Last year, a bunch of studios that revealed themselves to be developing not quite Disco Elysium successors, and soon we learned that they’d all brushed shoulders with each other in a bunch of ways – some of which were controversial or bizarre – prior to making those announcements.
Now, Longdue, one of this trio alongside Dark Math Games and Summer Eternal, has properly revealed the debut game it’s working on, as well as opening up crowdfunding for it.
The game is called Hopetown, and it’s psychological RPG which aims to merge “the raw emotional depth and psychological intricacy of Disco Elysium with the philosophical richness and narrative complexity of Planescape: Torment”, according to its creators.
As for the premise of the game’s story, it’s as follows:
“In Hopetown, words are your deadliest weapon, and every choice leaves its mark. Set in a mining town caught between decay and transformation, shaped by ambition, exploitation, and the fragile systems that bind society together, you step into the role of a rogue journalist—a chaotic, self-destructive provocateur who sees humanity as inherently selfish and cruel. Unapologetically cynical and dangerously unhinged, you thrive on poking at bruises, pulling at loose threads, and watching what unravels.”
As part of that, the game will include a couple of interesting gameplay systems, with one being a “psychogeography system” which makes “emotions, memories, and conversations replace traditional mechanics like keys and levers, becoming the tools that unlock doors, alter landscapes, and reshape relationships”, as well as a “journalism-based RPG system gives you the tools to craft stories that shape the world—and yourself”.
Longdue says that seven people involved in the creation of the original Disco Elysium have contributed to Hopetown so far, with the only one it’s named in a press release here being “Piotr Sobolewsk”, who “oversaw pivotal contributions to the core systems that defined Disco Elysium”. A Piotr Sobolewski is listed in Disco Elysium’s credits as having provided additional development on the game as part of external development studio The Knights of U, formerly known as The Knights of Unity.
“Having overseen the team of 15 that was credited with ‘saving’ Disco Elysium and which worked on it for nearly six years, pre- and post-release, I’m excited to work with the Longdue team to create a rich RPG experience to serve fans of the genre,” the developer said.
Longdue has just launched a crowdfunding campaign for the game that you can register for via its website, and it says those who’re accepted will recieve “first access to a limited set of backer rewards when the campaign goes live”.