Square Enix have announced that indie first person puzzle adventure title The Turing Test is coming to the Switch. The game will launch on Nintendo’s hybrid platform on February 7, and will be priced at £14.99 / $19.99 / €19.99, though you can purchase it at 10 per cent off up until February 21.

In case you’re not aware of the game or what it is, The Turing Test, developed by Bulkhead Interactive, first launched on PC and Xbox One in 2016, before coming out the following year for the PS4. It was one of the first games to be published by Square Enix as part of their indie-focused initiative, called Square Enix Collective.

Though The Turing Test had several issues, overall reception for the game was very positive, and fans enjoy it to this day, with the game drawing praise for its intelligent puzzle design (which is quite evocative of Portal at times), the thematic richness of its story, its soundtrack, and more. If you haven’t given the game a shot, considering doing so when it launches for the Switch a fortnight from now.

Fear Effect Reinvented maintains that classic fixed camera of the original game while making visual and control changes to bring the game up to modern standards. It is still set to be released for Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch and PC sometime in 2018, published by Square Enix and developed by Sushi.

• 1. Development
• 2. Story
• 3. Gameplay
• 4. Characters

Development

Announced at Gamescom 2017 for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4 and Xbox One for release in 2018, French Developer Sushee and Square Enix Collective first showed off Fear Effect Reinvented, which was being released as a companion to the upcoming sequel title, Fear Effect Sedna. It was then said that the game would be retaining a connection to the original title through use of cel shaded visual style and fixed camera angles, but visual updates and control improvements would help bring the game in line with modern titles.

As a part of the Square Enix Collective Program, which was created in order to help indie developers bring their ideas to frutition and has Square Enix assist them with crowdfunding campaigns, publishing and finding the proper audience. This also allowed developer Sushee access to the otherwise defunct IP from Eidos, allowing them use of the Fear Effect name and characters.

Story

Hana and her crew are the first people on the scene when Wee Ming, the daughter of a powerful Hong Kong Triad boss disappears. These mercenaries haven’t been hired to find Wee Ming, and they don’t have heroic motives either. They want to kidnap the girl and hold her for ransom.

The simple snatch and grab plot goes sideways when supernatural elements begin to get involved, revealing Ming’s father, Mr. Lam as having connections to demons. A pact he made with the demons a long time ago is what gave him his wealth and power. His daughter is revealed as a mere paper doll come to life, and she is to be sacrificed. A sacrifice that Mr. Lam is intent on seeing through for his own nefarious reasons.

Gameplay

Fear Effect’s original charm was that it took the fixed camera angles and gameplay from Resident Evil and bumped the presentation and story up a notch by using FMV for backgrounds instead of still images. Fear Effect Reinvented is still very much the same game, but with the benefit of new technology behind it to up the presentation. Characters are more detailed with proper cel shading, environments are actually 3D, and controls will be improved.

The player will play as the leader, Hana, the weapons expert, Deke and the measured mercenary, Royce throughout the game in different situations. They all play identically, and can use the same weapons.

The unique point of Fear Effect and thus its remaster is the health system. Resembling a heart monitor readout, the green line of the UI will speed up its pulse and turn from green to red when damaged. Allow your heart to get too excited and it will eventually flatline, but performing action that calm the player down can bring them back to green.

The game will still retain the fixed camera angles and present itself as a classic survival horror style game. Unlike the original Resident Evil games, the player can move and fire their weapons simultaneously in Fear Effect Reinvented, they can dodge roll as well as shoot at two different enemies at once using their two guns. Between action segments, the game includes stealth opportunities and other puzzles like its contemporaries. Puzzle solving and stealth kills are two of the ways players can calm their heart rate and improve their health.

Characters

Hana Tsu-Vachel is the 24 year old main protagonist of Fear Effect and the leader of her group of mercenaries. Hana is part French and part Chinese and first lived with her parents in Hong Kong. Due to the mysterious deaths of her parents as a child, she was raised within the Chinese Triad and trained as their assassin. An ace marksman and pilot, Hana is just as dangerous armed as she is unarmed. Her life’s goal is to be able to buy out the triad contract she was forced into.

Royce Glas is another contact of Hana’s who joins her on her mission to rescue Wee Ming. Trained within a US intelligent agency so secret that not even the CIA knew it existed, Glas is an expert of counterintelligence and all kinds of weapons. Still hunted by the government he once swore to serve, Glas is likely and willing to kill someone for his own protection as he is to find a more quiet solution.

Jacob Decourt, otherwise known as his nickname “Deke” is a hulking man who learned his skills during the wars of New Australia. He’s the kind of guy who just loves to take on dangerous, high paying jobs for the fun of the destruction, and so he can maintain his extravagant lifestyle. He loves his big guns and is the perfect man to have along when you don’t mind a mess being left behind, naturally making him another contact for Hana.

Mr. Lam is the high ranking Triad boss who made a deal with the demon to gain his standing and power. Jin is a mysterious individual who rarely sees Hana in person, but has a major role to play within the story. Jin is for some reason, in Mr. Lam’s building at the start of the game, though Hana was unaware of this.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.

Square Enix Collective had a little surprise for Fear Effect fans during Gamescom week. It’s confirmed that Fear Effect will receive a remake in the form of Fear Effect Reinvented, which launches in 2018 for the Xbox One, PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch. Sushee, the developer in charge of Fear Effect Sedna, will be handling the remake which features improved HD visuals and controls. The fixed camera angles still remain though.

Interestingly, Sushee’s Kickstarter-funded project for Fear Effect Sedna is what led to the remake gaining traction. Sushee founder Benjamin Anseaume said he was amazed by the support for Fear Effect Sedna and the franchise in general among fans.

“At the same time, we realized that as well as offering established fans something new with Sedna, it would be great to introduce fresh players to Fear Effect by remaking that first great adventure. Fear Effect Reinvented will capture the same spirit and atmosphere as the original game, but it’ll bring it into the present with drastically improved visuals, tweaked controls and other exciting extras,” said Anseaume.

The announcement trailer features Hana Tsu-Vachel, one of the main characters, and the significantly revamped graphics in all their glory. While no release window was provided, Fear Effect Reinvented should be an excellent addition to 2018’s games lineup. Interestingly enough, Fear Effect Sedna is still billed as releasing in 2017 despite no concrete date being provided yet. You can check out the free demo here though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLG3VLiNnlw

GamingBolt spoke to Sushee CEO Benjamin Anseaume about Fear Effect’s return, what’s changed with the move to a more tactical strategy style of gameplay and much more.

"On some aspect, we want to be very true to the two first games, on others things; we want to show that Sedna is another game, 15 years after the second one."

How long have you been trying to get Fear Effect Sedna made? What benefits did turning to Kickstarter offer?

We first pitched our idea back in February 2015, as soon as Square released their IPs via the Collective platform. We talked about the IPs with the team and decided all together to work on a Fear Effect pitch, and the ideas popped immediately. After a creative period we decided that, out of respect for the fans, we needed to work with a part of the former team, so we contacted John and Matt, and they replied very quickly.

Concerning the Kickstarter campaign, it was both a difficult and exciting phase. Exciting because you’re starting to grow a community, and you see positive feedbacks on a project you’re working on since 6 month, and difficult because the rules were very clear, if the project was not funded, everything stopped immediately.

What inspired the story and the involvement of Inuit mythology? Besides Hong Kong and Greenland, which places will players visit?

On some aspect, we want to be very true to the two first games, on others things; we want to show that Sedna is another game, 15 years after the second one. Changing the mythology, while staying true to the fact that the Gods discreetly try to rule our lives, seems to be the perfect balance to us, and we’re still very happy with this choice.

I think that the world is Hana’s playground, and what was implicit in Fear Effect and Fear Effect Retro Helix will become obvious. Hana is going to travel to France, and uncover some secrets about her origins, Nuuk, the Greenland capital, and some more… supernatural places.

Can you tell readers a bit about why you opted for a tactical action game approach? What opportunities did this gameplay approach present in comparison to the series’ traditional third person perspective?

When we all replayed Fear Effect, we wrote some keywords on a big board, and “teamwork” was one of this words. And then we realized that the characters was never played all together in the 2 first games, and that’s perfectly normal, because of the 90s-typical gameplay, but as we knew we wanted to change the gameplay, we really wanted to go in that direction, so the tactical approach was one option and after several prototypes we decided to go in that direction.

"If you played the prototype, you saw that you can switch any time between all your controlled characters, that’s an important feature…"

I must say that we’re keeping most of the surprises and depth of our gameplay for the final version of the game. In the prototype we released, most of the features of the combat mode were not released; we’re still working on it very hard, especially on skills and team skills.

Besides, we want to work on the stress the player is feeling, the tactical view is obviously less stressful than the views in the first games, but we really want the player to feel uncomfortable, it’s going to be a major change in the final game compared to the prototype. So you see, we still have a lot to do!

How has the relationship between Rain and Hana evolved over the years? Will the game allow you to move between different characters in different scenarios (along with playing with all five characters at once)?

Rain and Hana live together in Hong-Kong, Hana is free from the triad, but couldn’t cut all her bounds with her past, that’s why she’s still accepting missions. Their relation is more official than it was in Fear Effect Retro Helix, they’re clearly a couple, but their relation is still the same, Hana overprotects Rain and Rain needs to be part of Hana’s life, including following her in her missions, and in Sedna she’ll have the last word, so she’s a very important in the 5 character cast.

If you played the prototype, you saw that you can switch any time between all your controlled characters, that’s an important feature, but to stay close to Fear Effect, you’ll not choose who you control, it’ll depend on the story, some part will focus on Hana and Rain, others on Decke and Glas, not to forget Axel, the new character in Sedna.

What kind of missions will players encounter in Fear Effect Sedna? In this post-Shadowrun/Wasteland 2/XCOM era, how difficult was it to create unique challenges and enemies for players?

We will have a lot of missions, each with different gameplays: infiltration, team gunfight and even investigation, but every mission will be driven by the story, the story is really important for us, and the core of the game. That’s why we’re very happy to work with John Zuur Platten; he’s forming an awesome team with Lucie, our writer.

The most difficult part with the game you mention is the comparison. We chose this gameplay, not to copy Shadowrun, but only because it seemed perfectly fit for the game and the story we want to tell. The fact is that as soon as the first screenshots popped, the game was compared to this huge success. It’s difficult, because we think that beside the similarities, it’s clearly not the same game, and we’d like the player to make their opinion with the first Fear Effect in mind rather than these games.

Can you tell us about the different skills that players can utilize in-game? Can players customize the characters to fill certain roles?

All I can say currently is that what you see in the prototype is not exactly what you’ll get in the game. Each character has his/her own strength and weakness and the skills will depend on these traits, amongst other things.

"We don’t have any idea about the release date yet, but we’re confident that it will be released before the end of 2017."

Given that the game will focus on the relationship between the characters in between gameplay as well as during cut scenes, is there a chance that the original voice cast will appear? If not, how do the new voice actors fit into their roles?

The original cast is not an option unfortunately, some actors don’t make voice acting anymore, others are too famous for an indie game budget, unfortunately, but we have plans about that. We’re looking for new actors with voices very close to the original, we’re not happy with every voices in the prototype, and even not with our process to record the voices, so it’s going to change for sure, we received some nice feedback about Hana’s voice, but others voices were less appreciated, it’s a point we’ll working on, for sure, voices are an important aspect of the Fear Effect games.

What can you tell us about Mission Mode at this point? What kinds of objectives, puzzles, random enemies, etc. can players expect?

We’re currently focused on the story mode, but the mission mode is an important feature we announced. The idea is to let the player free to use the character and the strategy he wants to reach the objective. It’s like a different game, in fact and will provide a longer, less story-driven experience for the players who liked the combat system in Sedna.

We didn’t finish the reflection about the missions but it may be objectives like “complete this map in less than 3 minutes”, or “complete this map using only close ranged weapons”, etc…

What is the current status of development? When can we expect the game to release at this point?

Thanks to the prototype release we’re very close from a fully functional core game, even if we have a lot of features to add, including fog of warm skills, etc…

Arts and assets for the 3 first levels are finished, so everything is running pretty smoothly. We don’t have any idea about the release date yet, but we’re confident that it will be released before the end of 2017.

"We played a lot of strategy games on console, and we found that Dragon’s Age has the best approach in porting a tactical gameplay on consoles, it inspired us a lot…"

Have you encountered any obstacles in translating the game’s tactical action approach to consoles?

Yes. Even more because we have PC and console players in the team… We played a lot of strategy games on console, and we found that Dragon’s Age has the best approach in porting a tactical gameplay on consoles, it inspired us a lot, but we changed the default control configuration many, many times. Now I’m pretty happy with the gameplay with a gamepad. For example, when she’s not testing something related to controls, Claire, our QA lead, is using a PS4 gamepad.

Is the game going to run at 1080p and 60fps on both PS4 and Xbox One?

Currently we’re only working on PC only, that’s why the prototype is not available on consoles. Once the development is closer to its end, we’ll start working on consoles port, but I’m very confident it’ll be the case!

Do you have any plans to support the PS4 Pro and Xbox Scorpio?

Not especially, the game is a 2.5D game with isometric view; it is not a very heavy game in term of processing. The only thing a little more heavy we’re working on are the particles and background animation, if you played the prototype you can see that we worked a lot on this aspect of the game, because it is part of Fear Effect.

So the game will work on Pro and Scorpio, but on “old” versions as well.

Is there anything else you want to tell us before we let you go?

Thank you for your support, we really hope you liked the prototype; we are working hard on making the best game possible, you haven’t see anything yet.

Cult classic horror action title Fear Effect finally returns…as a tactical role playing game. Fear Effect Sedna is in development by Sushee with help from the Square Enix Collective program and will head to Kickstarter on April 12th for its funding. The funding goal will be €100,000.

Much like, say, Shadowrun Returns, Fear Effect Sedna will have an isometric perspective where characters take turns in combat and move around the map. You’ll have five characters to control – which means the original cast of Hana, Rain Qin, Royce Glas and Jacob ‘Deke’ DeCourt all return. The roles they’ll play haven’t been confirmed but you can count on the story continuing from Retro Helix.

If funded, Fear Effect Sedna will release in 2017. Whether you’re a fan or not of the PS1 action series, it’s good to see the return of Fear Effect. Let us know what you think of the new tactical RPG approach in the comments.

Which is why GamingBolt had a chance to speak to Spiral House creative director Kevin Oxland, technical director Bobby Earl and assistant producer Amy Scott about the concept of Troll & I, the kind of gameplay gamers can expect and when we can expect the crowd-funding campaign will go live.

"Essentially without giving too much of the story away, our heroes are on an adventure through a vast expanse of land across Scandinavia. Therefore you will see varying environments including delving into the Troll world where things are a bit more fantasy-esque, and BIG!"

Troll and I is a very unique concept, meshing gritty realism with fantasy elements. What served as the inspiration for the setting?

Silver was the first game Spiral House worked on back in 1999. It was a multi-character based RPG where the player could swap characters at the click of a button. We wanted to go back to that and create a dual protagonist game with two very strong characters in their own right. Not only would the characters be pivotal to the story, but would have a real presence in the gameplay too. At the time of Troll and I’s conception, our Creative Director, Kevin Oxland, had an idea for a story about a Troll community living in Scandinavia, and a billionaire man who has a bit too much time and money on his hands who wants to catch a troll for his collection of rare animals. Both of these ideas came together to make the story of Troll and I.

Tell us a bit more about the environments we’ll be exploring. How much of the world is mired in reality and how much of it delves into the fantasy realm?

You can actually get a sneak peek of some of the environments via our website. Essentially without giving too much of the story away, our heroes are on an adventure through a vast expanse of land across Scandinavia. Therefore you will see varying environments including delving into the Troll world where things are a bit more fantasy-esque, and BIG!

Experience tells us that friendships between men and monsters often go awry. Will we see something similar with Otto and the Troll? If so, how does this play into the overall journey they embark on?

There is no such thing with our two heroes. They are both in their infancy, and rely on each other to survive. Their relationship will not go awry, but there are plenty more dangers out there to keep the duo on their toes. The player will experience the emotional journey the two characters go on as they come to discover each other, their worlds, and become great friends.

Can you tell us a bit more about the game’s factions and how they factor into the story?

Unfortunately we cannot say much without giving away a central point of the story. All I can say at this point is that a disaster happens very early on in Episode1 which opens up portals to a different world, leaking monsters into ours. This gives a whole additional ‘quest’ and enemy types into the game!

"We have a plan for crowdfunding all set out and ready to go. However, we have not decided yet if crowdfunding is the route that we are going to take. We should have more information in the coming months."

What can you tell us about the current combat system? We’ve seen Otto rely on quick slices while Troll smashes opponents. Will there be room for joint attacks or any special moves?

Otto is more suited to melee, ranged combat and stealth due to his size. Troll is a beast with massive power behind him, but he is cumbersome and slower. They are both young and learning much, so their skills and abilities will grow as the story progresses.

There are many facets to the game, one of which being the combat system; both melee and ranged. We’ve designed the game in such a way that you, the player, could choose different ways to approach every given scenario. For example, you could go in as Otto, brandishing a machete, ready to take on whatever comes his was in a melee situation. Or you could sneak in as Otto, and stealthily move around the scene taking out the bad guys as you go. The stealth approach requires patience, skill, and keen observational skills in order to avoid being spotted.

You could instead go in as Troll, and ask Otto to stay behind. Using Troll’s brute strength you could pound your way through a combat scenario. Or you could also go in as both characters and fight as a team.

Each method has their pros and cons, and some areas are designed with a particular approach in mind. It is up to the player to work that out, but we have not made other approaches ‘impossible’, just more difficult. For instance, taking Troll though a stealth zone is probably not a good idea, especially when enemies with old WWII sirens in the vicinity!

What is the current status of Troll and I’s crowd funding campaign? When can we look forward to it?

We have a plan for crowdfunding all set out and ready to go. However, we have not decided yet if crowdfunding is the route that we are going to take. We should have more information in the coming months.

Troll and I takes an episodic approach to its storytelling which has proven to be quite successful for a number of titles. How did it benefit the development process and the overall presentation of the story?

We wanted to create something of quality and something that stood out in its own right. However, we couldn’t do a tale such as ‘Troll and I’ as an entire ‘normal sized’ game in the timeframe we have due to our team size. So to retain the quality, we decided upon an episodic approach with the design and story being designed with that in mind from the ground up, rather than breaking up a whole game into pieces. Each episode works on its own and as part of a greater whole. The development has been a refreshing change actually, because even though we have the entire story arc written, we can really focus on each episode in lots of detail before moving onto the next.

Will players have absolute freedom in choosing how they want to play the game? Can they opt for a variety of approaches due to the nature of the two protagonists?

As previously mentioned, players will have freedom to play the game how they want, but some approaches will be much more difficult than others. In regards to the puzzle elements and the combat, you will have to learn each character’s strengths and weaknesses and use these accordingly.

"Troll and I is currently targeted at 1080p / 30fps on both consoles. The 30/60 fps debate has been ongoing, and for some 3D action games, especially ones such as Troll and I where you want to also tell a cinematic story, 60fps may not give you the best viewing experience."

Will Troll and Otto be available at all times or will there be certain missions wherein only one can be utilized?

Yes, both characters will be available at all times. You also have the option to give one hero commands whilst playing as the other hero. For example, when playing as Otto, you can ask Troll to stay behind, follow, call for help, pick you up, etc. but in the story, there will be times when they have been separated; but we don’t want to go into too much detail at this stage.

What are your thoughts on developing for the Xbox One and PS4? How do they differ from the PC’s architecture?

Our Spiral House Engine has been developed over the past 15 years, it has been cross platform since the beginning and adapted / re-engineered to each platform as it was released. The architecture, this time around, has been a lot closer than previous generations, getting the most out of a PS3 was a lot different than PC. I guess as an old analogy you could compare it to the IBM compatibles that came out in the early 80’s.

Hundreds of companies were developing computers at the time, but only when conformity of IBM clones came along did the PC software market stabilize. The same is true for game developers, the closer the architecture’s across platforms becomes, developers can focus more time on game code and worry less about the differences between platform architecture.

Will the game run at 1080p and 60fps on both the consoles?

Troll and I is currently targeted at 1080p / 30fps on both consoles. The 30/60 fps debate has been ongoing, and for some 3D action games, especially ones such as Troll and I where you want to also tell a cinematic story, 60fps may not give you the best viewing experience. Take the 50fps release of ‘The Hobbit’ in cinemas, a lot people did not like the feeling it gave them after watching. This doesn’t take away the fact that running at 30fps has other benefits as well, mainly twice as much CPU and GPU time. 60fps is essential for some games, but in our case 30fps was favoured for several reasons.

Is there anything else you want to tell us before we let you go?

If you want to keep on top of the latest news then you can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and check out our websites and forum! We would love to hear the public’s views.

Before we go into the details, you may not know what the Square Enix Collective is. Here’s the official description “Collective is a curated platform that enables creators to post ideas, and gamers to judge whether those ideas should become reality or not. Every idea that’s successful with the community is checked and helped by Square Enix,”. So long story short, you most likely won’t find the next Goat Simulator here.

Moving on! Square Enix Collective have today announced the success of the Kickstarter campaign for the upcoming PlayStation 4 and PC “myth weaving rpg”, Moon Hunters. Starting out with a $45,000 CAD goal, the project not only exceeded it’s initial funding less than 48 hours but has continued to rake it in. Its campaign now sits pretty at $108,089 CAD.

Moon Hunters first drew the eye of Square Enix when Phil Elliot of the Square Enix Collective spotted it. He said, “Moon Hunters caught my eye very early on with its great visual style and design bursting with personality.” The 1-4 player action rpg is currently in development by Kitfox Games, a development part based in Montreal Canada.