Frank and Drake is released today as “a double narrative” “with 8,000+ rotoscoped images”

As before the pandemic, at Gamelab in Barcelona we had interviews with the most prominent speakers (like Peter Molyneux) also the opportunity to get a first look at some of the promising titles from the local industry. And Frank and Drake caught our attention at first sight.

“It’s a double narrative,” explains Iñaki Díaz in the Gamereactor video interview below. “Basically, Frank’s character is inspired by the monster Frankenstein or has traits but has a demeaning nature and limited stamina so he only operates during the day and on the other hand we have Drake who is half vampire half human and he only operates at night because he is allergic to sunlight.”

“So the dynamic is that they’re going to be new housemates,” the creative director continues. “There’s kind of a character that brings them together, but they’ll never physically meet, so they have to develop that bond and that relationship through sticky notes and other documents that they left each other. So that’s the fascinating part, that they’re going to have separate quests and be able to work together a little bit more or less depending on how you choose to play them and relate to each other.”

As it is inspired by the classic books, there is no live dialogue between the characters as “every decision you make is based on written text. It can be a sticky note. It can be your own journal, your own journal.”

There are also animated sequences to complete, additional mini-games, and the “important aspect of metrics between characters. We have this bonding relationship: the closer they are, the more new options open up to you.”

To learn more about the game’s striking visual aspect and its “8,000+ frames” rotoscoped acting (“it’s very cinematic, but you might have to draw 300 or 400 frames over footage one at a time, just for a single instance”) inspired by the likes of Richard Linklater, Loving Vincent, or Undo, play the full video.

Frank and Drake takes you through six different endings (yes, they can actually meet in some of them) as of today, as the game has just been released on PC via Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Xbox.