“Happy lyrics should always be paired with a minor key and vice versa!” – a guest teacher at my music school once said with certainty that you need that touch of melancholy to make things interesting.
Well, writing a video game script might not be the same as writing a hit song, but those words still pop into my mind from time to time and definitely popped up while I was working on it trough. Because while it may not be a universal truth, combining the lighthearted and the heavy can create something special. More importantly, it helps us create something relatable.
I remember when my close friend’s father died. It was sudden and unexpected, and he had to wait until the next day to catch the train north to join the rest of his family. I kept him company for the night and we spent the evening taking turns crying and remembering his father and laughing at overly intense Messer infomercials on TV. People have always used humor to deal with it, and it felt natural for us to go that route wave story,
at its core, trough deals with some weighty themes: the loss of a daughter and mother, a grandmother who buries her grief with work, and a lost city grappling with the aftermath of war. And in the midst of it all is Sigrid, a lonely teenage girl who has never known a life but this one – until an old enemy returns and changes everything. But instead of keeping a tight grip on the dark aspects of Sigrid’s experience, we often chose to put it on the sidelines for Grandma to pun on about bananas or for Sigrid to remember the time she had an eel as a pet. Your fears and worries always exist in the periphery, but they rarely take over completely.
There were various reasons for going down this route, one of which was gameplay. trough it’s about movement. Much of the game’s dialogue takes place as you surf the waves of Strandville, and an intricate conversation about your role in a war of the past just doesn’t come into its own when the player happily launches into the air or takes a daring dive make the water surface. We had to find ways to convey those feelings and stories without them clashing with the player’s actions.
But even outside of the more technical reasons, I also find this method a helpful tool to make difficult topics approachable. We really wanted to tell a story that felt hopeful. trough emerged mainly during a raging pandemic, and perhaps our own need for warmth and optimism influenced our work. A crisis can drive people apart, but it can also bring us together in unexpected ways, just like when Sigrid realizes that…well, I’ll leave you to play the game and see how things play out.
trough
thundering
$29.99
Explore the open seas and crumbling archipelago of Strandville in Wavetale, a story-driven action-adventure game that introduces you to weary fishermen, mysterious hermits, and maybe a pirate or two. Traverse calm waters and surging waves as Sigrid, a young girl who befriends a mysterious shadow that gives her the power to walk on water. Race through the waves, swing your web of rooftops and defeat monstrous enemies to save the islands’ inhabitants. All with a little help from the shadows below – and your moody grandmother.
