Dweller's Empty Path is a short RPG-Maker game that explores the life of a lost being from another world. It is a part of the Escaped Chasm series, created by Temmie Chang. It is found on itch.io here and takes roughly 1-2 hours to complete.
The game follows Yoki, a girl who wakes up from a nightmare and has trouble falling back asleep. She decides to go on a short walk to clear her mind. Throughout her walk, she encounters several people who give her small tasks to do; from sparring at the old log, to delivering letters for her secondary job at the Post Office, and much, much more.
The player can end the game at any point by returning Yoki to her bed and giving her another attempt at some much needed rest.
Gameplay
In Dweller's Empty Path, Yoki navigates during her walk with the arrow keys or mouse. She can go faster by pressing [Shift]. She is able to record in her journal (save the game), which is located both on her desk in her room or appearing mysteriously where there are sparkles on the ground.
Unlike the previous game, there is no animated cut scenes. It has 100+ illustrations instead, as stated by Temmie.
Plot (Spoiler Alert)
(The plot presented here is that of the True Ending; alternative ones may be found on the corresponding Endings section)
While Yoki walks around, she encounters events, namely:
- talking to Zera outside the house
- helping the Lost Traveller find his way
- taking a carriage ride
- talking to Claire in her room
- giving Claire the ingredients obtained from the doctor in Castle Town
- going on a broom flight with Claire
- checking on Woof by the cliffs
- talking to Aimottle in her house
- looking at the view north of Yoki's house
- looking at the "WANTED" poster in Claire's room
- checking the tree stump in the forest surrounded by animals
- saying hi to Caina at her cafe
- looking at the Village/Castle Town signpost
- looking at the letter attached to the decaying tree
- looking at the giant serpent in Woof's cave
- looking out the window in the Lighthouse
- sitting on the Castle Town pier
- talking to the Prince
- looking at the book in the Prince's room
- trying on clothes in the Tailors' store
- checking the odd butterfly in the middle of the flower ring in the forest
- looking inside the open treasure chest in the Graveyard shack's basement
- looking at the statues of the previous King and Queen at the castle
- looking at the mysterious corpse in the secluded grave accessed through the tunnel maze
- sparring with Caina at the tree stump
- meeting up with Este at the post office
- checking the desk after delivering all three letters
- interacting with the Tigertaur
- following the Dragon to the cliff near Aimottle's place after seeing him in front of the Dragon Shrine
- grabbing a drink at the ship bar
- following the four Heroes on their quest
- reading the journal at the graveyard shack (three times)
- heading home and going to sleep (which ends the game)
(Most of these events can be completed at any moment, in any order; the most important exception is talking to Zera at the beginning, which becomes unavailable as soon as Yoki enters the room south of her house. The locations of all events can be found in this Map.)
Every event, as well as its possible prerequisites, is hinted at by the Hint Bird along the player's progression.
The last action is the reading of the journal in the Graveyard - which is the point to which the entire game leads Yoki - that tells the forgotten memories of Yokiās childhood. Some of the pages in the journal are missing, which you have to search for, and whose obtainment you can only complete by triggering every event in the game : you obtain the first pages after completing 10 events, the following ones after 20, and the end of the journal after completing all of them.
Guide
The game files have two maps; one without stickers and one with stickers.
NOTE: Map with stickers will spoil scenes/objects/character locations.
References
- ā Hooray!! It's all finished! You can play my newest RPGMaker game here: @tuyoki on Twitter July 10, 2020.