KickStarter NoseBound - P&C Noir Detective Adventure

[Jaesun]

An adventure game in chapters. A detective story in the vein of Film Noir. An unusual path into a paranormal realm.

An old detective going head to head against a twisted organization. An unimaginable mystery waiting in the very bowels of the city. And a story that unfolds like a charmed, churned circle of deception. Expect to find yourself exploring gruesome murder scenes, facing tense shootouts and surviving narrow escapes in a noir ambiance depicted like never before in a game.

Take control of a private eye with a gritty past, unorthodox methods and nothing to lose. A depressive ex-husband, ex-father and ex-Sergeant, removed from the force after an awful incident. Now he just tries to stay alive making a living by snooping around and charging people for it.

Investigate the crime scene, interrogate some suspects, snoop around following clues. And as soon as you poke your nose deep enough, the big trouble begins. Try to solve the case with your wits, or your guns.

The adventure will be presented in Chapters; similar to a Sherlock Holmes novel. Each Chapter will contain one case, one story, always noir, always bizarre. Each case has an obscure theme with a touch of corruption and paranormal mystery.​

There is a PC/Windows demo available here.

Asking for $13,957. $25 gets you a full digital download of the game. $19 gets you a copy of only CHAPTER ONE.

UNFORTUNATELY this is going to be released chapter wise (dear kickstarter devs THIS IS ALWAYS ALWAYS A BAD IDEA, Just FYI).

Looks................................... interesting?

 

[MRY]

presented in Chapters; similar to a Sherlock Holmes novel. Each Chapter will contain one case, one story, always noir, always bizarre

That is not how Sherlock Holmes novels work.

 

[Redlands]

That is not how Sherlock Holmes novels work.

Maybe not; but, to be fair, it is how some of Agatha Christie's stories were first published. I can't remember right now if it was some of the novels that were broken up or the short stories, but I do remember reading that some of them appeared in Strand magazine before appearing in (book) print.

 

[tuluse]

Sherlock cases weren't noir though, and while some were bizarre, I wouldn't really use that word.

 

[Zephyr Arsland]

I *almost* know the developer, I'm sure he will deliver! I wholeheartedly support this!
(Also, argentinian game, w00t!)

 

[MRY]

Right: Sherlock Holmes novels were not noir, not bizarre (really), and not episodic. But otherwise, totally the same.

 

[Redlands]

Right: Sherlock Holmes novels were not noir, not bizarre (really), and not episodic. But otherwise, totally the same.

Oh really? Well, I just checked; and The Hound of the Baskervilles was serialised (the early 20th century equivalent for episodic) in Strand; additionally, some of the short stories that have since been published in collections were also separated into different issues.

I also think you're juxtapositioning two ideas: they are presented in chapters, like the serialised versions of Conan Doyle (first idea); and that the chapters that they (not Doyle) are producing are noir and bizarre.

But then, if you want to get butthurt over nothing but your own ignorance (seriously, I gave you Strand on a silver platter and you couldn't even do the most perfunctory of web searches to see if what applied to Christie applied to Doyle as well?) and misunderstanding, go ahead.

 

[MRY]

Oh really? Well, I just checked; and The Hound of the Baskervilles was serialised (the early 20th century equivalent for episodic) in Strand; additionally, some of the short stories that have since been published in collections were also separated into different issues.

Not sure how I offended you, but apologies for doing so.

That said, "episodic" and "serialized" are actually opposite concepts, not synonyms. Both are stories that are released in parts. But "episodic" means that each part can stand alone as a complete story; "serialized" means that each part builds on the last in a single continuous story. For example, Dickens serialized his novels, but Dickens's novels are not "episodic." (To be clear, these are points on a continuum, not islands: for example, X-Files had both episodic and serial aspects, and obviously every novel is composed of "episodes" in some sense.)

The Kickstarter pitch used neither "episodic" nor "serial": instead, it said: "[e]ach Chapter will contain one case, one story." That is not how Hound of the Baskervilles is written. Hound of the Baskervilles has 15 chapters. Here it is, if you haven't read it. I think we can agree that it doesn't contain 15 cases.

I also think you're juxtapositioning two ideas: they are presented in chapters, like the serialised versions of Conan Doyle (first idea); and that the chapters that they (not Doyle) are producing are noir and bizarre.

I wouldn't be giving them a hard time if they said, "Each episode is a self-contained case, like the stories of Sherlock Holmes, but they fit together into a larger character study." But they specifically use "chapter" and "novel." Also, it just struck me as kind of silly that Holmes would be the example they'd pick for a noir mystery -- watching the video and reading the rest of the pitch, the character ("Ray Hammond," for chrissake) is a noir detective, not a Victorian one. It's not like there weren't dozens of magazines publishing noir stories with recurrent protagonists; I bet if we looked hard enough, we could even find recurrent noir strange tales.

I guess my point -- which was really a small eye-roll, not a giant rant -- was just that it amused me that the pitch seemed to be name-checking something they didn't really understand. I wasn't criticizing your observation about the Strand.

 

[Redlands]

Not sure how I offended you, but apologies for doing so.

I wasn't offended, I was just slightly annoyed you kept going on about Doyle not being episodic when (excluding Hound of the Baskervilles for a moment, which is my own dumb fault for bringing it up as an example) a bunch of the short stories *could* be considered as episodic. They probably picked Doyle because most people are aware of his stories with the success of Sherlock; there really hasn't been the same thing with Raymond Chandler, for example.

Anyway, I don't know why I'm even getting involved with this: I don't like noir and I don't give a flying fig about this game or its developers. Must be bored I guess.

 

[MRY]

I think we're in agreement, you are just being less pedantic.

 

[JarlFrank]

I love noir. Artstyle is kinda weird, but looks promising overall.

 

[Cromwell]

"you are inn grave danger - please be more specific -. these people are dangerous!" :D

Noir and paranormal are a great mix

 

[Andhaira]

Are gunblades in?

 

[LESS T_T]

Over 4 years after the failed KS campaign:

NoseBound is an old style point and click adventure game that proposes an entangling detective story. By combining entertaining puzzles and dramatic scenes of action, the game sinks the player in a charmed, churned circle of deception, noire ambiance and a very peculiar opponent.

Key Features
• Pick-up Items, combination, basic crafting.
• Black & white Filters, Film noise, Scratches
• NP Characters with dialog options
• Puzzle mechanisms.
• Ladders, and other physical improvements of the character
• Pick-lock, breaking windows, and other alternate difficulties.
• Gunfights, duel combat, chasing, on special occasions to emphasize drama.

In NoseBound, you play as the character Ray Hammond, a private eye with a gritty past and unorthodox methods to pull off his job. The story brings you back and forth, from the end to the very beginning. Yours is the chance to find out what happened, how it happened, and to live the story by yourself.

The phone rings, you equip yourself with the basic detective gear and off the office you go. You start the investigation, interrogate some contacts, snoop around following clues, and as soon as you poke your nose deep enough, the big troubles begin. Troubles you may solve with your wits, or your guns.

NoseBound is heavily inspired by the works of H. P. Lovecraft, (The Call of Cthulhu) Raymond Chandler, (The Big Sleep) Dashiel Hammet (Red harvest). There is also a great work of reference on several Occult authors. Such as Aleister Crowley, Eliphas Levi, Papus and even Cornelius Agrippa. And when we say inspiration, it means that the game is not a transcript of any of these authors plays but aims, by the combination of this mixture of elements, to achieve something new and flesh, I mean, fresh.