Last week, Masayuki of Live2D visited us to talk about the future of Wispfire using their software to create our animated portraits. After a nice dinner we took this picture before we said goodbye.
We’re glad to have spoken, and we learned that the future will be very exciting!
A nice little non-spoilery video review of Herald! For those of you still on the fence, this might give you some idea of what to expect.
Image is a receipt. Response is my own, which was never mentioned by anyone on the dev team and there was never any apology or acknowledgement issued.
Why am I bringing this up? Because I’m tired.
I’m tired of ableist microaggressions and flat out aggression being okay because it comes from so-called progressive circles.
I’m tired of people thinking this garbage is funny.
And I’m honestly tired of not making a loud angry stink about it. Differently abled and neurodivergent folks suffer so many abuses because it is still acceptable to use us as the butt of the joke. And I am not okay with that. I never will be. I will fight until it isn’t okay.
So fuck you if you make a triggered joke, I don’t care who it is about. I won’t be purchasing your game.
Also if you call me racist/sexist/whatever else for making this assertion about a game with a very racially diverse cast and with a female protagonist, you’re missing the point entirely and you will be swiftly shown to the door. Just because this game might be good in some axes of diversity does NOT make it cool for this shit to go on.
Heya!
We regret that there wasn’t a response on twitter, marketing a new game can be pretty hard as a small studio and we’ve all been super swamped. We couldn’t find the tweet anymore so we’ll respond here.
From our Creative Director: I’m sorry. As you said, it was a joke where I tried to turn the word back on the kind of person that uses that kind of language, but it’s hard to be subtle in 140 characters. I certainly didn’t meant to belittle or hurt, but I do understand my tweet could have done exactly that.
With Herald our company tries to tackle many difficult subjects in a respectful way, but our employees are people too, and people aren’t perfect. We’re always open to criticism though, and are here to listen when it’s needed.
Yes that is totally what Herald is! ;p Kidding aside, flirting is not out of the question, but the focus of the game is more about making friends…or enemies!
Another “half white/half other” game? Lame. Can’t folks do anything else?
We’re sorry you feel that way! For Herald it was a very deliberate narrative choice as to place the player between two worlds and explore the identity struggle many people face in a multicultural society.
We had a great time going through some of the tags you left! If anyone has any questions about Herald, it’s themes and story, feel free to ask us!
Herald Books I and II by Wispfire is now out! We had a chance to play through Book I on stream, and it was great. As expected from our run through the demo version, Herald is pretty damn great. It doesn’t shy away from issues of race or Imperialism in the games setting.
Like we said the game does not shy away from these issues. Also, POC characters are voiced by POC actors! Vivek Bhurtun voices your protagonist, Devan Ludlow. We had him and lead writer, Roy van der Schilden on Fresh Out of Tokens to talk about the voice acting and writing the game before release.
We’re super glad you liked the game! Our release schedule for the last two books are currently being planned, but we are aiming to take no longer then a year on it. Once we know more, we’ll be sure to announce it!
If you loved Herald, you can support us out by leaving a review on Steam or GOG and telling your friends about it, every sale we make will directly go towards funding the next installment! 🙂
An article written by Vivek J. Bhurtun, the voice actor of Herald’s protagonist.
“It was not until recently when I was asked to act as the protagonist in a video game, that I started to ask myself what it actually meant to be raised with eastern spiritual values in a western culture.”
Herald: An Interactive Period Drama – Book I & II is out for PC, Mac & Linux!
Herald is a choice-driven adventure set during colonial times. Board the HLV Herald and uncover its dark secrets in an intriguing tale about tyranny and servitude.
You are Devan Rensburg, a man of mixed heritage living in an alternate 19th century. You were born in the Eastern Colonies – but raised in the West, in the Protectorate’s capital.
In search of your roots, you booked passage on board of the HLV Herald, a ‘Protectorian’ ship set for your country of birth. During your voyage, news of colonial unrest created tensions between the diverse crew and passengers.
Months later you alone are dragged ashore. No ship, no crew. All that remains is you, your journal and a captain’s coat you were wearing. A mysterious woman is holding you captive and demands you to tell her what happened to ‘your’ ship. What you tell her, is your choice.
