Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey
Developer(s)Salix Games
Director(s)Jessica Saunders[1]
Programmer(s)Ed Reid[1]
Artist(s)Jessica Ambron[1]
Olly Lawson[2]
Writer(s)Philip Huxley[3]
Rebecca Haigh[4]
Composer(s)Jeff Rona[5]
Jools Scott[6]
Platform(s)Windows
Release5 April 2019[7]
Genre(s)Adventure game
Mode(s)Single player

Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey is an adventure game developed and published by British independent studio Salix Games for Windows in 2019. Set in 1888 London, the game features the legendary figures of Lancelot and Morgan le Fay as well as the historical Mary Jane Kelly in their joint hunt for a mysterious serial killer known as the Ripper.

Gameplay

Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey is a point-and-click adventure game seen from a third-person perspective, using an action hotspot system with three playable characters.[8] The player is to be able to swap and chose between the characters and their different abilities.[9] The developer promised "a multi-branching story where in-game decisions impact on each character's resolution."[10]

Plot

According to the official synopsis: "Players take on the roles of immortal knight Sir Lancelot Du Lac and cursed sorceress Morgana Le Fey as their latest adventure brings them to the smog-shrouded streets of Victorian London during the infamous Whitechapel Murders of 1888. They become embroiled in the gruesome mystery due to the occult nature of the killings, which leads them to Mary Kelly: a Whitechapel local with a magical secret who could be the key to stopping the murders. The three join forces to explore the capital's underbelly in an attempt to decipher clues, hunt down the Ripper and uncover the shocking truth behind the killer's bloody rampage."[11]

The game offers three diverse protagonists offering vastly different perspectives in the class-divided society. They are the upper-class womanising gentleman Lancelot (voiced by Gareth David-Lloyd), Morgana who had been turned by a spell into a dog and now can talk to animals (voiced by Perdita Weeks), and the Ripper's final victim Mary Kelly (voiced by Alexandra Roach).[9][10][12][13][14][15][16]

Development and release

Guildford-based English game developer Salix Games announced Du Lac & Fey: Dance of Death as their debut title on 7 October 2017,[17] accompanied by a free comic distributed at MCM London Comic Con 2017 (written by Philip Huxley and Rebecca Haigh, and illustrated by Michael Brennan).[18] The game was publicly revealed at AdventureX 2017[8] and its demo set in Norway was shown at EGX Rezzed 2018.[19] At this time only a PC version had been in the works, but with a possibility of console ports to arrive later.[20] A 2018 Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions was launched on 25 October but was cancelled early on 8 December without any effect on the PC development.[1][11][21] However, Salix Games CEO Jessica Saunders later admitted they have run out of both money and time during the development before the "rough" launch.[22]

The original idea for the game was a simpler story of a man and his dog, but this changed due to the creative director Jessica Saunders' fascination with Arthurian mythology and its evolution over the time, including during the Victorian era.[12][15] The fantasy premise and elements aside, the game is to be as historically accurate as possible.[13] In that task the team was aided by historian Judith Flanders, who had previously worked on Assassin's Creed Syndicate;[14] Rhianna Pratchett is also credited as story consultant.[23] The game's art style was inspired by the works of 19th-century painters John Atkinson Grimshaw and James Abbot McNeill Whistler.[15]

The game in its original state as released on April 5, 2019, had a major save game issue that was resolved by April 9.[22] Free bonus DLC packs with a digital artbook and a soundtrack were released on Steam on May 1.[24][25]

Reception

Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey received "mixed or average" reviews according to Metacritic.[26] Reviewers commonly praised the game's writing and voice acting, but criticised it from various technical and design standpoints, in particular regarding the "broken" launch version due to the (later fixed) saving problem, and in general often perceived it as uneven and unfinished.[27][28][29][30][31]

Awards

The game won the award for "Best Audio Design" at The Independent Game Developers' Association Awards, whereas its other nomination was for the "Heritage Award".[32] It was also nominated for "Best Dialogue for an Indie Game" at the 18th Annual G.A.N.G. Awards.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Dulac & Fey : Un jeu d'aventure victorien sur Kickstarter, par des anciens de Rocksteady et Lionhead". Gameblog (in French). 24 November 2017. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
  2. ↑ "Olly Lawson - Du Lac & Fey backgrounds". www.ollylawson.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
  3. ↑ Wiltshire, Alex (2018-05-10). "How blockbuster games are written". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  4. ↑ "Norse-Inspired ATONE Challenges Players with Rhythm Combat and Tricky Puzzles - OnlySP". Only Single Player. 2018-05-30. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  5. ↑ @SalixGames. "We're still enjoying the holidays but for #screenshotsaturday and those who missed it, here's another chance to see our Chrismas card and hear the beautiful music of @jeffrona (#audioshotsaturday?)". Twitter. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
  6. ↑ @SalixGames (2018-12-24). "Our first composer @joolsscott who has written for the BFI, Brodsky Quartet, Transport for London, Philharmonia Orchestra and the St Paul's Cathedral Choir for this years Flanders Remembers concert!". Twitter. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
  7. ↑ "Dance of Death: Du Lac and Fey game preview". Critical Hit. 2019-03-04. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
  8. 1 2 "AdventureX 2017 round-up: Part 1". Adventure Gamers. 22 November 2017. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  9. 1 2 Patrik Hajda. "Sir Lancelot a čarodějka Morgana si v nové adventuře dávají taneček smrti s Rozparovačem". Games.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  10. 1 2 Jones, Alison (2018-03-23). "Du Lac & Fey's: Dance of Death Characters To Be revealed at EGX Rezzed". Invision Game Community. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  11. 1 2 "Du Lac & Fey: Dance Of Death (Canceled)". Kickstarter. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  12. 1 2 Knoop, Joseph (2018-05-03). "Lancelot and a talking dog take on Jack the Ripper in this adventure game". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  13. 1 2 "We talk with Salix Games about Du Lac & Fey: Dance of Death". Gamereactor UK. 7 December 2017. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  14. 1 2 "Du Lac & Fey is a mystery adventure about a pair of immortal hunters and Jack the Ripper". destructoid. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  15. 1 2 3 "Indie Highlight Reel - October 15, 2017 - OnlySP". Only Single Player. 2017-10-15. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  16. ↑ "Du Lac & Fey: Dance of Death at EGX". GamingLyfe.com - Gaming News, Gaming Community, eSports. 2018-05-10. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  17. ↑ "Salix Games Announces Du Lac & Fey: Dance of Death - OnlySP". Only Single Player. 2017-10-07. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  18. ↑ "Free Comic At MCM London Comic Con With Launch Of Du Lac & Fey: Dance Of Death". www.bleedingcool.com. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  19. ↑ Wilkin, Adam (2018-05-16). "EGX Rezzed Du Lac & Fey: Dance of Death Preview". GameGrin. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  20. ↑ "Weekend Announcements April 13-15th: EGX Rezzed 2018 Special". TrueAchievements. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  21. ↑ "Du Lac & Fey: Dance of Death Kickstarter Canceled Early - OnlySP". Only Single Player. 2017-12-08. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  22. 1 2 Ltd, Salix Games (2019-05-02). "A message from our CEO Jessica Saunders, regarding the launch of Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey". @SalixGames. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
  23. ↑ The game's end credits.
  24. ↑ "Dance Of Death: Du Lac & Fey - DLC - Art Book on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
  25. ↑ "Dance Of Death: Du Lac & Fey - OST on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
  26. 1 2 "Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2021-11-17.
  27. ↑ Hoover, Richard (2019-05-08). "Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey review". Adventure Gamers. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
  28. ↑ Fontes, Renan (2019-04-15). "Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey (PC) Review". Cubed3. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
  29. ↑ Mason, W.B. (2019-04-05). "Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey (PC) REVIEW - Murder Most Fine". Cultured Vultures. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
  30. ↑ Vasile, Cosmin (2019-04-15). "Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey (PC) Review". Softpedia. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
  31. ↑ Wray, Chris (2019-05-07). "Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey Review - Ripper and the Talking Dog". WCCFtech. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
  32. ↑ "2019 Winners". The Independent Game Developers' Association. 2019-11-07. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
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