Along with new screenshots for the game, we’ve picked the important bits from an interview that Hifumi Kono, Nude Maker’s, recently did with Polygon about his Clock Tower successor, NightCry.
“It used to be that, as a developer in Japan, you could come up with a great concept for a game, go to a publisher, request an investment and set up a contract,” he told them. “But currently, except for certain companies making social and mobile games, that situation basically doesn’t exist.”
He was forced to find funding for the game independent of publishers. The result is a survival horror point-and-click adventure game for mobile devices and the PS Vita, which will be made with his own money and loans from friends. The financial constraints dictated the platforms.
“There were a lot of disappointed voices,” Kono said of his decision to make the game a mobile and handheld exclusive. That situation may change, however, as he’s decided that a Kickstarter campaign for a PC version of the game is in order. That campaign will be launching “soon”.
The PC version of the game is the one he really wants to make. “I always wanted to bring it to the bigger screen. But at the same time, I had to think about the budget. That was one of the main factors; I had to limit it in order to keep it independent.”
The killer this time around is called Scissor Walker. He resembles Clock Tower‘s Scissorman, but Scissor Walker’s origin story includes a mother and child who were burned alive. As the Scissor Walker chases targets, a baby cries; that’s where the game’s name, NightCry, originates.
Kono also revealed a few more details about the game.
Gameplay will involve running away and solving puzzles. When running away, players will alternate between walking and running in order to save stamina, and will tap buttons in order to switch between forward and reverse camera angles. Details on the rest of the gameplay are scarce still, but Kono did say that players will have a cellphone, which can be used as a flashlight. (Every horror game needs a flashlight, he joked.) The story will involve multiple playable characters.
For a lot more information about the game, and a look at the concept art for Scissor Walker, check out our previous NightCry article.