After releasing Bloodlines, I’ve reflected on why it is such a special game to me personally. 

Sean’s story

This game was created for AceJam, because I think explaining Sean and Morrigan’s experience adds value to the Folklore world, but I didn’t want to force it into the main series of games. I suppose you could call this a ‘visual novella’ about life in the mythic castle. 

Now an Irish sea-serpent who is trapped in a magical castle isn’t something anyone can directly relate to (if that is you…please tell me what I got wrong), but parts of his story have something almost anyone can relate to (e.g. being conflict-avoidant to stop an identity from becoming a source of gossip). Another angle for Sean specifically is that he is comfortable with being ace, but ends up having to end relationships because of it…yet it isn’t a spiteful affair with high-running emotions, it’s a very polite, (a little confused) and respectful goodbye, the ‘magic’ fizzles, but it still hurts).  His preferences in this specific world significantly impact him and his sister. His sister is unconditionally supportive, Sean is far more important to her than a family legacy. Although, his extremely positive outlook on his predicament would cause him and her to butt heads sometimes (she laments that Sean ‘endures’ torment from the Mythic King and doesn’t challenge it, which she hates). 

Despite all of that going on, Sean still has a job with a lot of responsibility, he has a sister he cares about deeply (whose honesty regularly lands her in hot water), he’s a guardian to Robert, a young boy with no family of his own and loves socialising. Ultimately, Sean is a simple soul who lives in every moment, he is comfortable with who he is, and sees himself as an eclectic individual, with no specific trait defining him...he’s just Sean - a fun little guy. 

A story concept rising like a phoenix

The Folklore game series, unofficially started with ‘Do you like Sweets?’ (DYLS for short) - my O2A2 entry from 2023, but the origin of the idea is much longer in the tooth!

Folklore was originally a comic book series I began working on in 2012, with massive ambition, very little drawing experience and a ridiculous amount of motivation, I spent 7 years on this comic.

The story was a product of that me at the time; A phoenix as the protagonist, a group of mythical creatures acting as heroes against a quirky evil threat… going around Wales, Scotland, Ireland and England whilst encountering mythics from around the world on their travels. It was meant to be a shonensque aesthetic with folktale storybeats… I went on location around the UK to get location shots and really understand the places I was writing about.

As I approached the end of editing volume 2 of 4, I paused… I had been working on the comic for so long but, I was halfway through, then it dawned on me that the comic format didn’t suit my skill set, I found drawing characters and places at many angles brutal, good visual story-telling made my head spin, and my writing preferences didn’t resonate in this medium. 

I was unsure how to continue (although I knew I would, I had invested so much into Folklore personally). Supportive friends would listen to me ramble about how I ‘felt like I had good ideas, but I couldn’t articulate them well enough’ or ‘at any kind of speed’.

I remembered the phrase ‘a change can be better than a rest’, I did not want to stop creating, I needed to reflect. MyHyakuten Games partner, Rosemask22, had been working with me on the concept of ‘Royal Duality’ - the global panini happened and having so much time on our hands we decided it was time to make that game.

I cannot express how positive it was (for me) to work with other people. Folklore had been a very personal endeavour. I would show people years of work and then say ‘what do you think?’ - which in retrospect - put them in an unfair position, how can anyone give any constructive feedback in that situation?   

Royal Duality had me working collaboratively with friends, doing things I’d never done with shared enthusiasm and support. It was an experience I would never change. Even people who had no interest actively helped us on that project, and I’ll always be thankful for that.

Feeling more confident in the visual novel format, I took a gamble in 2023, I made a small story with the character who had always been the easiest to write - Cru-chan. I didn’t anticipate that DYLS would perform so well, and it left me excited. Then I decided to change the medium of Folklore, be brave and make meaningful changes, critically assessing what was good and bad from the original. Characters changed, the entire scenario is different, and the cast (as it’s revealed in time) - is a lot more diverse and tells different stories than I originally intended, but at its heart, it’s the Folklore story I always wanted to tell.

Finally, during the development of Bloodlines, the backgrounds mostly came from the original Folklore comic. I remember drawing them the first time around and being disheartened, ‘I wish I had more time and skill so I could draw them better’. One evening in January 2024, I put my pen down and nearly cried when I saw just how much my graphic design, art and lighting had improved… this was how I’d wanted my ideas to look in 2012…and in 2024, I had finally gotten to where I wanted to be.

So, thank you to those who have read this whole blog entry…and look forward to more Folklore series games in 2024!