When someone talks about FMV games (which doesn’t happen nearly enough in my day-to-day life), one of the first things that comes to mind is Wales Interactive. The developer/publisher has made many of my favourite FMV games/interactive movies, including The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker and Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus? So when an e-mail from the company hits my inbox, I’ll sit up and listen. And this one is really quite exciting: Wales Interactive and Interflix Media are developing The Isle Tide Hotel, another live-action interactive mystery movie set in a hotel.
The game is about an absent father who needs to rescue his daughter from an eclectic cult before they leave the Isle Tide Hotel. Players will investigate strange events in order to save Eleanor Malone. The Isle Tide Hotel is a weird one, to say the least. It opens every three years, and even then only for three nights. A strange mix of characters are staying there, each hiding their own personal trauma. There is, however, one thread binding them: their search for the meaning of life.
This organization will have to decide whether or not to hand over a teenager (Eleanor) to their founder, who says her sacrifice will fulfill their mission. Eleanor’s father will have to infiltrate the hotel, coax is way into the cult, and more to rescue his daughter. The game is ripe with hidden lore, side quests with dedicated endings, and ruthless narrative puzzles.
This cult is unique, with its own history and rules. Often times, narrative paths are blocked behind information. There are cryptic notes that need to hidden endings, hidden lore to discover, and sprawling dialogue options. The game responds to the player’s choices, with seven main endings and 14 different outcomes. There’s a real-time personality and cult association tracker. For chronic replayers, there’s even an in-game chapter skip menu… but they’ll have to earn it first.
The cast includes Michael D. Xavier (Gentleman Jack) Jemima Rooper (who was phenomenal in Flowers in the Attic: The Origin), Amit Shah (Happy Valley), Richard Brake (Game of Thrones), Georgie Glen (Call the Midwife), Tristram Wymark (Pennyworth), Jessica Ellerby (Pennyworth), and Joni Ayton-Kent (The Watch).
Developed by Wales Interactive and Interflix Media, The Isle Tide Hotel will be released for iOS/Android, PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series, and Xbox One in Q2 2023.
