Game

Sadness

2010 · Wii · Wii U · Adventure

About this game

Sadness was a survival horror video game in development by Nibris for the Wii console and was one of the earliest titles announced for the system. While the game initially drew positive attention for its unique gameplay concepts, such as black-and-white graphics and emphasis on psychological horror over violence, Sadness became notorious when no evidence of a playable build was ever publicly released during the four years it spent in development. It was revealed that Sadness had entered development hell due to problems with deadlines and relationships with external developers, leading to its eventual cancellation by 2010, along with the permanent closure of the company.

Set in pre-World War I Russian Empire (modern Ukraine), Sadness was to follow the player character Maria Lengyel, a Victorian era aristocrat of Polish-Hungarian descent who has to protect her son Alexander after their train to Lviv derails in the countryside. Alexander, who is struck blind by the accident, begins to exhibit strange behavior that progressively worsens. The game's scenarios and enemies, such as those based on the werewolf and the likho, are inspired by Slavic mythology. In order to "make the player feel that he is participating in events [and] not merely playing a game," the game was planned to feature a branching storyline, influenced by the player's actions and concluding with one out of ten possible endings.