‘Vasilis’ is a brand new hand-drawn adventure game set in a dystopian city that has fallen into anarchy, under threat of constant rioting and cultists. You play as the titular character, Vasilis, an elderly lady whose goal is to find her husband, Peter, amongst all the chaos.
The game comes from Marginal Act, an indie developer whose previous works include Blind Boris, The Line and Need a Packet? Vasilis has been in development for 4 years and it is easy to see why; all art in the game is painstakingly hand-drawn and scanned in to create environments that truly boast the smaller details.
The solo Developer took to Reddit/Twitter to post the following description of their new title;
“Vasilis is a hand-drawn adventure game. The main character – Vasilis, lost her husband – Peter, in the rebellious city center. The city is in riots for a long time and almost every day something burns or someone dies.”
The art style of this game is visually striking; think Take On Me meets George Orwell’s 1984.
Playing the game is very simple, to venture through the various locations throughout the city, speaking with and completing mini-quests some odd characters in an attempt to shed some light on where your missing husband could be. However, the main pull of this game is the story, which is, at the very least, thought provoking.
Marginal Act explained more of the story, including the excellent twist, via their website; “The government left the center, which was dominated by local workers and students, who were able to build 4 towers that prevent people in the center from death.” The story takes its inspiration from the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution, in which various protests, riots and other acts led to the overthrowing of the Ukrainian government and the removal of the then-President.
Beyond the impressive art style and well thought out story, lies a game which includes mechanics and concepts that have been proven successful since the modern RPG was conceived. Interesting conversations with eccentric people, controversial events and mysterious locations such as the Chaos Tower all contribute to what is, an excellent creative piece.
Vasilis launched on April 15 on Steam and currently offers a special 20% discount until 22/04/19.
