Masquerada: Songs and Shadows Preview and Video Interview

I’m not quite sure when Masquerada: Songs and Shadows is supposed to be released, given that the last update from the developers claimed it would be out in “early September” and that window has now clearly passed, but in the meantime we can get an idea of how it’s shaping up thanks to a new preview and interview.

RPGFan:

The demo available to play was of the game’s prelude, set five years before the game proper begins. Within the world of Masquerada, the titular masks have become a mark of the excessively rich. Masks are the only way to cast magic, and the art of creating these mystical masks has been lost to the annals of time. Killing someone wearing a mask destroys their mask, making them a highly coveted commodity with an increasing rarity. The names of those killed while wearing masks are remembered almost religiously, essentially making mask wearers, or at least their names, immortal. Masks have divided the Citte’s population into two sharp groups of the Haves and the Have Nots, leading to a rebellion. While the rebellion is largely crushed, the experiences of those whose paths crossed with the rebellion change how those view the disparity in their city. In the present day, an investigation into a seemingly random murder ends up opening into a much larger story of political intrigue, which of course involves good, evil, and masks.

While Southeast Asia IGN has a video interview with creative director Ian Gregory.