Beyond the mortal world
Find your way through a mysterious world.
Somewhere between life and death.
Discover who you were and where you are going.
Maybe you can find your way back
— or will you move on?
In the visual novel Forest of Souls („Wald der Seelen“) you are exploring a mysterious forest alongside different characters. A forest that appears to seperate life and death.
On your journey, you have the chance to form closer bonds with your fellow travelers. Will you be foes, friends or even something more? It is your choice.
Find out the truth about your past and discover what awaits in the heart of this forest of souls.
(game language: German)Grimm is a guiding figure that - regardless of who the player decides to pursue a deeper relationship with - accompanies the players throughout the entire game. They are surrounded by an air of mystery and seem unapproachable at first glance, with a piercing gaze that sees all.
While they appear in their human form within our vertical slice, their appearance reflects something otherwordly. Their features, while mostly masculine, reflect androginy and seem unoptainable for a mortal person.
They have a very focused and collected demeanor. While being so composed, they seem more closed off or hard to crack and get to know on a deeper level. This conveys the idea of them wanting to remain in control of this world and their surroundings.
Louis is a charming guy, who comes from a wealthy family but doesn‘t fit in the posh lifestyle himself and would rather pursue individuality. While being funloving and driven, he can also come off as talking down to the people he is around.
His face and hairstyling reflects his contemporary style, a certain coolnes and laid-backness. He might even seem too cool to some, but after approaching and engaging with him, his charm will take over.
Louis is someone who is always in motion and can be quite scatter-brained. He is almost never closed off and suggests an openness with his body language, because he embraces new encounters and is approachable.
Romy is a funloving person in a loveless environment. Her face reflects an emotional versitility and maturity, that may have been forced onto her by her life's circumstances.
Romy‘s style reflects her desire to be able to express herself more freely. While being stuck in a highly draining work environment, she struggles to let her adventurous and happy side shine through.
In our vertical slice, she is still in a closed off state. After facing a difficult experience, she is reserved. She keeps her limbs close to the center of her body, signaling that she has her guard up and doesn‘t open up easily. At the same time, she is not afraid to voice her boundaries and demand her space.
This project came to life during my 5th and 6th semester. A fellow student and I conceptualized the idea during the 5th, and as a group of five, we created a vertical slice of the game during the 6th semester.
It was very interesting to work on this project as it was my first opportunity to write an interactive non-linear story, which is something I wanted to gain experience in for some time now.
Other than that, we also had a different approach on this one, as it was the first project for which we had publishing and porting to other consoles in mind, so many decisions during development were influenced by that, always keeping performance in mind.
Project info
Project type
Group project (5 members)
Time frame
6th semester: April - Sept. 2023, ~450 hours (+~100 voluntary hours of preparation during the 5th semester)
Software
Miro, Ink Plugin for Unity, Photoshop
My tasks and learnings
Games Writing for non-linear stories, development with publishment in mind