First details emerge from Legacy of the Depths

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Narrative "Northern Noir" adventure set in alternate-history 1920s Russia coming to PC on Steam

There's something about frozen northern climes that make them ideally suited to dark atmospheric thrillers. Maybe it's the cold, the remoteness, the lack of light in winter months. Whatever it is, indie developer Kalinka Games certainly agrees, as they've chosen just such a setting for the studio's upcoming debut adventure, Legacy of the Depths.

It's Russia, 1929, but not the Russia we know from history books. In this version, the "monarchy survived and the country still carries the scars of a failed revolution." Forty years earlier, an expedition to the Barents Sea ended in disaster, its leader the only survivor. But he too suffered a cruel fate upon his return, gradually going insane before dying in a psychiatric hospital. Decades later, an archeologist named Alexei receives a mysterious letter from that man, his deceased grandfather Alexander Melnikov, imploring Alexei to follow in his footsteps and seek out an island that appears on no maps. And so Alexei sets out on a journey through "remote villages, abandoned places, and forgotten corners" of the troubled country in his search for the island's coordinates, which have been "scattered across different parts of northern Russia." Little does he know when he embarks that an ancient cult will stop at nothing to protect the island from intruders, and that he'll soon come to uncover "a family secret that should have remained buried."

Presented in stylishly atmospheric pixel art with musical accompaniment "inspired by Russian folk instruments and cold northern landscapes," the game is described as a "dark narrative adventure in the spirit of Northern Noir." Promising a "slow-burning story about grief, legacy, obsession, and the things buried beneath the ice," it will send players through old villages and other frigid locations characterized by oppressive "snow [and] isolation." In your travels you'll investigate and reconstruct "strange events" and interact with secretive locals who "hide more than they reveal." There will be some puzzles and minigames in the form of "environmental tasks and small playable activities" to complete, but "detective storytelling" is very much the main focus here, with literary inspirations ranging from H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe to Mikhail Bulgakov and Fyodor Dostoevsky. 

Player choice is key to progress, as you'll be faced with a number of "moral choices that shape how characters and events are perceived." There are no right or wrong answers, as you're free to roleplay how you wish to "shape Alexei's personality." You can make him "friendly and helpful, or rude and focused only on himself," for example. Choices have consequences, however, as your path through branching dialogues and potential side quests will cause others to react differently to you, such as trusting you or even breaking off communication altogether. Along the way you'll also uncover details about this unique alternate history through notes and character interactions with the likes of "former revolutionaries hiding from the authorities, veterans of the First World War, and other people who remember the attempted uprisings and have very different opinions about what happened." Here too there is no "correct" interpretation, just alternate viewpoints that let players "form their own opinion about the revolution and the monarchy, or remain completely apolitical if neither ideology feels close to them."

Legacy of the Depths is still a fair way off, currently targeting completion sometime in May 2028. In the meantime, the game can now be wishlisted on Steam, with a demo expected later this year. 

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