The Delving MZ: Part 1 (Exhibit Demo)

The Delving MZ: Part 1 - Exhibit Demo (2024)
Video game, PC and mobile OS, digital 

The Delving MZ: Part 1 Exhibit Demo is the video game portion of an interactive mixed media exhibit at the Vicky Myhren Gallery at the University of Denver showing from May 23rd to June 16th, 2024. Story-driven, adventure roleplaying video game built in RPGMaker MZ, exploring an intertwining narrative centered around themes of mental health, generational trauma, and culture and society. 

The plot of the game follows and explores multiple storylines centered around a woman and a man, their lives, those connected to them, and their relationship across different mediums and conventions. It is a narrative driven story game inspired by old school JRPGs, utilizing and subverting traditional mechanics such as building connections with Party members, defeating adversaries during Encounters, collecting Equipment and important Story Items, resolving Quests, etc. 

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The Delving MZ begins with a title cinematic, introducing the character of Penelope Clark, a young woman who is in the process of recovering from an unknown ailment. The worsening state of the ailment and Penelope’s current physical and mental condition has set a defined amount of time, two weeks, to attempt recovery and cure the condition, or otherwise she will die.

The first chapter, Chapter 1, introduces the character of The Inspector and establishes his role working for a mysterious organization, The Company. His role as an Inspector is to “Delve” into different “Dormants”, aka “asleep consciousnesses”, diving into and essentially exploring the minds and memories of various Subjects curated by The Company, for reasons unclear, but seem to include a number of Clients extending from national, to both public and private stakeholders.

The Inspector’s current Subject is Subject 318, and he has been tasked by The Company after a series of seemingly routine Delves, to extract important data and information from aspects of Subject 318’s life for a very important Client. The Company curates a dormant state of Subject 318’s consciousness for The Inspector to delve into, and he begins his collection process by stepping foot into Subject 318’s “Memory House”.

Chapter 2 begins with the perspective shifting back to Penelope, who is trying to come to terms with the implications of her current situation, recalling past memories and significant moments that led her to this point. She finds herself in the middle of a Dream, where the lines of Reality and Fantasy blend. After the dream ends, she wakes up in her room in Izekowa, her hometown, where she starts her day. 

 For each subsequent Chapter, the Player Control/POV of the story will jump between the two perspectives of The Inspector and Penelope, and sometimes using a 3^rd floating camera for expositional cinematics. Both characters collect their own Party Members, Equipment, Story Items, and Instruments, and complete their own set of Quests. 

The demo ends at Chapter 3.

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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.