Deponia Developer Returns With Night of the Rabbit

[Andy Chalk]

Deponia Developer Returns With Night of the Rabbit

Night of the Rabbit is a fairy tale adventure about a 12-year-old boy at the end of summer vacation and the Marquis de Hoto, a tall, smartly-dressed lagomorph with a secret.

A lot of children died the last time [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/9986-Edna-and-Harvey-Harveys-New-Eyes-Review] I played a Daedalic game about a rabbit, so I approached Night of the Rabbit with a certain degree of trepidation. But the Marquis, at least what little I've seen of him, is cut from a different cloth than Harvey, although I suspect that he has a dark side of his own.

The upcoming Night of the Rabbit follows the adventures of young Jeremiah Hazelnut, an aspiring magician who on the day before the last day of summer vacation discovers the secrets of ancient "portal trees" that can carry him to infinite parallel worlds filled with wonderful, magical creatures, and of course the occasional spot of evil and danger, too. In fact, while the game begins with a light-hearted tone, Daedalic's website [http://www.daedalic.de/en/game/The_Night_of_the_Rabbit] warns, without getting into detail, that "Jerry's magic adventure turns into a nightmare... Slowly the boy comes to realize the enigmatic rabbit had his reasons to make him his apprentice."

I was able to spend some time with a preview version of the game and as usual, the visuals are excellent, the interface is simple and the voice acting, while bumpy here and there, is generally spot on. It starts off innocently, as you collect berries to make a pie or make preparations for your unveiling as a magician's apprentice, but the references to crows by the citizens of Mousewood throw an ominous shadow over everything.

Daedalic games tend to be more about story and character than hyper-obtuse puzzles, and Night of the Rabbit looks set to carry on that tradition. It's a tried-and-true formula seen in previous Daedalic adventures like the Deponia games and Harvey's New Eyes, but it works, and while the preview was only a small slice of the whole pie, Night of the Rabbit clearly has the potential to be another fine feather in Daedalic's adventuring cap.

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Night of the Rabbit [http://rabbit.daedalic.de/en/] is currently slated to come out on May 29 for the PC and Mac.

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[Vigormortis]

I may have to pick this up upon release. Or, in the very least, follow it's progress. In fact, I think I might be sold on the visuals alone. Might help too that I've been hankering for another decent point-and-click adventure game. (still waiting on a new Myst or Zork title)

I may have to look up Edna and Harvey as well. Based on Mr. Chalk's review, it sounds right up my alley. I can't believe I missed it.

 

[CriticalMiss]

I can't say I've heard of this series (is it a series?) before but it looks kind of interesting. I can't help but think of Nightmare Before Christmas when you mention portal trees though. And the kid looks a bit like Professor Layton. Not necessarily bad things mind you.

 

[Andy Chalk]

I can't say I've heard of this series (is it a series?)

I believe this is a stand-alone game, although I suppose it may end up as a series if it's a success.

 

[revjay]

This reminded me of Night of the Lepus, a 70's horror movie. For the developers sake I hope this is a lot better than that.

 

[kailus13]

Lagomorphs always have secrets. Every time I've seen one they're mysterious. Harvey's new eyes sounds good.

 

[Darks63]

Forgive me but is this an adventure game or an artsy type game because from the description of the story and the screens i cant really tell.

 

[Andy Chalk]

Forgive me but is this an adventure game or an artsy type game because from the description of the story and the screens i cant really tell.

It's a very straightforward point-and-click adventure of the type Daedalic is famous for. If you're not familiar with its work, think LucasArts adventures - it's very much in the same vein.