Gloomy Juncture

You're no hero. You're not special. A single gunshot echoes, setting the wheels of fate in motion.

Step into the shoes of a mundane janitor on the edge of a peculiar world, and embark on a haunting tale where obsession takes center stage.

ABOUT GLOOMY JUNCTURE
Gloomy Juncture is a neo-noir psychological thriller and a character-driven adventure, focusing on character development, featuring heavily stylized art within a painstakingly hand-drawn 3D world, fully-voiced characters, dynamically narrated events, and a point & click gameplay core. With no death condition, meticulously explore your surroundings and solve puzzles to unlock new areas. Hidden objects throughout the game provide achievements and alternate solutions.

Gloomy Juncture is inspired by neo-noir films, psychological dramas, weird B-movies, the works of Hitchcock, Lynch, and Aronofsky, and European horror, blending a cinematic narrative experience with hardcore gameplay reminiscent of '90s adventures. Exploring themes of obsession, unease, and hopelessness.

TRADITIONAL HAND-DRAWN ART
Every game object begins on paper through a painstaking process, considering forms and distortions for 3D projection. The drawings are then digitized and modeled in low-poly style with detailed texturing, this creates a juxtaposition of 'gritty and pretty' that will suck you in.

N64 ERA GRAPHICS WITH A TWIST
Gloomy Juncture channels '90s vibes with simple geometric shapes, enhanced by custom-developed shaders and post-processing techniques that breathe life into the paper details.

ATMOSPHERE ENHANCED BY MODERN TECHNOLOGY
Powered by a custom deferred rendering, the game supports volumetric lighting and fog, real-time lights, neons, shadows, and 3D audio. This accentuates the eerie, gloomy setting while introducing hauntingly beautiful glowing effects.

FULLY-VOICED AND MOODY DYNAMIC NARRATION
Professionally recorded, every NPC is fully-voiced. The protagonist's narration dynamically responds to interactions and events, offering hints and occasional sarcastic observations to enrich the immersive experience.

CHALLENGING POINT & CLICK IN FIRST PERSON
Reimagining classic adventure style, Gloomy Juncture brings exploration to first-person view, enriched with core mechanics from point & click games. Explore the scenery and characters to solve hardcore puzzles.

FOCUS ON ATMOSPHERIC STORYTELLING
A cinematic psychological thriller set in a world of hopelessness and unease. The narrative explores themes of obsession and isolation, with atmospheric storytelling elements in the form of symbols and motifs. Expect weird humor and sarcasm.

NEO-NOIR CHARACTER STUDY
Set in the 90s, in a gritty and decaying urban setting, a single gunshot shatters the silence. You're no hero, just a mundane janitor battling anxiety and obsession. Tonight, a final task before clocking out spirals into a pulp mystery, pushing your sanity to its limits. As you navigate this morally bankrupt world, your deteriorating mental state becomes your greatest enemy, in this peculiar tale about obsession, as your fate collides with the aftermath of that fateful gunshot.

Brace yourself for a psychological odyssey focused on a character study, with a deep dive into the troubled mind of an ordinary person, slowly unveiling hopes, dreams, and desires. This cinematic narrative blends raw intensity of classic horror films with the weird charm of B-movies. As you approach the end, the boundaries of sanity will blur.

Are you ready to embark on this gloomy tale?

GAME AND CINEMATIC INFLUENCES
Gloomy Juncture is a deeply personal project with a lot of myself exposed in an exaggerated and pulp dressing. With an atmosphere that embodies a dark expression of fatalism and hopelessness, the overall setting is inspired by neo-noir films and psychological dramas such as Hitchcock's Vertigo, Oldboy, and Taxi Driver. For the visuals and pacing of the story, I've drawn a lot from movies like Suspiria, Blue Velvet, and Requiem for a Dream.

On the gameplay side, inspiration comes from classics like Grim Fandango, Broken Sword, and Hotel Dusk: Room 215. The Max Payne games are also a huge influence on the overall atmosphere.

Prepare to step into an unsettling world with fragments of a feverish dream driven by obsession.

PULL LEVERS, PUSH BUTTONS, AND SOLVE ENVIRONMENTAL ENIGMAS
Follow an intricate narrative as you explore a hand-tailored scenery and meet intriguing fully-voiced characters. Along the way you'll trigger dynamic events, experience feverish dreams, and find environmental enigmas that require keen observation skills and logical thinking to decipher riddles and discern solutions. You'll also find some action-packed puzzles that'll require brains and brawn.

Creatively use items to distract and confuse NPCs, or discover alternative solutions to puzzles with hidden items scattered throughout the world. The player character will also react to your actions in real-time; this 'noirish' dynamic narration enriches the experience and provides minimal diegetic tips—your only help for the ride.

Expect challenging puzzles seamlessly blending exploration, problem-solving, and immersive storytelling.