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<p class="">Hello everyone, I’m Jonathan Jacques-Belletête, Creative Director and Art Director at Rogue Factor, and today, I’m excited to take you behind the scenes of our latest project: Hell is Us (HiU). This game represents a bold evolution in how we design our gaming experiences, and I’m thrilled to share with you the elements that make HiU a truly unique adventure.</p>
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<p class=""><strong><br/></strong>We revealed the first gameplay footage of our game in today’s State of Play and we’re thrilled to hear your thoughts on it. We hope you enjoyed the sneak peek! This marks the beginning of our communication journey about Hell is Us, and we can’t wait to share more with you. Today, I’d like to tell you about a core concept of our game, which is very close to my heart, and that truly defines the Hell is Us experience and identity.</p>
<p class="">Just before we get to this topic, if you haven’t heard about it, HiU is a third-person action-adventure game set in a complex world that will challenge your intellect while, we hope, delivering a compelling and mature story. The game explores deep themes like civil war, human emotions, and family. So, let’s dive right in!</p>
<a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54019787984_1beff23f3a_h.jpg" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img alt="In this image, the protagonist gazes upwards at a large wall in front of them, in the centre of which is a dark, hollowed rectangle hole. To their right stands a staircase chiseled into the stone wall." src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54019787984_1beff23f3a_h.jpg"/></a>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>An uncompromising immersive experience</strong></h2>
<p class="">With Hell is Us, we decided to break away from conventional norms to offer something radically different. Unlike many modern games that guide players with detailed maps, quest markers, quest journals, and constant assistance, we’ve chosen to eliminate these traditional aids altogether.</p>
<p class="">In Hell is Us, you won’t have a magical map or compass revealing all points of interest surrounding you, no markers identifying your next quest objective, and no artificial or mechanical guides to orient you. Instead, we invite you to dive directly into the game’s universe and rely on your own observation, reasoning, and intuition to progress. The environments are not there simply to decorate, they are there to communicate. Correspondingly, paying attention to what the NPCs tell you is crucial; as what they tell you is actual organic information about what to do and how to do it.</p>
<p class="">We call this concept “Player-Plattering”, as it is the opposite of “Silver-Plattering”. It represents our deliberate choice not to serve everything to the player on a silver platter with ready-made directions and answers. Instead, we want the player to regain full control of their adventure by exploring, discovering, and deciding for themselves.</p>
<p class="">Although this choice is bold, it aims to create a deeply immersive gameplay experience. You’ll need to explore every corner of our world, pay attention to even the smallest clues, and be creative in solving the investigation that lies ahead. We firmly believe that this approach enhances immersion, plunging you into an adventure where every discovery is the result of your own cognitive effort. We want to bring back the true, old school, joy of exploring and discovering.</p>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Investigation and secrets resolution and interactions</strong></h2>
<p class="">The way you progress through your investigation in Hell is Us is also an extension of our player autonomy philosophy. The investigative challenges you’ll encounter aren’t solved by obvious clues, or mechanical reminders. On the contrary, you’ll need to explore and interact with the world proactively to uncover leads and solutions. This approach encourages observation, attention, cognition and total immersion in the gameplay.</p>
<p class="">We’ve designed the investigation and the many secrets to offer multiple paths leading to various solutions, allowing players to discover and resolve the investigative challenges in different possible ways. The satisfaction of overcoming an obstacle on your own is, in our opinion, a fundamental part of the gaming experience, and the true essence and catalyst of player-made discoveries.</p>
<a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54019788004_89f4a079bc_h.jpg" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img alt="This image shows the protagonist observing a radial-like gate that’s part of a wider, wilder, fauna-covered wall." src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54019788004_89f4a079bc_h.jpg"/></a>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>The vision behind HiU and what it brings</strong></h2>
<p class="">As you may have gathered, our design choice of “Player-Plattering,” aims to encourage exploration and reflection, which is at the heart of what we want to achieve with Hell is Us.</p>
<p class="">This philosophy fits perfectly into the world we’ve created: a complex and unforgiving universe that explores deep themes such as civil war, human violence and brutality, human emotions, and family, all within a context blending reality and mysterious phenomena.</p>
<p class="">It was essential that the gameplay reflects the maturity of the themes addressed. That’s why we didn’t want players to simply follow a predefined path without understanding the reasons behind it or grasping the significance of the events. Instead, they’ll need to think critically and creatively to shape their own journey.</p>
<p class="">We believe this approach, decidedly “old school,” returns to the roots of video games that sparked our passion for the genre. While we’ve integrated many modern advancements to enrich the gameplay experience, we want to offer an adventure that values the intelligence and intuition of the players. With Hell is Us, our goal is for each player to engage fully, both emotionally and intellectually, and experience an unforgettable journey, comparable to those that forged our love for video games, all the way back to the 1990s. We hope the game leaves a lasting impression in the same way those classics have left an indelible mark on us.</p>
<p class="">We’re eager to see how you, the players, will explore and discover this universe by keeping your eyes wide open, and your ears sharply tuned!</p>
<a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54019893515_65feafe034_h.jpg" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img alt="This image shows the protagonist inside a cave-like room. Stalactites hang down from the ceiling, and at a nearby wall is multiple oval gaps containing shelving. In their middle is a large face carved into the wall." src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54019893515_65feafe034_h.jpg"/></a>
<p class="">If Hell is Us caught your eye and you’re eager to learn more, don’t miss our exclusive YouTube Premiere on Monday, 30 September, at 8am PT / 4pm BST / 5pm CEST on the Nacon channel! Join me as I dive deeper into Hell is Us and showcase more gameplay. The game launches on PS5 in 2025.</p>
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