A little bit of Myst, a dash of System Shock, a slice of life in cryosleep on the USCSS Nostromo, and a hearty helping of The Expanse. That’s how I would describe Destination Primus Vita, the science fiction first-person mystery series being developed by Epsilon Games.
The six members of Crew 121.
Austin Blair, Coby Blair, Artemis Gracco, Hayao Mutsami, BrX Stewart, and Geny Obomsawin
Launching with a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2017, Destination Primus Vita takes place in the year 3044 A.D., following Crew 121 as their ship heads for Primus Vita to retrieve Earth’s water supply. You see, in 2353, humanity made its first contact with aliens. It didn’t go well. These weren’t the “We come in piece” kind of aliens, these aliens came for our water and left us for dead. Contrary to expectations, we survived.
The game is intended to be split across six episodes, each one following a different member of Crew 121. Episode One starts with genius quantum physicist Austin Blair, who has been tasked with finding a way to successfully confront the aliens. Each episode takes place during the four year journey from Earth to Primus Vita. In this world, it has been found that humans need mental stimulation even during cryosleep, requiring the ship’s computer to craft a variety of mental simulations and exercises to ensure that Crew 121 is ready for whatever they encounter once they arrive at their destination. Each episode is the simulation for one character.
Destination Primus Vita Environment
The PAX demo that I played featured an early selection from Episode One. In a haunting alien landscape with deeply atmospheric music contributing to the feeling of isolation, I navigated Austin through a series of puzzles that revealed more about the complicated relationship (is there any other kind?) between her and her little brother Coby. We’ll get Coby’s perspective in a later episode, since he’s one of the other members of Crew 121.
The biggest segment of the demo was a sequence in Coby’s living quarters, a party he held for the crew that Austin had never shown up for. In Austen’s memories, the ship’s AI gives her a chance to revisit that moment, and gain some understanding of her brother’s perspective. As each clue is found, another one appears, until all the evidence has been gathered, and Austen can move on. This seems to be a narrative device that will see a lot of use in Destination Primus Vita, and one that I personally think is rather interesting. Given the in-world device that the ship’s AI knows the thoughts, histories, and past of all six crew members aboard, this exploration into other characters’ points of view on certain events could make for some great storytelling.
Destination Primus Vita Environment
I also had a chance to spend a few minutes talking to Anne Gibeault, the creator of the Primus Vita Universe. She had originally conceived the series as a trilogy of novels, but eventually morphed that into a (planned) twenty-four issue comic book series about the post-landing events of the crew on Primus Vita, and the six episode game series.
Just from our short conversation, it was clear that Anne has put a lot of thought and effort into this universe, and that passion shows through in the game itself. I gave Destination Primus Vita one of my Writer’s Choice Awards at PAX East, and will be looking forward to playing through the first episode later this year.
Destination Primus Vita puzzle
Epsilon Games plans to release Destination Primus Vita, Episode 1 on Steam, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in Summer 2018. Each subsequent episode is planned to follow roughly four to six months later. Gamers interested in learning more about Destination Primus Vita and the universe behind the game can check the official website.
