Psychogeographical RPG Hopetown in the Spirit of Disco Elysium and Planescape: Torment Emerged from the Shadows — First Screenshot Published

London-based studio Longdue, founded by former ZA/UM, Bungie, Rockstar and Brave At Night employees, has released the first gameplay screenshot of its Disco Elysium-inspired psychogeographical RPG Hopetown.

Image source: Longdue

Let us remind you that players will get the role of a cynical and unbalanced journalist who likes to press on sore spots, pull the strings and watch what happens, and also considers humanity to be selfish and cruel by nature.

The aforementioned screenshot shows a conversation between the protagonist and the old lady with the pigeons, Prudence. The interlocutor hands the heroine a loaf of bread, saying that “these birds are the cleanest animals on the damn island.”

There are four answer options, but the last one is not available:

• Note the admirable characteristic of pigeons “giving the dirt on the ground a ghost of a chance to soar into the sky”;
• Take the bread by agreeing to “feed the masses” / “sky rats” (gonzo reporter option);
• Tell about how, as a child, her sister plucked all the feathers from the heroine’s bird in the hopes of making a boa (middle child option).

As the journalist of the Rock Paper Shotgun portal noted, the quality of dialogues in Hopetown, judging by the screenshot, does not reach the level of Disco Elysium. However, it is premature to judge the game based on one frame.

At the same time, Rock Paper Shotgun noted the high quality of the artistic component of Hopetown: “It’s hard to believe that this is not concept art, the game looks so good.”

Hopetown doesn’t have a release date, but Longdue is planning to launch the game on Kickstarter. They promise a journalism-based RPG system, a mix of Disco Elysium and Planescape: Torment, and a reimagining of the psychological RPG genre.

Hopetown features voice actor Lenval Brown, who also voiced the character’s skills in Disco Elysium