PAX West 2017: Once Upon A Coma Touches Well On Story And Visuals

PAX brings titles from all genres that one way or another really grab people in a way. And this game literally does it just from looking at it. Walking through the Indie Megabooth I found Once Upon A Coma.

The story starts with you playing as Pete. Awake from a coma that you must’ve been in for a long time to find out that all the adults are missing from your town. Along with your best friends Lily who went out to find the adults. So you must go and search for what happened to her and the adults. Along with you pet bird Slash to help you on your adventure. And while on your search, you’ll run into some interesting enemies along the way. Coming along Pete’s overran forts and hideouts by these phantom “officers” of The Sheriff. Leaving you in this cops vs robbers scenario, the same type of game you played with your friends before the coma. And Pete is very good at it.
After getting a look with the game I spoke with Erik Coburn, Software Engineer at Serenity Forge who are publishing Once Upon A Coma. Kicking off the questions with the abstract, yet cute look the game holds throughout its world. Coburn answered with:

The game’s look follows up on the look created by Thomas (Brush). First with his original Coma and Pinstripe. But the real influence is from Tim Burton with his stop-motion animation films like The Nightmare Before Christmas.

And with the demo on the show floor, it holds back from what the rest of the game is holding. Without any spoiling, the next question focused on Pete’s progression and abilities. While continuing through the game, Pete will unlock these skills to overcome obstacles and defend himself from enemies. For example, Pete unlocks the ability to double jump with beams of light for taller platforms. Another to use the beams to combat enemies as you encounter them. Even Slash is given some abilities, like one to give Pete a source of light when running through dark areas of the game.

One question that pushed hard on spoiling the game was the type of enemies Pete will be running into. From what Coburn mentioned; one was a spider/humanoid creature that you’ll come upon early on in the game, but that’s something more for you to find out for yourself.
As of yet, there is no official release date for Once Upon A Coma or what platforms it will be available besides PC (for the predecessors being available on primarily). All that we can see is a launch window for 2018.