Unreliable Narrators’ new game – Two Falls (Nishu Takuatshina) will be released in the third quarter of 2023. The game will be available on PC.
Storyline
Two Falls (Nishu Takuatshina) is a first-person single player, narrative-driven and exploration based game about perspectives.It is a game about how perspective can shape the way we view a situation and our surroundings.
The narrative game stars two characters: Jeanne, a shipwrecked girl who has become shipwrecked, and Maikan, a native Innu who is looking to save his people from an unknown sickness. The story takes place in the wilderness of 17th Century Canada and your choices will shape the respective paths of our two protagonists, but as their journeys intertwine the actions of one may have consequences for the other.
Playing as both characters, the same environment can be perceived very differently, where Maikan greets the wilderness with warmth and familiarity, Jeanne sees the same woods as something frightening and unknown. Two Falls takes this idea a step further, and integrates it into the art direction depending on which character you’re playing, such as a beachside appearing sunny and warm to Maikan and rainy and miserable to Jeanne.
The game has also been validated by a Council of Elders in Canada for its portrayal of indigenous culture.
Meet Jeanne and Maikan
Jeanne is a French King’s Daughter with a heart full of hope to start a new life. By emigrating to what would one day become Quebec.Unfortunately, on one stormy night, her hopes turn into her darkest nightmare when her boat runs aground leaving her alone. Stranded far from the French colonies and unequipped to face the wilderness she knows nothing about. The only other survivor is Capitaine, a cute English Shepherd travelling with her.
Maikan, a young Innu hunter, is at home with the forests and animals that make up the natural landscape. Who is trying to find out what is disturbing his native forest, On the other side of the river, Maikan, a young and sharp Innu hunter, feels a dreary shift in the atmosphere. His instincts tell him that something has been disturbing his native forest, land of his ancestors. Maikan is forced to travel west when his people are afflicted by a strange illness, his travels begin to bring him to question his own beliefs.
A captivating story told through multiple perspectives
While Two Falls is a linear story, you can still decide how to interact with the environment, react to another character’s actions, and shape how Jeanne and Maikan grow throughout the game. You will feel their emotions as they grasp the fact that the world they once knew will never be the same. As Jeanne and Maikan are each uncovering their distinct realities, cultures, and their unique understandings of life. Each one of them has its own way to see, hear and feel the world, as represented through two artistic and musical directions.
All stories can be interpreted in many different ways, and Two Falls is no exception. Throughout the game, uncover and interpret different events from Maikan or Jeanne’s points of view. You will soon realise that a single event can have very different meanings for them, eventually finding yourself doubting your own beliefs.
Features
- Visit stunningly beautiful and realistic environments made with Unreal Engine 5
- Experience the adventure through two distinct perspectives, artistic and sound directions
- Encounter intriguing and contrasting characters
- Discover a rich, captivating and dramatic storyline
- Pet a cute Dog
- Enjoy an original soundtrack created by Indigenous musicians and singers
Development
While several video games include Indigenous characters and themes, few have been made with creative control and design choices in the hands of people from whom these inspirations are drawn. That’s a big part of what makes Two Falls (Nishu Takuatshina) so notable. Not only is the studio working with partners from some of Canada’s First Nations. By partnering closely with native communities to tell an authentic and respectful story. By surrendering significant elements of creating control, giving their Indigenous collaborators a say over art, music, and the direction of the story.
It’s all about perspective
Two Falls is a 3D narrative and exploration game about Indigenous history. This game uses different artistic directions in order to emphasise the two perspectives because it’s all a game about perspectives. How people can think or can see the things that surround them, but don’t see the same thing as another person.
One example is the forest. To Jeanne, it’s frightening; She doesn’t recognize the trees or the sounds. Everything is dark, and blends together. For Maikan, it’s bright and colorful. He can recognize different trees, and signs of wildlife. It’s his people’s land, and he’s very comfortable. But it goes both ways.
At some point in the game there’s the shipwreck that Jeanne escaped from, you can see it from her perspective, which is just a shipwreck. However, through the eyes of Maikan, the wood sticking out on the side kind of looks like a ribcage of a whale that could have been beached. It takes this kind of strange animalistic look because he’s not used to seeing such huge ships made out of wood and stuff like that.
Two Falls is a first-person walking simulator. You will be seeing things through the eyes of each character. That means when you are Jeanne, 3,000 miles from home in a strange new land, what may in fact be normal wildlife could appear to be something as frightening as a werewolf. And that’s not the only folklore that may be on the characters’ minds, as evident by the Wendigo.
Story of the Wendigo: it’s an entity protecting the forest for Indigenous People. When the European people came, they were talking about Wendigo as a bad spirit and evil spirits that would eat you if you didn’t take care of the forest, but it’s not what Indigenous People created, you know, it’s more like a friendly entity in reality. For Jeanne, she will be frightened by the idea of the Wendigo, while Maikan will be more intrigued by what is triggering the Wendigo.
Elevating and incorporating Indigenous voices
The Unreliable Narrator team is very clear about its intentions to engage with and listen to Indigenous communities. These influences are important for crafting the story and maintaining authenticity and creating a game that is responsible and respectful toward its subject matter.
When it comes to Indigenous legends and this era of history it’s important to tell these stories the right way, with the right input from the peoples at the centre of them. Maikan was created with a lot of Indigenous partners, a lot of Wendat people, and some Innu as well. The influence of the Indigenous partners is difficult to overstate. Developer Unreliable Narrator has taken an approach that gives control to people from the cultures that the game is about. There are a lot of moments in the game where you will really feel his Indigenous culture. Another key element to creating authentic characters is the voice acting. Apparently there will be both English and Innu dialogue, voiced by Indigenous actors.
The core story of Two Falls was crafted by Isabelle Picard. As the game developed it was reviewed by the Tshakapesh Institute, an institute that promotes Indigenous culture and protects native languages. They provided confirmations and helped inform development, and that extended beyond just scenarios.
For input the developers built what they call a ‘Council of Elders’, which is people from different Indigenous communities. And they sign off on every step of the way, on the story, how it’s told and how items and stuff will be depicted in the game.
The music for Two Falls is done by Eadsé, an Indigenous artist, and even the final direction and tone of the story are intentionally left out of the hands of the development team.
The process of writing the end of the story is still underway because the end of the story is what Indigenous people want to say.
Final Words
You can tell that the developers of this game have worked very hard to try and make the game as accurate as the real world traditions as they can. So, for anyone interested in learning about a new culture this is definitely a game that will both be fun to play but also be teaching you new things.
