The Ask The.... series has returned with another amazing interview, this time I had the absolute pleasure of speaking to the developers of the exciting new RPG Cabernet, Laura and Arseniy from Party for Introverts.
Here's an insight into the game below:
Master vampiric abilities, plan your next feast, and survive the night. In Cabernet, become the fledgling vampire Liza and immerse yourself in a visually stunning, thematically rich narrative that's shaped by the choices you make and the relationships you forge.
Straddle the worlds of the living and the undead as you explore an atmospheric small town at the end of the 19th century and navigate a sophisticated story about social conflict, alcoholism, and corruption. Get to know this society's human and supernatural inhabitants and decide who will be your next meal, interacting through dialogue and wrestling with moral choices that can have far-reaching consequences.
But beware - a vampire must decide their next move before the deadly Sunrise. Use the many vampiric powers at your disposal to stave off hunger, transforming into a bat, hypnotising your prey, or turning invisible. Will you drink just enough to survive, or be consumed by the thrill of the hunt?
Without further ado let's get into the interview:
For those that don't know about you and the game, tell me a little about you both and what the game is all about?
Cabernet is a 2D narrative RPG set in a 19th century vampiric world. You play as Liza, a young doctor's apprentice as she navigates this new existence that she has been thrust into. While the game is highly story-based and focuses on character relationships and power dynamics, we injected some fun mechanics for the player, including bat transformation, enchantment, and an interactive feeding cycle.
As Cabernet is our first full-length game at our studio, Party for Introverts, it's an incredibly exciting and meaningful project for us. Arseniy is a former Manager of Production at PlayStation and Laura has worked as a theatre producer and voice actress, so we tend to combine our experiences when crafting our games. While we are a two-person team, we also collaborate with some amazing creators to bring our games to life.
What was the inspiration behind the game?
The game originally came from our love of vampires and folklore- whether in literature, comics, games or movies. However, our games always have a particular throughline or theme, so creating a vampire game sat on the backburner until something really made emotional sense.
It wasn't until we decided to explore alcoholism - a topic personally significant to us - as a parallel journey/metaphor for vampirism that the game really started to come together. Our main character deals with both her personal journey of consuming Cabernet (blood) while also reflecting upon alcohol and addiction's impact on her own familial life.
Any tips for how to get the most out of the game?
Explore and meet characters! While our game definitely focuses on the main story we are trying to convey, there are plenty of colorful characters to meet. These interactions will really enrich your experience- and may even have an impact on exactly how well your story concludes...
If you could be a character from the game who would you be and why?
Laura: This is tricky, but I'd have to say the vampiress Arban. She is incredibly worldly and has been through a lot, but somehow has managed to retain her compassion. And, I mean, who wouldn't want to try out being a vampire?
Arseniy: It's tough to choose as I am the lead writer and consequently I feel like I put a lot of myself in many of the characters - the good, the bad and the ugly. I'll pick Roman, as I think I strive to be more like him, and also have to go the furthest distance to get there.
What got you started creating games?
It really came from wanting to tell stories that connect with others. The wonderful thing about games is how you can feel like you are in your own little intimate, personal world. And it was this desire to create personal, yet connective stories that drove us to create our first short games as a studio. While our scale might be a bit more grand with Cabernet, in the end it all comes down to wanting to create something so personal to us that we hope others will be able to relate to on some level.
What do you like to do in your downtime?
Laura: Admittedly, there isn't much downtime right now, but I still love sneaking in some Fantasy/Horror reading and going to the theatre— really consuming any art/media that piques my interest.
Arseniy: Since we went indie, I end up spending most of my days cooped up inside, programming or writing. Being an introverted person (which I guess is not a revelation with our studio name), I was surprised to notice an increased need to be around people (sometimes), and I started to make more time to see my friends. I think this experience made me value my relationships with them more than ever.
Are you a console, PC, or tabletop gamer?
Arseniy: All of the above, but in my heart I probably have the softest spot for PC games.
Laura: PC and handheld consoles- I really like that intimate experience. Sadly, didn't have much of a tabletop community growing up, but never say never.
If you do game what game are you playing at the moment?
Arseniy: I was always (and still am) very much a narrative games aficionado, but lately most of what I am playing are NBA 2K games. I've been enjoying them since the pandemic, and they are one of the few things in life that seem to consistently reduce anxiety levels for me, so big shout out to the devs.
Laura: The most recent Fire Emblem and a giant backlog of visual novels.
Is there one game you would have liked to have created and why?
Arseniy: I want to say Gone Home. I always recommend it to people who would like to start playing games but don't know what to begin with. It's beautiful and inspiring, and I feel like it opened a lot of avenues and minds in our industry.
Laura: Cheating a bit, since it's more than one game, but the Zero Escape series (minus some questionable elements). Philosophy, crazy intricate storylines, metaphysics, what more can one ask for?
What plans do you have for future releases (if you can say)?
If all goes well, we actually already have a DLC idea for Cabernet that we are pretty excited about, but for now our lips are sealed.
What advice do you have for any budding developers out there?
We know how discouraging it can be to find funding/outside resources, especially when your game(s) doesn't fit neatly into a particular genre box. Although not easy to do, find the people who really get what you are doing and believe in it, they are somewhere out there.
Lastly, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions today.
Thank you! Was really enjoyable answering them- can't wait for you and all to play Cabernet next year.
Cabernet comes to Steam early 2024.
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