In Betwixt
In Betwixt is a First-person Survival Horror game where players follow the story of Aldrin Cornell, a beginner priest that is invited to participate in a yearly ritual used to halt the spread of darkness in the world. Unfortunately, something goes wrong in the ceremony, and a powerful being known simply as The Entity is partially released. Seemingly the sole survivor of the ritual, Aldrin must explore the Cathedral of Light in search of a way of stopping the dark beast and saving his own life.
Genre:
Survival Horror
My Roles:
Creative Director
Narrative Designer
Writer
Disclaimer: The art depicted in this project are not my own and are used purely to exemplify the mood and general idea for characters and locations.
Responsibilities
Created the concept, general vision for the game, and the entire story
Crafted the main character with a complete backstory, character arc and mannerisms
Wrote 3 support characters
Created descriptions for key locations in the world detailing their relevance to the narrative and the mythology behind it
Created the Character Web to visualize how each character interacts and relates to each other
Wrote the dialogue for one major scene in the game
Narrative Overview
Story
The story is set around the year 1100, in the Dark Ages. In a world where humans always saw themselves torn between Good and Evil, Light and Dark, the powers of Darkness grew so much that they started taking countless lives. In a desperate act, a group of priests appeared and, using the powers of Light, were able to cast the Darkness away from our world to another dimension. With that victory, the Cathedral of Light was erected on top of the portal used to seal the Darkness and a religion was created to ensure that the teachings of Light are passed through the generations. The ritual to seal the Darkness became a yearly tradition. 499 instances of the ceremony have been successfully performed so far. Finally, it comes the time for the newest Ritual of Light and also where the story begins.
In Betwixt was created to provide players with a linear yet engaging survival horror experience where they can alter the ending of the game through meaningful choices.
Goal and Theme
With In Betwixt, my goal was to create a story about two major arcs: The uncovering of the actions of a massively popular religious group and their extreme actions done in the name of "saving" mankind and the process of coping with the sadness of losing someone dear and overcoming the guilt that follows. All that is wrapped in a horror experience that puts players in the shoes of someone being constantly hunted, both by a vicious predator and their own thoughts.