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- Owlcat is entering the indie publishing scene with the unique story-driven games Rue Valley and Shadow of the Road.
- Shadow of the Lords mixes feudal Japan, steampunk, and magic with a focus on deep character development.
- Similar to Disco Elysium, Lou Valley explores themes of mental health and offers character creation with plenty of personality.
Best known Pathfinder and Warhammer 40k Game, RPG developer Owl cat We're turning our attention to other narrative-driven indie game publishing. The first two games on our list are: Lou Valley Made by Emotion Spark Studios Shadow of the road This is a work by Another Angle Games.
Owlcat’s publishing director, Andrey Tsvetkov, spoke to Game Rant about why the studio was drawn to these titles and how they fit the tone of Owlcat’s catalog. He explained that Owlcat generally looks for narrative-rich games that fit the kind of things they would develop.
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Shadow of the road
Shadow of the roadDeveloped by Polish studio Another Angle, has attracted a lot of attention for its fascinating setting. The game is set in feudal Japan, but has steampunk and magical elements. However, Tsvetkov explained that the demo that made Owlcat fall in love with the project had none of those elements.
Main focus
Shadow of the road
It's a character arc. It's a character arc of two samurai friends, they start their journey as ronin who lost their master, and they meet other characters along the way… To be honest, when I was reviewing this project, I played a demo, and there was very little magic and steampunk in that demo, and all of those elements were going to come later in the game. It was briefly mentioned and highlighted in the demo, and there were certain moments. It was basically a story about people.
Shadow of the road If it was a historical Japanese title about samurai and the characters they meet on their journey, it would have been a great title. The magical and steampunk elements of the game are introduced when the shogun entrusts the samurai with the task of looking after the young and talented. Incorporating the shogun's magic and British steampunk into the game adds an extra layer to the game.
But what really appealed to Tsvetkov was the character interactions. That’s what made it feel like an Owlcat game, as the publisher’s first-party games are known for having deep, defined characters. Ultimately, feeling like an Owlcat game is part of what the studio looks for in its indie partners.
Going down to Lou Valley
Lou ValleyFrom Serbian developer Emotion Spark It's been compared favorably to one of the biggest indie RPGs in recent memory. Disco Elysium. The game delves deeply into depression and mental health issues, with colorful characters, an emotional story, and a time loop that unfolds with unexpected secrets. The comparison is obvious, but Tsvetkov felt that the subject matter of depression was close to his heart, and he believes many gamers will feel the same way.
When we saw this, the concept was so great that we played a short demo before signing on to the project. It was really well written. They were still trying to figure out what the art style would be, what the visuals would be. It was interesting. For years, RPG players thought that if you make an RPG, it was all about stats, progression, classes, etc. I was happy to see our colleagues at Emotion Spark be so happy to see that they were successful.
Disco ElysiumThis is because this was the first case of this scale.
Example of method Lou Valley The break from the traditional RPG mold is in character creation. Instead of choosing statistics, players define their own personality. A cold loner or a melodramatic loudmouth can have the following effects: Lou ValleyIt's a version of the status effect where drinking alcohol makes you more sociable.
Owlcat has embarked on a new strategy for open alpha testing. Lou Valley. Humble Choice subscribers have access to the game’s alpha at the time of reporting. This is one of the first times Humble has offered subscribers some form of early access, and is possible thanks to a long history between Owlcat and Humble.
What Owlcat Looks for in Indie
But these two games aren’t the only indie games Owlcat is looking to publish. Owlcat is on its way to becoming a major publisher of indie narrative-driven games, and has plenty of pitches to review at Gamescom in August.
The first thing Owlcat actually checks is not the game, but the team. Emotion Spark and Another Angle impressed Owlcat with their clear vision, core developers who can deliver, and independent teams. Owlcat is not interested in being a co-developer, but is happy to mentor younger studios in the same field.
These teams had a really strong vision of what they wanted to do, because the key thing for any team is to have a core person who knows what they're doing, and what they're doing is exciting in the actual product that they're building, and they have the ability to deliver on that. So we saw that these teams had a strong vision of the kind of game that they wanted to build.
The ability to deliver is also very important to Owlcat. Tsvetkov does not believe that the idea of releasing a game “once it’s done” is viable in the industry, and some games like Beyond Good and Evil 2 He shows the problem very well. Therefore, it is important for Owlcat that the team working together has the ability to complete the project in a timely manner. However, he is fully aware of the challenges faced by indie developers. Owl cat We're happy to share our expertise and advice with you.
