Exploring the new world of Chinese FMV games

In January 2019, The Invisible Guardian (or 隐形守护者 in Chinese), a story-rich historical full-motion video game, or FMV, was published on the Chinese, Hong Kong, and Taiwanese Steam pages, as well as WeGame. It became a great hit, despite not receiving much advertising. It maintained a rating of 9/10 on Steam with over 48,000 reviews and 9.6/10 on Douban (essentially the Chinese equivalent of IMDB for games, movies, books, and other media), with around 32,000 reviews. Additionally, it earned a BAFTA Breakthrough China trophy, solidifying its status as one of the most acclaimed and best-selling games of recent years.

Its nuanced storyline and multi-layered characters pleasantly surprised those who initially thought the game would be a typical anti-Japanese war drama. It even shattered the expectations of those who believed it might be a cheap imitation of the beloved Japanese adventure game, 428: Shibuya Scramble.

Where did it come from? In 2015, a group of six individuals passionate about interactive filmmaking embarked on experiments with various game design formats. They also enlisted students to act out their scripts. One of their initial projects was The Secret Life of the Empress Dowager Cixi, an interactive novella game (often called ‘visual novel’) featuring live-action actors. This narrative explored the real-life journey of a concubine who ascended the ranks to become the Empress of China.

During their research, the developers immersed themselves in similar games, like Heavy Rain. Their exploration led them to a significant revelation: the ideal scenario for a choose-your-adventure game would be a spy story set during times of political turmoil. In such a setting, players would not only grapple with difficult decisions to survive dire circumstances, but they would also need to decipher people’s hidden motives.

While games like Heavy Rain served as sources of inspiration, the production of The Invisible Guardian didn’t adhere to the traditional development process of most games. People contributed to the project in any way they could, and the majority lacked prior experience in their respective roles. For instance, dressmakers, makeup artists, and props specialists had to undertake research and educational courses right in the midst of shooting. Sylvia, the lead narrative designer, comments, “There were unexpected challenges every day, and we had to adapt to new obstacles as they arose.” They even had to dip into their own pockets to pay professional music studios. Despite the haphazard production schedule, The Invisible Guardian is an exceptionally polished game that doesn’t reflect the challenges of its development.