INTRO:
In the base game of Graveyard Keeper, there were plenty of characters whose backstories were not told. Compounding this with the lack of exposition about the origins of the world that the protagonist has been sent to, it would be difficult for one to get invested in the narrative that the developers have made for the game.
For better or worse, the developers addressed this issue with a priced DLC package, focusing on the characters in the Village.
PREMISE:
In the base game, Gerry is a hopping and talking skull that could no longer recall who he was in life. Indeed, all that he has left is his drinking habit (never mind that he could not possibly get anything from what he imbibes). He is more than happy to send the Keeper on some errand to fetch him more to drink.
One of these errands revealed the remnant of a device left by a previous Keeper; it so happens to have playback videos of what has happened in the past, though they are initially inaccessible. After that, Gerry and the Keeper go on a quest to find out more about the device and the secrets that it hold.
INTEGRATION INTO THE MAIN GAME:
An observant player would have noticed that there are plenty of unused space in the game world, such as the regions around the Village and the forests next to the quarry. Incidentally, these are places where the content of the DLC packages would be implemented. In the case of Stranger Sins, the sparse woods between the Village and the Lighthouse become the locale for the content of this expansion.
Gerry’s scheme involves building a tavern on top of the device, which is just too big to move; the tavern also gives him an excuse to indulge in drink.
After the tavern has been built, it occurs as a structure in the game world, not unlike the Dead Horse Inn in the game world. (The owner of that tavern is none too pleased about having a competitor, by the way.)
UNDERGROUND LINKS:
The underground corridors between the Graveyard and elsewhere also gets expanded; there is a longer corridor that leads to the new tavern (called the “Talking Skull”). However, it is generally too long to be time-efficient, so most players would resort to using the teleport-stone to get to the Talking Skull.
TALKING SKULL GAMEPLAY – OVERVIEW:
Early on in the content of this DLC, the Keeper is informed of the opportunity to hire a certain non-living acquaintance as the bartender of the tavern. After some silly preparation to enable the possession of an inanimate puppet, the tavern goes into operation.
STOCKING BEVERAGES:
All the Keeper needs to do for his part is to acquire the beverages that are to be sold at the Talking Skull. This can include buying them from the Dead Horse Inn and selling them at the tavern. There is no net profit from this, however, though some players would not mind this if their intention is something other than revenue.
That said, shelves have to be built in the basement under the tavern for this purpose; the Keeper has to do this himself. Fortunately, the shelves are not terribly expensive to make.
SALE OF BEVERAGES:
The selling and serving of beverages is done automatically, thanks to the service of the aforementioned bartender. This happens every few minutes; the earnings are accumulated in a coffer that is on the bar counter. The player can collect everything from the coffer, not unlike the coffer in the warehouse of the Merchant NPC.
TAVERN REPUTATION:
The tavern’s reputation is not some rating that the player has to manage. Instead, it is implemented as a resource counter with a cap.
As the tavern serves drinks, it accumulates reputation points. The rate of accumulation depends on the variety of drinks that it is serving (in terms of types and quality levels) and the furnishings of the tavern. Typically, the furnishings become more expensive as the tavern’s sophistication improves.
There are also the curios that the player can gather and then put on display in the tavern after their main purpose has been fulfilled. The curios will be described later.
TAVERN EVENTS:
The tavern’s reputation is the currency that is spent on having events at the tavern. The player is introduced to these through the quests that are associated with this DLC.
Having these events requires a sizable stock of drinks, as well as the expenditure of some Faith. The main reason to have these events – other than to advance the storyline in this DLC – is to make more sales, thus having a quicker turnover of the stocks into revenues.
OTHER THINGS AT THE TAVERN:
Not all of the furniture at the tavern is just there for the customers. For one, the rat race table lets the Keeper place bets. On the other hand, these tavern attractions do not appear to yield anything that is unique.
CURIOS:
The discovery of the device triggered the recall of Gerry’s memories, though not entirely. Some of these memories include the existence of certain objects that the device can scan in order to obtain visions of the past. Conveniently, Gerry will inform the Keeper about what to find, and the order in which they should be scanned by the device. (There is no way to deviate from this sequence, however, perhaps to the disappointment of players who want to mess around.)
Finding these curios can be as simple as digging somewhere, but most of them are in the possession of the people in the Village. Thus, the Keeper has to befriend them, just like he would with the people who come from the Town. Fortunately, since the villagers appear every day during the waking hours, their quests are easier to pursue.
Registering a curio with the device plays a vision of the past; this is perhaps the main draw of the DLC expansion, especially to players who desire more exposition on the backstory of the game. Of course, other players could just read synopses of that.
VISUAL DESIGNS:
Most of the new things that the player would see would be in the visions of the past. The temple of the Ancient God is a notable example, mainly because it exists in the current game world as a cluster of marble ruins (which also explain the clusters of marble that can be mined at its site). The past looks of certain characters who happen to be immortals are also shown in these visions; the contrast with their current personae is amusingly notable, such as in the case of a certain character that has gone bald over the centuries.
Otherwise many things would seem familiar. Indeed, for example, the wooden flooring of the tavern is more than a little similar to the flooring in the Dead Horse Inn (or elsewhere for that matter). That the DLC does not introduce new types of beverages is also notable.
SOUND DESIGNS:
The most notable additions in sound assets are those for the visions of the past. There are different sets of gibber-speak for the past versions of certain characters. There is also more of the harsh whispers that the Ancient God emits. Other than these though, new sounds are sparse.
SUMMARY:
With so much of this DLC’s most notable content being contained within cutscenes, notably the visions of the past, it is difficult to recommend this DLC if one is looking for content that enriches the gameplay of Graveyard Keeper. Still, for those who want first-hand experiences on the exposition of more backstory in the universe of Graveyard Keeper, this is a must-have, for better or worse.