Windwalkers Kickstarter Campaign Based on French Sci-fi Novel

French studio Forge Animation has launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for the videogame part of a larger transmedia initiative they’re calling “Windwalkers”, based on sci-fi/fantasy novel “La Horde du Contrevent” from Alain Damasio. The project, which is described rather vaguely by the developers as an action-RPG mix of Dark Souls, Journey and Left 4 Dead, has a funding goal of $330,000 CAD (roughly $262,750) and has, so far, only managed to raise about 1/7th of its budget ($46,572 CAD).

You can take a look at the (less than clear, to be honest) “gameplay explication” video for yourself:

And then read a slightly more detailed explanation from update #8:

The game genre is a “hardcore RPG action/survival adventure.” What in the world does that mean, exactly?

The Windwalker game project is very difficult to describe in just one or two words. We are taking some elements from a multitude of game genres. It has RPG mechanics like character improvement and equipment. It has a rich multiplayer action aspect, promoting dynamic gameplay and which allows you to play with your friends. It is a survival adventure, because the main question is “Are you able to survive in this world?” To put it succinctly, it is a bit like if you crossed “Dark Souls”, “Journey”, and “Left 4 Dead) (Without been scary).

You are going to start the game with a group called the horde and with a goal; find the Upper-Reaches. Now the problem will be how to get there in a totally inhospitable world. You will be walking on foot across deserts, swamps, and mountains relying on the land and your scouting and fighting skills to survive in a strange and unknown world.

So will it take months to clear the game?

Well no, we think this type of game will be more fun if it is relatively short and fast-paced, but highly re-playable. What is important for us in our game is the intensity of the experience. Your question is (Can I make it to the end?) but this does not mean that we are going to test your ability to play for days and days.

In the video, you state the game is “very, very hard”. What does THIS mean? Will it be really tricky, unfair, or even impossible to finish?

We are making games for the digital generation, meaning games for anyone who likes a real challenge. This “challenge” does not mean that it will be unplayable or that it tries to fool you. The challenge comes from the perpetual movement in an unknown universe where you can lose all your bearings at any time, forcing you to constantly adapt. The goal of the game is to find the Upper-Reaches, If you fail and your whole team dies, you have will restart the game far for where you died. But through the magic the wind in the world you will be able to keep some of your experience so you will be able to fight better in your new incarnation.

Well, OK, but asides from walking in this world of perpetual movement, what else is there to do?

Walking? Who says that you will only be walking? You do not know what you will meet along your journey! The Wind, wild animals, Chrones, pirates, or the mysterious horde-killers called the Chasers.

Oh! So there will be combat too?

If the game is a hardcore RPG action adventure, and you are equipped with knives, crossbows, etc., it is so that you can use them.

You also said that I wouldn’t be alone. What does that mean exactly?

The fundamental question asked in the novel by Alain Damasio is “what does it mean to be a living being?” Part of that answer is “being in continual movement, linked to others”. That is why we are developing game mechanics based on cooperative play. The skill trees for each character interact with other character’s skills and improve upon each other. Coordinating and creating team strategies with you friends will be a big part of what will make the game fun. It is like playing the guitar alone in your room, which is cool, but the harmony and mastery shown when playing together, with others, makes is that much more rewarding.

I’ll confess I’m extremely torn on this Kickstarter campaign. A lot of impressive names are attached to the project in some way (“Letters from Iwo Jima” scriptwriter Iris Yamashita, just to name one), but almost all of them seem to be involved solely in the movie and comic book parts of the transmedia project. The Kickstarter campaign is supposed to only fund the game, and yet the lion’s share of mentions goes to the animated movie Forge Animation intends to produce, and a fairly meaty section of the Kickstarter page is also used to talk about the comic books based on the property. There’s no doubt the setting has potential, but without a more solid idea on what exactly the developers intend to accomplish with the game, I can’t see this Kickstarter succeeding.