Game Talk: When the Past Was Around

With Brigitta Rena Estidianti

Brigitta Rena is one of the lead illustrators in Mojiken Studios and is also the creator of some of the company’s beloved games such as ‘A Raven Monologue’ and ‘She & The Light Bearer’. We talked to her about her latest work ‘When the Past was Around’ to find out more about the ideas that went into creating the game.

Q: What is the game ‘When the Past Was Around’ about? Where can players find the game?

‘When the Past was Around’ tells the story of Eda, an aspiring violinist who lost her way on her journey to achieve her dreams. That is, until she met The Owl. In this game, you would see how Eda found love and a spark for her dream with Owl’s help. But, after a brief time, Eda realized that Owl will not be there with her for much longer. It is a bittersweet story about love, moving on, and letting go.

This game is a simple point-and-click puzzle game with beautiful hand-drawn art and music. It is a short, dialogue-less narrative experience that can be finished in less than 2 hours.

We already released it on Steam for PC here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1164050/When_The_Past_Was_Around/

We also have it on Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox. Please check it on your preferred store!

Q: Give us some insights on the story. What inspired the development of this game?

The game revolves around the concept of loss and giving up on dreams, as well as the motivation needed to move forward. This game was a product of our internal game jam in 2019. We had a prompt labelled ‘future memory’ at that time. My personal interpretation of what kind of future memory should be told led to a few ideas. One of the biggest ideas I got was when the team shared about how each one of us in Mojiken has dealt with loss, and how we continue to cherish the memories. With that, the premise for the game was born.

Find some of the early sketches of the game at the Mojiken website!

Q: How did you plan the puzzles for the game? Did you match the story to the puzzle design? Or did you match the puzzles to the story?

We matched the puzzles for the story because we wanted to tell a narrative without any dialogue. We utilised every component in our game as a storytelling tool such as pictures, animation, music, and of course, puzzle designs.

Each intriguing puzzle solved would uncover more story. 

Q: What influenced the visuals of the game and its characters?

It was influenced by many media! For the visuals, I wanted to convey a homely nostalgic feeling so I took references mostly from the illustration works of Puuung, Yuko Higuchi, and Maori Sakai. For the game’s characters, I love the dynamic of a normal girl with some beast-like boyfriend to give a mysterious feeling, so I took references from books like ‘The Girl from the Other Side’ by Nagabe, and ‘The Ancient Magus’ Bride’ by Kore Yamazaki.

Q: Music plays an important role in the game and story. How did you design the music for the game?

Our sound engineer, Masdito Bachtiar, composed all the music and sounds in this game. We worked with a session violinist and guitarist as well. The music was composed following the direction of the art and design of the game. So, whenever there were changes in those two elements, we had to tweak the music as well.

Q: How was development different for this game as compared to your other games?

It was different because this time we tried to make a story-based game with no dialogue at all. We were inspired by textless storybooks and comics that deliver various messages just with their visual aspects. In those stories, each reader could attain their own meaning based on different interpretations of details and that is what makes them special. Because of this, we had different pipelines, different approaches, and different communication processes between our internal team members.

Q. What mistakes did your team make during development? What about this game you wished could have been done better?

At first, we kind of struggled to agree on one interpretation of what happened between Eda and Owl because each one of us had a different perception of the dialogue-less scenes. One of the most crucial mistakes was when we unconsciously made the story too dark. It was almost horror and not heartwarming anymore. We made some changes to rectify it of course!

If there was anything that could have been done better, I would love to add more of the Indonesian environment and its modern culture into the setting or even puzzles. But maybe we can explore it in our next game. 😀

Q: What are the future plans for the team?

Right now, all of us are developing our new title called ‘A Space for the Unbound’.  It is a slice-of-life adventure game with beautiful pixel art set in the late 90s rural Indonesia that tells a story about overcoming anxiety and depression, as well as the relationship between a boy and a girl with supernatural powers. The experience will indeed be different compared to ‘When the Past Was Around’, but I hope everyone will love it too!

Please take a look at it here and wishlist it if you like!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1201270/A_Space_For_The_Unbound/

Q: Is there anything else you would like to add about the game?

This game was made with the intention to at least heal a tiny part of every player who plays it. We hope that this short moment with Eda and Owl can be part of your precious memories to give a form of encouragement in your difficult times.