The Delving MZ - Video Game (2025)

The Delving MZ: Part 1 - Exhibit Demo (2025)
Video game, PC and mobile OS, digital

The Delving MZ: Part 1 (Exhibit Demo) is an indie video game currently under development, built with RPG Maker MZ. It was initially conceived as a part of an interactive arts mixed media exhibit that showed at the Vicky Myhren Gallery at the University of Denver from May 23rd to June 16th, 2024.

Abstract: A story-driven JRPG-inspired fantasy adventure role-playing game that takes place in a contemporary setting mirroring the real world and its recorded history. The narrative and plot utilizes aspects of magical realism and includes sci-fi and supernatural elements while exploring themes of mental health, generational trauma and cultural ancestry.

Gameplay: In line with the RPG genre, gameplay revolves around both employing and subverting traditional RPG mechanics, such as: meeting and building relationships with different ‘Party Members’, discovering each of their ‘Classes’ and unlocking their special ‘Skills’, defeating arduous ‘Adversaries’ during turn-based ‘Encounters’, acquiring and outfitting characters with unique ‘Equipment’, exploring a variety of colorful ‘Maps’ to unearth useful ‘Items’, and completing ‘Quests’ to gain experience, level up your party, and advance the narrative and storyline. The game and story is narratively broken up into separate Chapters.

Premise: The Delving MZ depicts a contemporary world that parallels our current reality and recorded history, with the story unfolding through chapters that alternate through a set of subjective point of views, of which the player/audience inhabit/follow. Themes of mental health, generational trauma, cultural identity and ancestry, examining ideologies, human culpability, and historic recurrence are prevalent throughout. An omnipresent, floating POV is sometimes used for cinematics and expositional purposes.

The narrative is set on the fictional planet of Thera, primarily on the continents of Arcemia and Saia, within the countries of the Common Republic of Arcemia and Macidoba. The inspiration for the IP include the Indochina wars, specifically the Cambodian Civil War and Vietnam War, and the general Cold War period, leading up to recognizable present-day global conflicts. The work as a whole consists of a series of interwoven plots that jump back and forth between a past timeline and a contemporary timeline, depicting four major plotlines: (1) the investigation of a mortally ill woman’s psyche and memories to uncover a buried secret, (2) a dynastic civil war among several parties vying for power in Macidoba, (3) the inception of a radical ideological and political revolution on the brink in Arcemia, and (4) the growing threat posed by The Void, a dark, cosmic-like, supernatural plane of existence that has slowly begun encroaching on reality.

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Demo: The Delving MZ begins with a title cinematic, introducing the character of Penelope Clarke, a young woman suffering from an undisclosed disorder that has severely affected her physical and mental state, rending her a thin, feeble shell of her former herself. Penelope’s condition has deteriorated rapidly, and after being found unconscious on the side of the road, she is confronted with a harsh reality: a two-week timeline to recover from her condition, or death.

The first chapter, Chapter 1, introduces the character of The Inspector, a man who works for a cryptic organization simply referred to as The Company. He wakes up naked in a dark room, tasked by his superiors to perform a seemingly routine procedure. Egressing through his obscure surroundings, the man is haunted by strange whispers, eventually finding his way into a small, derelict house. Looking out a window, he sees the house floating in the middle of a dark void. Back inside, the Inspector discovers clues towards his ultimate directive, and what The Company expects him to do next.

Chapter 2 shifts back to Penelope, who wakes up in the middle of a forest. Feeling as though she's misplaced something, Penelope begins walking through the trees, as a path slowly begins to appear in front of her. She encounters familiar faces and nostalgic places, recalling past events and memories. The path continues to urge her forward, and as she is compelled to keep walking, she can't help but feel that she is not the only one wandering through the forest.

The demo 'ends' at the start of Chapter 3, which continues the perspective of Penelope as she explores her hometown of Izekowa.

For each Chapter, the Player Control/POV alternates between the two characters of Penelope and the Inspector. A 3rd floating camera is sometimes used for cinematics and expositional purposes.

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The Delving IP is a shared universe across multiple mediums - currently includes different video games, short stories, visual art, interactive fiction, multimedia works, and immersive exhibits.

License: Attribution 4.0
CC BY-SA 4.0