, The Blackwell Epiphany. Talking with Indie Statik, Dave Gilbert spilled the beans on what we can expect from the new title, and how far along it is.
Unfortunately, we may have to wait a bit longer to get our grubby paws on Epiphany, Dave explains. “To be honest, it’s not REALLY that far along. I spent most of last year designing it, but wasn’t able to actually work on it much because of all the publishing I was doing (Da New Guys, Resonance, and Primordia). After Primordia wrapped up, it was full speed ahead.”
However, the prologue is complete, including all the art which has been designed by Ben Chandler, who has quite a few marvelous adventure games of his own and designed the character art for The Blackwell Deception.
Going by the screenshots, Epiphany looks like it will be a tad darker in tone compared to the previous games, and this is a shift that Dave really wanted to make. “Each Blackwell game gets longer and more complex with each installment, and this one is no exception. It’s also a LOT darker in many respects, and I’m trying to step out of my comfort zone more than I have before.
“It’s been noted that a lot of the previous Blackwell games tend to be very ‘middle class’ (offices, cafes, apartments, etc — pretty much mirroring my own life), and I’m making an attempt to move away from that.”
There’s no release date yet, which isn’t surprising given that Dave Gilbert is something of a “it’ll be ready when it’s ready” kind of guy, but I’m just content in knowing that it’s being worked on. It’s been a fantastic series so far, and Epiphany will be, in Dave’s words, “answering some of the questions that I feel I’ve dragged out for long enough.” Here’s hoping.
The Blackwell Epiphany accounced… [Indie Statik]
