We’ve seen quite a revival in the point and click adventure genre over the last few years. It seemed to die out for a short while, with classics like Monkey Island, Discworld and Broken Sword beginning to feel like distant memories. Luckily for us they’re back – we’ve seen some new adventures, remakes of the classics along with new efforts from old-school developers such as Ron Gilbert.
We also get to see the efforts of indie developers – one such title being Demetrios – The BIG Cynical Adventure. You can check out it’s debut trailer below:
It looks like point and click fans are in for a treat with Demetrios – it features a fantastic art style along with the aforementioned ‘cynical’ humour. It also tries to spice up the genre a little with a few unique ideas.
It recently achieved full funding on Kickstarter so we’ll definitely see the game arrive early next year. With three days to go though, it can still hit some of those stretch goals! You can check out the Kickstarter through this link.
I recently got a chance to have a chat with Demetrios creator Breton Fabrice about the title – check it out below:
Use A Potion:
In your own words how would you describe Demetrios?
Breton Fabrice:
Demetrios is a Point & Click adventure game inspired by classics such as the Broken Sword and Runaways series, but with a personal touch of cynical humour, a lot of interactivity, and many unexpected things!
Use A Potion:
You say that Demetrios was originally fully developed back in 2001 but never saw release. What motivated you to return to the title and what changes have you made over the original version?
Breton Fabrice:
Yes, I finished the first version in 2001 and it was a complete, varied and long game! I always wanted to go back to it, but my studies and then my job prevented it.
The remake retains everything that made the original game unique, but everything has been recreated from scratch and improved – the graphics, the music, the gameplay, the interactivity, the humour… along with tons of additions!
I’ve actually written an article comparing the two versions with screenshots!
Use A Potion:
Has development been pretty smooth thus far or have there been a few stumbling blocks?
Breton Fabrice:
Mostly smooth. Considering it’s a remake, I have a clear view of what has to be done. But it’s still an insane amount of work for a single person!
Use A Potion:
You’re obviously a big fan of the point and click genre. Which titles would you say have been the biggest influence to Demetrios?
Breton Fabrice:
I started this game in 1999, after playing Broken Sword 1 & 2 and Discworld 2 on Playstation, and Gabriel Knight 1 on my computer. I had a copy of Visual Basic 4.0 (a programming language I was familiar with) and I got an idea for a game that would be a mix of everything I liked about them! So I’d say these games had the biggest influence on Demetrios, along with some visual novels like Phoenix Wright for the remake.
Use A Potion:
You mention there’ll be a lot of fun minigames in Demetrios – not something that is commonly seen in point and click adventures. What other ways does Demetrios try to spice up the classic point and click formula?
Breton Fabrice:
I’d say the humour and the interactivity, obviously! How many games allow you to… pee on a plant in a police department, for example? 😛
Also, the first person view is usually associated to Myst-like games, but Demetrios is much closer to the third person views adventures with a lot of characters to talk to. One big advantage of first person is there’s no idle time. You don’t have to wait for your character to move in order to get a reaction, and moving to another location is instant! Everything is smoother and faster.
Use A Potion:
You mention in your Kickstarter that the game features a comic book / Disney style, and you can see from screenshots that Demetrios does have its own unique look. What made you choose this style of graphics?
Breton Fabrice:
I’m a big fan of traditional animation and I wanted something colourful, similar to the Disney and Ghibli animated films. I can’t really say I’m an artist; I’ve never drawn or coloured much in my life before this project so they were a big source of inspiration. I’ve spent a lot of time studying how they were done, just by looking – how the lighting was set, how the painting was done.
Use A Potion:
You’ve already reached your goal on Kickstarter so the game will definitely get to see development. How did you feel when the game hit its target? After seeing so many games’ Kickstarter campaigns fail it must have been quite a relief?
Breton Fabrice:
Well it’s actually pretty far in development! (about 60%)
As you’ve said, many Kickstarters fail and don’t even get more than 50 backers so I’m very glad it was successful!
Kickstarter relies a lot on trust, and it’s hard to get people to trust you when it’s your first game, hence the small goal. Hopefully I’ll deliver a great game so I can make something even more ambitious after this! 🙂
Use A Potion:
Following on from the Kickstarter success, when can we expect to get our hands on the full version of Demetrios?
Breton Fabrice:
Since its announcement, I’ve said “Early 2016”. Currently I’m aiming for a release in May 2016! I’ll try not to deviate too much from this, but game development is never easy to predict. I’ll release it when I’m confident it is great quality!
Use A Potion:
Finally, can you tell us something about Demetrios that no-one except you knows?
Breton Fabrice:
Yes… There’s a third main character in the game. Sandra is a single mother of an annoying girl named Caroline that everyone will love to hate! 😛
Demetrios – The Big Cynical Adventure is coming to us from Cowcat Games – check out more on the official website or back the game through it’s Kickstarter here!
