Liminal Point is a brand new isometric horror game being developed by the indie studio HideWorks, and we here at Netto's Game Room had the pleasure of speaking with them to learn all about it.
The game itself is 3D, but uses an isometric and fixed view camera to control what the players can (or can't) see, and is reminiscent of classic horror games like Resident Evil.
Pre-release information describes the game as a horror survival game with limited resources, and a chilling story that blends reality with nightmare, but we wanted to take the opportunity to learn a little bit more about the game; what truly makes it tick!
Hello! My name is Ben, and I am one of the founders of Netto's Game Room. It is a pleasure to meet you! To start things off, could you tell me a little about yourself?
Hi! We are HideWorks, a super small indie studio (2 person team, LordZero and LadyZero, but for this project we hired a composer (Remu Daifuku) to make an original soundtrack for our game) who are currently working on the survival horror LIMINAL POINT. Previously we have released The Devil is in the Details, which is a very different take on the anomaly-detection type game, since it has survival horror elements and escape room elements, themed as an insane game show that feels like watching one of the evil dead movies.
So your company HideWorks is currently working on a brand new survival horror game titled Liminal Point; it uses a fixed camera angle and reminds me a lot of classics like Silent Hill and Resident Evil! Claire Redfield also came to mind when I first saw the protagonist Lyra. Could you tell us more about what inspired you to create this game?
LordZero: I've been wanting to make a survival horror game for a long time as it's a genre I dearly love. Specifically, when RE2R came out, I was stunned by how good it was. A few months later, I played Re1 Remaster HD (there's a few RE's I'm embarrassed to say I've missed) and I found it really amazing how the whole game was a puzzle(maneuvering in the mansion, resource management, etc) much more so than any other RE title. That made me want to make something similar. Shortly after, I stumbled across Signalis, and it showed me this perspective (a perspective I love from games in my youth) could work really well for this type of game. It was still a few months before we decided to make Liminal Point in this perspective.
Regarding the story (and the concept of the game in general) this is a story I've thinking about for a few years now, and I kept coming back to it. Can't really think of one source that inspired me to it, but I definitely can say there's multiple things that gave me inspiration for it, such as the movie Shutter Island, or the game Silent Hill 2 among many others.
The game takes place on a fog covered island, where Lyra is looking for her missing bandmate Mira. But how did Lyra get to this island, and why does she feel it holds the answers to her friend's disappearance? Could you tell us more about this?
Lyra and her band, The Fallen Fairies—an alternative rock group—were set to have their big debut at the concert hall on the city of Ashen Point (the island where the game takes place). But on the night of the show, tragedy struck. Mira, the band's lead singer and someone Lyra considers like a sister, vanished without a trace. After that night, none of them ever heard from her again—until now, years later.
Lyra recently received a cryptic voice message from Mira, asking her to come to Ashen Point. She didn’t say where exactly to meet or explain what had happened to her. That message shook Lyra since her life hasn’t been the same since the band fell apart. She's still haunted by Mira’s disappearance and the silence that followed. She needs answers.
Ashen Point was abandoned after an environmental disaster that occurred shortly following Mira’s disappearance. Despite the risks, Lyra manages to convince a ferryman to take her there. She believes Ashen Point holds the truth about what happened to Mira, and she's willing to face whatever waits in the fog-covered city.
When the game was announced it was stated to be a game that blurs "the line between reality and nightmare." Putting aside the monsters we will be clearly fighting, will the game contain psychological horror elements as well? Is this a game where the simple things might end up bothering us more than the horrors that are in front of our face?
This is where the Silent Hill 2 inspiration comes in. Much like James Sunderland, Lyra's recollection of past events don't quite align with those of the other people she encounters in her journey (for example her other bandmates). She’ll begin to question whether the world she’s experiencing is truly real—or if it’s a distorted reflection of her own mind. So yes, beyond the physical monsters, there’s a strong focus on psychological horror. Sometimes, it’s the subtle, quiet moments, the things that were said in their personal lives, or the conflicting memories, that will leave players the most unsettled.
Looking at the trailers you have released, the game seems to include a lot of classic horror survival elements! Puzzle solving, limited resources, and of course enemies to fight. One thing I noticed however was how quick and snappy the turning seems to be; it looks a lot like what I'd expect from a twin stick shooter! Does this mean combat will play a larger role with more enemies to take down? Or will conserving ammo still be key to survival?
We're making a true survival horror: Resource management will be a key focus of the game. You won't be able to kill everything in every room. In fact, part of the game's loop is looking at the map, trying to figure out what's the best route to take while backtracking, when to save (and where to save), planning what items to take with you etc. That said, I've never been a believer that the combat needs to be janky or cumbersome for a game to be a survival horror. Combat should feel good when you decide to engage in it, and challenging so you can feel the terror when you're low on ammo and low on health. It's a fine line, but we want to make sure we have a good amount of combat without delving into the action horror genre, so we're trying to keep all the elements balanced (inventory management, route planning, puzzle solving, combat).
Speaking of gameplay mechanics, I have to ask... How is saving handled? Can players expect to find items or have a limited number of saves, or can we save as much as we want? Or will there be different settings for different playstyles?
The current plan is to let players have unlimited saves, and limited (item-use) saves either using an option modifier or higher difficulty setting. All saving can only be done in save-rooms (where you will also have your global storage like in Re games).
One thing I really wanted to mention is the isometric view and fixed camera angles. I personally really love the style, and seeing it in a game with high quality realistic visuals looks really nice! Have you had any challenges with going in this direction? I can imagine that item and enemy placement, and camera angles for scares, are things you have to consider a lot more than with a fully 3D camera.
Thank you! The camera perspective comes with a lot of advantages (also like I mentioned before, I loved isometric games in the past, such as the old X-Com's or RTS games) but it also comes with its challenges. Making horror and scares work in this camera perspective has its own language, but we have a good bag of tricks we've been testing and we think we are coming up with really cool and interesting ideas to scare and make players stressed. For example, players won't be able to see around the corners until Lyra has visibility of that area, which means you don't really know what lurks behind the wall you're approaching, much like in a 3rd person behind the shoulder or First-Person game.
We've had quite a bit of experience on this with our previous game: The Devil is in the Details (albeit first person). In fact that game (especially when the first demo came out) was apparently extremely scary (quite a few people mentioned this was the scariest game they've ever played since P.T or Visage), so we had to tone it down quite a bit since a lot of people were not even able to keep playing (in fact I still remember one particular streamer who was playing the demo that we went to check on, that we had to ask her to stop playing the game because we were worried she was going to have a real heart attack during the stream). This might sound ridiculous while reading the interview - but trust me - if you saw her playing it, and especially after you saw hundreds of other playthroughs on stream, you'd be worried about this particular one too.
Sound effects and music go a very long way when it comes to horror games, and Liminal Point seems to nail this perfectly! Have you had to do anything really creative to capture the unique sounds you wanted for the game? For example, I've heard of developers recording the inside of vending machines in their office! You'd never realize it playing their game, but it's cool and funny to know that's how the effect was created!
For this question, we will defer it to our composer and creature sound designer: Remu Daifuku
Remu: I think konnyaku would probably be the most unique thing I’ve sampled so far for Liminal Point. It works perfect for squelchy sounds.
Another would be sampling a subway car and having the sample’s amplitude manipulated by human cries by spectrally morphing them together.
When composing I try my hardest to take elements from the environment and story and fuse them with the music. For instance, I vocoded a piano with underwater waves and bubbles to create a new instrument which sounds like a drowned piano, which will be significant to the story.
Some other things would be bowing electric guitars, using TV static for a percussive element and using textures from a destroyed piano in the score.
Currently the game is set for release on PC in 2026, but are you interested in bringing it to consoles in the future? Nintendo? PlayStation? Xbox?
We will have an official announcement on this subject soon. So everyone, please look forward to it.
And I think that covers it! I don't want to take too much more of your time, but is there anything else you'd like our readers to know about Liminal Point?
Please look forward to the game when it comes out and wishlist it on steam if you haven't already. Wishlisting your favorite indie games really helps us Developers getting more exposure on the platform, so please help us be able to continue doing this and bring you great games and new experiences.
We hope you are excited about Lyra's journey as much as we are!
Sounds great! Thank you again for taking the time to speak with me, and as a quick bonus I have to ask: What is the scariest game you have ever played?
Lord Zero: P.T. for sure. And maybe Silent Hill 3, 4.
Lady Zero: Visage and Resident Evil 7 demo.
Once again I'd like to thank Lord Zero, Lady Zero, and Remu for taking the time to speak with me, and for everyone who would like to check the game out for themselves, you can head over to the Steam Page to Wishlist the game today.
For more, here is the official trailer!
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