Draugen (video game)
Draugen is a first-person mystery adventure video game developed by Red Thread Games. Set in the 1920s, the plot entails an American naturalist visiting a Norwegian fishing village to find that the town's population has vanished. The player must explore the town, discover its fate and survive the night. The game emphasizes the more sinister aspects of Norwegian folklore.
| Draugen | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Red Thread Games |
| Publisher(s) | Red Thread Games |
| Director(s) | Ragnar Tørnquist |
| Writer(s) | Ragnar Tørnquist |
| Composer(s) | Simon Poole |
| Engine | Unreal Engine 4 |
| Platform(s) | Windows PlayStation 4 Xbox One |
| Release | Microsoft Windows
|
| Genre(s) | Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Plot
Edward Harden arrives in the remote village of Graavik with his young companion, Alice. Harden is in pursuit of his missing sister Elizabeth, whose last known location appears to be the household of the Fretland family of Graavik. Edward and Alice find the village completely deserted and seek out the Fretland farmhouse. With the owners missing, the pair settle in and wait for the arrival of the natives. Searching the house, Edward finds a tailor's dummy, wearing his sister's characteristic scarf, convincing him that Elizabeth had been or perhaps still is in the vicinity. During their first night, Edward catches a glimpse of a shadow at his window and gives chase, believing the figure to his sister. After a frantic pursuit through the hillside, he is found by Alice, who notes that their boat, tethered at the coast, has now disappeared, stranding them in the village.
The pair explore the village the next day, primarily for news of Elizabeth, but also to uncover the eerie events preceding the disappearance of the villagers. They learn that Graavik used to be a mining town, ran by brothers Johan and Fredrik Fretland. An unknown quarrel draws the brothers apart and their hostility to each other reflects upon their community. Ultimately, the death of Fredrik's daughter Ruth, for which Fredrik accuses his nephew Simon, brings the breaks the family bonds completely. Later on, Edward find Anna's diary entries showing concern for Ruth, who had apparently been making secret visits somewhere on the island and hoarding seemingly ancient Viking trinkets.
In the meantime, Edward finds various articles of clothing, like a hat, a pair of gloves and a brooch, which he asserts to belong to her sister and left behind as breadcrumbs for him to find her. Also, tension begin to rise between the scientifically minded and sceptical Edward and the empathetic and compassionate Alice, who insists Edward to break out of his obsession of seeking his sister and piece together the tragedy in Graavik. On their fourth day in the village, the pair hear the ringing of the church bell, which they race to investigate. They enter the boarded up and abandoned church, and find the records of recent births and deaths. Finding a recent, unnamed burial, Edward is violently distraught and digs up the deceased - not his sister but a stranger. His relief is rebuked by a furious Alice, who castigates his increasingly unhinged behaviour and callousness to the world around him. An incandescent Edward banishes Alice in rage, who disintegrates into thin air - revealing that she was a figment of Edward's imagination. Remorseful, Edward gives chase and begs Alice's forgiveness. At the Fretland farmhouse, Alice hurls herself off of the roof to Edward's horror. At the side of her limp body, Edward is rebuked by a large angelic statue, insisting he's not alone. Later, the angel and Alice, now revived, try to dissuade Edward from his obsession but Edward casts them out forever. Now alone, Edward unlocks the final room of the house, finding the deceased body of his host, Anna Fretland. Edwards also finds a letter written by a bereaved and distraught Fredrik, promising closure, and a lighter which Edward claims to belong to Elizabeth.
Concluding that Elizabeth came to Graavik to write the story of the Fretlands, he makes way to the hill, first to Johan's farmhouse where he finds correspondence from Fretlands' British investor threatening financial ruin in the event of public disclosure of a particular fact: Fretland mine housed a Viking stash, discovery of which would close the mining operations. It was this event that drove Fretlands apart and sowed distrust between Johan and Fredrik. Fredrik covered up the find, with the collaboration of his investor but a later cave-in shut it down for good and ruined him. Fredrik interprets Ruth's death by misadventure at the cliffside as revenge by his brother's family and possibly burned his house down in retaliation. Edward finally breaches the mine and comes to what appears to be the Viking hoard. However, as he attempts to uncover it, the mine begins to collapse and Edward barely makes it out. He is immediately called at by his sister's voice, who summons him back to Fretland house. Following the voice to the room where he'd been sleeping for the past week, Edward's sanity frays and he treats the tailor's mannequin, which he had been adorning with his sister's belongings, as her sister. He suddenly realises that the articles turn extremely old. Suddenly, Edward is confronted with Alice and the angel - who break the news to him. Elizabeth Harden had died in infancy, drowned in a pond. Edward, 11 at the time, brought her dead body to his mother, who later hanged herself, only to be followed by his father who shot himself. Edward's relentless pursuit for Elizabeth was a coping mechanism for his trauma. Alice and the angel, his antithesis as a young, optimistic and compassionate, and a manifestation of his lapsed faith, thus accompanied him at all times.
Reconciling with his loss, Edward and Alice witness their missing boat return from the fyord.
Gameplay
Draugen follows Edward Harden and Lissie, searching for Edward's missing sister Betty in Graavik.[1] It is split into six chapters, where each chapter represents one day.[2] During that time, Edward and Lissie go further into the mysteries by finding letters, exploring the areas, and putting all the clues together.[3] In its noir-styled story narrative,[4] Draugen deals with certain themes, including psychology, isolation, and trauma.[5] There is an interactive component, where besides having dialogue choices, the players are able to engage with the world though objects (drawing in a personal journal, playing on a piano, ringing bells, and others).[6]
Development
The game was developed for Windows, Mac and Linux. It was initially slated for a November 2014 release, the same month that Dreamfall Chapters was set to debut.[7]
Red Thread received a grant of NOK 850,000 (US$144,000) from the Norwegian Film Institute to produce the game. This made up the lion's share of the game's budget of NOK 1,192,546 (US$200,000).[8]
References
- Porecca, Ray (June 9, 2019). "Review: Draugen". Destructoid. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
- Cress, Laura (June 7, 2019). "Draugen". Adventure Gamers. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
- Bell, Alice (May 31, 2019). "Wot I Think: Draugen". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
- Byrd, Christopher (June 6, 2019). "'Draugen' is a picturesque game about delusional thinking". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
- McDonell, Jess (May 30, 2019). "Draugen Review - You Decide What Is Real". Gamespot. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
- Cross, Katherine (May 28, 2019). "How Draugen lets down its characters". Gamasutra. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
- Yin-Poole, Wesley (30 October 2013). "Dreamfall Developer Announces First-Person Survival Horror Draugen". Eurogamer.
- "Draugen - Grant Announcement". Norwegian Film Institute. 25 October 2015.