The Bureau of Fantastical & Arcane Affairs set to open soon
- 0 Comments
Comedic fantasy first-person narrative adventure with dual playable characters coming this summer to Steam
It seems awfully convenient the way everything lines up just perfectly for heroes of fantasy quests to ride in and save the day. But is it really convenience, or is there someone working tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure that our fairy tales end up with the desired happily-ever-after? You'll soon get the chance to answer that question for yourself, from not one but two different perspectives, with the upcoming release of Hip flask Games' comedic narrative adventure, The Bureau of Fantastical & Arcane Affairs.
At first you'll assume the role of an inspector for the titular organization tasked with preparing fantasy realms in advance so that beloved fables play out as planned. It's your job to keep your assigned story from "falling into complete narrative disrepair." That means ensuring that "villains are properly certified, quests are up to code, and the story is ready for the hero’s arrival." After all, "bards do not sing of stories where the inn ran out of ale and the villain failed to file the correct zoning permits." Unless, that is, you'd rather not. The choice is yours of how much or how little you wish to do. Unlike most hit-and-run adventure games that leave others to clean up the mess, here you'll face the consequences of your own actions first-hand when you suddenly become the hero who arrives to "experience the tale you helped shape."
Inspired by fantasy favourites like Shrek and Fable, The Bureau of Fantastical & Arcane Affairs is a free-roaming, first-person adventure with its tongue planted firmly in cheek as it amusingly plays on genre tropes. Set in a charmingly designed medieval-style town and surrounding countryside, the game's "semi-open world environment" will include two smaller levels, each of them "packed with content." You'll find that "the forests crawl with monsters, an evil wizard looms atop his tower [and] a wretched necromancer is doing unspeakable things to skeletons," among other surprises. Rather than solving traditional puzzles to progress, the focus here is more on exploration, dialogue and narrative, with the inspector portion playing "kind of like a walking sim, similar to Firewatch, but with branching, choice-driven conversations," according to the developers. There's no time pressure, no quest markers telling you where to go, no hand holding, just twenty or so "bite-sized side quests" to oversee as you travel from the highest mountain peak to the lush green valley below.
Along the way you'll encounter more than 100 fully voiced inhabitants – some of them "more cooperative than others" – and issue "proper fines and citations" wherever necessary to get everything in tip-top shape. Or not. Breaking the Bureau's fastidious rules "often leads to a more interesting tale" but will be seriously frowned upon by your superiors and probably spell trouble for the hero. So of course you'll want to do so, even if it means paying the price yourself when the roles switch midway through. The hero's tale includes exploration as well but "leans more into visual novel-style storytelling, like Slay the Princess, to represent action and dramatic moments that would normally be traditional gameplay." The second half still allows for significant branching dialogue, though the hero will have "slightly fewer choices than the inspector." The decisions made earlier will have "major impacts on the hero’s quests and the world itself" and "at least two playthroughs are recommended to get the full breadth of the experience."
There is no firm target release date for The Bureau of Fantastical & Arcane Affairs just yet, but it could be finished as early as the third quarter of this year. In the meantime, you can get in character by choosing to wishlist it on Steam in preparation for its arrival on Windows PC. (Or not. Just remember, choices have consequences.)
