After nearly four years, I’ve finally completed the video game I’ve been working on: Rakuen! I’m hoping to release the game within the next couple months, but the Steam Page is live as of last month, so you can wishlist the game now if you’d like!
Rakuen (which actually has its own website) is an adventure game about a little Boy who lives in the hospital. One day, the Boy asks his Mom to escort him to the fantasy world from his favorite storybook, so that he can ask the Guardian of the Forest to grant him one wish. In order to receive his wish, the Boy must complete a set of challenges that revolve around helping his neighbors in the hospital by interacting with their alter-egos in the fantasy world…
In terms of gameplay, I’d say it’s like a mix between Maniac Mansion, To the Moon, and Zelda: A Link to the Past (but without battles). It’s primarily a story-driven game, where you traverse each character’s life to learn about their unfinished business and help them through it. The gameplay mixes whimsical dungeons, eerie room escape puzzles, and dialogue-based mysteries that are intricately tied to the story. The original soundtrack, which can be previewed on Bandcamp has 52-tracks (10 of which are vocal songs).
Finishing this game has definitely been a huge challenge, but I’m so happy and thankful I was given the chance to work on something like this. I really hope that people will be able to enjoy it, and I’ll try my best to keep everyone updated on the release date. Take care and have a safe, healthy and happy 2017!