Studio Reset, a new Edmonton-based game developer formed by a trio of BioWare alums, has unveiled its first project.
It’s a supernatural fixed-camera 3D mystery game called The Eventide, and it’s set in a stylized Canadian neon-noir cityscape. The Eventide focuses on a system called Parallax Deduction in which elements of the investigation will differ depending on which agents players use and their individual interpretation of clues.
Notably, Studio Reset was formed by veteran developers Kaelin Lavallée (producer and creative director), Kris Schoneberg (design director), and Francis Lacuna (art director). Between the three of them, their credits include BioWare Edmonton’s Mass Effect trilogy and its DLCs, Dragon Age, Dragon Age II and Dragon Age: Inquisition, Vancouver-based Hinterland’s The Long Dark and Vancouver-based Timbre Games (unannounced title), among other projects.
When MobileSyrup spoke with Studio Reset in May, the developers couldn’t say much about the game (including its title) but mentioned drawing from both The X-Files and their previous work on party-based RPGs. Based on this latest announcement, we now have a better idea of how they’re marrying those two inspirations, as players will have to choose two agents from a larger roster and leverage their unique abilities and perspectives.
Image credit: Studio Reset
As part of today’s reveal, Studio Reset detailed three agents:
- Evelyn “Eve” Atwood (The Cryptozoologist) — unpacks supernatural phenomena through science
- Sam “Brass” Hingle (The Former Detective) — an expert in reading people and social dynamics
- Kira (The [REDACTED]) — leverages psychic and emotional energies
The trailer also hints at a Toronto-esque city that makes many references to the game being set in Canada. While Studio Reset isn’t revealing too much about this setting yet, it did provide some teases when asked for comment.
“We’re Canadian. We’re making what we know because it’s who we are. The locations in the trailer are fictitious representations inspired by real Canadian locales,” Lavalle tells us. “From transit stations to familiar — yet legally distinct — donut (and coffee) establishments, there are nods to news we see, cities we know, and the provinces and territories that make up our country. It makes sense to us to celebrate these aspects.”
Studio Reset notes that The Eventide is still in “early” development, but you can wishlist it on Steam for updates. You can also go back and read our original interview with Studio Reset for more insight into the team’s design inspirations and how they’re navigating current gaming industry headwinds.
Image credit: Studio Reset
