Backfirewall_ “will push you to go rogue and wreak havoc into the system”

Backfirewall_ is a narrative adventure game that will appear on the Xbox Series X | S and Xbox One later this year. Contact Naraven Games to learn more about this tragic adventure.

After seeing the announcement of Backfirewall_ at Summer Game Fest, I thought it was a great opportunity to contact developer Naraven Games prior to launching the game on Xbox Series X | S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and PC. rice field. Julia Jean, co-founder and creative director of Naraven, and Lucie Robert, lead designer, have taken the time to answer Backfirewall_’s questions.

What is Backfirewall_?

Step into the metaphorical shoes of the Update Assistant, whose mission is to support OS 9, the obsolete operating system of smartphones. “This is a narrative adventure about smartphone operating systems, and it’s absolutely amazing to even want to update,” says Jean. “Also, the game has cool puzzles.”

“Backfirewall_ is about smartphones that never think about diligent and timeless apps and software that are doing their best to please us 24/7.”

This is a first-person adventure that relies heavily on story-driven storytelling and puzzle design, “crazy to immerse yourself in your smartphone (at least our version of what it can) and survive the update. We impose the task of entering an adventure on you, “says Robert. “To do that, you need to interact with colorful characters and confuse the environment with the help of some very cool cheat codes.”

When will Backfirewall_ start?

There is no release date for Backfirewall_ yet, but we know it will be released in 2022 on Xbox Series X | S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and PC. Don’t want to wait until the full release with your PC or laptop, you can play a short demo of the game through Backfirewall_Steam page..

What is Backfirewall_?

“Technical jokes, planned obsolescence, moral dilemmas. Literally, it’s the way an app (player) overcomes its destiny and discovers the microcosm, the phone system,” explains Robert. “To make the adventure more enjoyable, you will be accompanied by the current OS that uses his cheat code to drive you to become a villain and havoc on the system.” The current OS, OS9, is a game. It is a cheeky character who accompanies the journey. It may seem a bit like the portal’s Wheatley, but Jean reveals that the character wasn’t the inspiration. Continuous comments and confession by the VO companion. As for OS9, I happened to have a good friend who seemed to be interesting, and OS9 was born. true story. OS9 isn’t inspired by the portal Wheatley (now I fully understand why people think so!). “Chat with a character or discovering secrets and stories scattered around the game can challenge his blind faith in him,” Robert said. [OS9], Rethink the choice to update (or not). “

How does Backfirewall_ play?

Backfirewall_ focuses on the storyline, and while gameplay action complements the inclusive story, there are plenty of opportunities to cause confusion along the way. “All the gameplay mechanics of Backfirewall_ are to mess with the environment,” says Robert. “With some cheat code provided by the current OS, you can remove, flip, duplicate, or put color mode around the elements. These mechanisms not only pave the way, but also pave the way. It’s also useful for solving puzzles and annoying characters. “

In this adventure, you’ll move your smartphone’s operating system, find unwanted bugs, solve numerous puzzles using the cheat codes mentioned above, manipulate the environment, and terrorize the poor programs that exist inside. “I really wanted gameplay to support the story and the characters, so I tried to keep it balanced and fairly light so that I didn’t lose the rhythm set by the narration,” explains Robert. “The idea was to have puzzles and interactions that tell the story of the world throughout the game. That is, the game is primarily story-driven, but for example, enjoy removing something while following the story. can do!”

Due to the design of the deep story of the game, Jean says, “All words, whether VO or environmental text, are translated through subtitles.” Accessibility is an important goal of the Naraben Games team in developing Backfirewall_, and Robert sought to “make the game as organic as possible while creating the environment and puzzles.” He says. Of course, like any other feature, there were problems implementing some features. “On the more specific side, during development, we found that some ideas for accessibility features were much harder to implement than we first thought of,” continues Robert. “So we tried to focus on the main ones and hope to go further in the future.”

What is the world of Backfirewall_?

Backfirewall_ is done inside the smartphone, so move the core component that acts as the theme area. For example, a phone speaker acts as a bar that causes some downtime when the program is not doing day-to-day work. “Why do you walk around the phone components (RAM, GPU, battery, etc.) and encounter all the apps and software that work there, overwhelming them when the system isn’t updated?” Jean teaches. Will do it. Especially since I already feel “overwhelmed” by the lack of updates, it feels a bit sick to want to mess with them right now.

“Most of the characters we meet as players are apps that we already know (and are very angry with) in real life,” Jean continues. We are now feeling a little better about playing with them. “In a broad sense, we draw most of the inspiration from the world and storytelling like Pixar / DreamWorks.

Is there any news about Backfirewall_’s performance?

Backfirewall_ hasn’t been proven yet, but Jean says Naraven “has about 70 achievements and will not achieve either.” [will be] Getting it is very tedious. ”

The previous title of Naraven Games was Another Knot. This is a story-driven experience that is currently receiving a “very positive” rating. vapor.. When asked about the lessons learned from the team developing it, Jean told us, “You have to playtest as soon as possible. [and] Development time is twice as long as you think. Lesson 1 is always “The most important part of creating a game is to finish the game.” With the team learning these lessons before, Backfirewall_ can be enjoyed in full release as well as the demo. I hope that. ..

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