On September 14th, Vivid Foundry Corp. announced the release of Solace State, a cyberpunk political adventure that follows Chloe, a young hacker who seeks to help her missing friend Rebecka in a militarized near-future biotech city.
You can get it on Steam and Xbox for $19.99. There’s also a demo available, so give it a shot!
Vivid Foundry is a Toronto interactive digital media studio that creates original, artistic stories, founded by Tanya Kan. We use the power of interactivity to humanize social concerns and empower civic stories, and foster socially engaging conversations.
Press Kit
Play as Chloe, a gifted hacker who is searching for her missing friend Rebecka while a biotech crackdown embroils the city of Abraxa. As the political climate heats up and the corporate-sponsored militia threaten lives in unusually cruel ways, Chloe is faced with leveraging her relationships and friendships to help her navigate unrest, protect the communities she cares about, and heal herself in the process.
Friendship can be formed through all sorts of circumstances, whether it be through tragedy or making impactful change. Get to know this colorful, queer, and fashionable group of characters as you navigate complex societal issues and political intrigue together.
In the midst of escalating tensions, will romance bloom, or will you choose to keep the one you have gotten close to as a friend and confidant? Do you find yourself with the wholesome local boy Torrent, the experienced activist Sueli, or the old flame Alden?
Utilize the power of “social hacking” to dissect power dynamics that affect violent divisions locally and in the country. Your choices in how you dive deep into personal relationships, build rapport with storied communities, and exert your moral influence on arbitrary militarization will bring about more or less human rights in the world.
What is activism and responsible, moral truth? Whatever you choose, Chloe’s personal challenges intersect with her activism. Her hacking abilities allow her to take on another person’s identification and find encrypted data at the top of someone’s thoughts. With such abilities, what does it mean to share your truth responsibly?
In a world where more and more folks are having their plans for their future squeezed out, will Chloe’s actions incite violent backlash… or bloom into hope?
- 38 endings based on your choices in countless combinations
- Hand-drawn characters brimming with personality, expressiveness, and a sense of fashion
- 31 fully illustrated, recurring characters, and many more background characters!
- 3D skyscrapers, apartments, interiors, and streets look like impressionist paintings brought to life
- Dynamic visuals where the camera abstractly “hacks” through 3D buildings to reveal key story information
- An original soundtrack by Lex Metcalfe of moody electronica romanticized with acoustic instrumentals
- Evocative writing that captures the personal moments to power dynamics of characters from all walks of life
Dynamic storytelling experience
The camera hacks through a 3D architectural city space to reveal narratives, characters live and chat within a 3D space. This is no 20th century visual novel!
Choices matter
Your negotiations, with or without hacked social data, influence the governance in the city… as well as how your friends and lovers perceive you. These relationships will remember your choices.
Personable characters
Fashionable, handpainted characters from diverse backgrounds and all walks of life, all set in storied urban neighborhoods.
Chloe
At 22 years old, Chloe is scouted by reporting agencies right out of school. But what she wants most is to reunite with her best friend and mentor, Rebecka, who has gone missing in Abraxa City. Her uncanny, rare hacking ability to manipulate identities and perceptions may challenge the very fabric of society’s laws and morals.
Can she find justice both in herself and in the world, a justice that goes beyond barely surviving the whims of the powerful?
Torrent
A 20-year old Abraxan City local, Torrent helps young people find housing and necessities in a tumultuous economy. This aligns with his spectacular hacking skills in travel and the obfuscation of data locations. He has messy family politics; From an inattentive father who supports increased policing in Abraxan neighborhoods, to a brother who rouses dangerous street protests.
However, by connecting with new friends, can Torrent build rapport and help grow healthy communities?
Sueli
An experienced community leader who provides health services, Sueli is embattled with a shortage of resources for an impoverished population. The 28-year-old woman has long learned to be self-sufficient and reliable, but even she is pushed to her limits when her neighborhood is cordoned under violent military lockdown.
Can Sueli grapple with different levels of government and demand action?
Alden
A 24-year-old socialite, he is the eldest male heir of the Aldridge family. To everyone else in Abraxa City, Alden is the newest superstar to work with the controversial biotech conglomerate, NEXIR; To Chloe, he betrayed the democratic ideals that he espoused when they were dating.
Family, history, fame and home: Can he stay true to all of these creeds in a fragmented city?
Rebecka
Rebecka, 31 years old, traveled to Abraxa City over a year ago to follow rumors of a conspiracy. She is a knowledgeable hacker who can MacGyver private network code. It was Rebecka who nurtured Chloe on how to control her own innate hacking abilities when Chloe had no one else to turn to.
With the city seizing up with increased border control and militancy, can Rebecka still protect her friends and her people?
For more information, you can follow the team on Twitter or join their Discord server! Alternatively, you can check their devlog.
If you enjoy our work, please follow us on Twitter for more visual novel news and join the community in our forums and discord server: we’re pretty active there!
In addition, you can also support us on Patreon or by buying us a Ko-fi.
