Frank and Drake
A beautifully animated thought-provoking journey through the bowels of Oriole City. DualShockers was provided with a copy of the game for review purposes.
I’ve had my eye on Appnormals’ narrative adventure Frank and Drake for a while now. The premise of two people living together on opposite schedules, only interacting through sticky notes interested me greatly. As people may know, I’m also a sucker for narratives. I was excited to dive into Oriole City and blew through my first playthrough in one sitting.
The first thing that struck me about Frank and Drake was how unique the animation was. The game was animated using rotoscoping, which is a painstaking process that involves hand-drawing over film footage. It has a fascinating effect of making the characters visually pop while simultaneously having them blend in as if they aren’t there, an effect that comports nicely with the theme of Frank and Drake.
Right from the opening scene in the alley, you can sense how much effort and thought is packed into each frame. It’s an attractive experience and the eclectic scenery surrounding the pair’s apartment draws you into the world quickly.
In Frank and Drake, you play as well… Frank and Drake. The former is an amnesiac building superintendent who tires easily and the latter is a free-spirited night owl bartender. You start the game as Frank before finding out that your new roommate Drake will be moving in that very night.
The game is essentially a strict narrative, more visual novel than walking simulator. There is very little dialogue between characters so you’re spending most of the time experiencing the titular characters’ inner monologues. There is also a cool notebook feature where our protagonists write recaps, observations and notes. It gives the game a self-reflective feeling that I quite enjoy.
READ MORE:Science Shows That Too Much Nostalgia Is Bad For You, So Don’t Stew In It
Plot-wise, you’re almost immediately thrust into the depths of a supernatural mystery. Frank can’t remember his life prior to the past year and Drake begins to experience supernatural happenings after moving into the apartment. As you delve deeper, you start to unravel an ancient mystery within Oriole City.
The game plays like a cinematic where the player can influence the direction of the story through their choices. There’s even a screen that tracks which decisions you made each day, plotting your journey from start to finish. Naturally, with multiple choices, comes multiple endings.
The storytelling is intentionally vague. Frank and Drake is an experience that you’ll need to finish at least a few times to understand the whole picture. This could potentially be divisive as “replayability bait” doesn’t always go down well with players. In my view, though, Frank and Drake is compelling enough that players who enjoyed it will be happy to play it a second time.
A potential downside of the game’s narrative style is that you may arrive at the story’s conclusion without knowing the full context of what’s happening. This is by design, yes, but on my first playthrough, the pacing felt off. As I was close to cracking the mystery, the game’s pace suddenly accelerated and the mystery was solved for me, but without some crucial context to make it all make sense. By making opposite choices on my second playthrough, the plot became clearer but I can’t help but feel like Frank and Drake sacrifices a satisfying conclusion in favour of replayability. These aren’t mutually exclusive concepts but the narrative style of Frank and Drake lends itself better to the latter.
As I explored Oriole City across my two playthroughs, I became impressed with how fleshed out the area felt despite the player’s limited exposure to the “lore” of the locality. Through newspaper clippings, flyers and other forms of “soft exposition” you start to form a clear picture of what’s happening locally, the palpable vibes of Oriole. It’s not in your face, but it’s not easily missed either. It’s a nice balance - showing the player just as much as they’d like to see.
READ MORE:The QTEs In Final Fantasy 16 Kinda Ruin The Boss Fights
Since Frank is only awake during the day and Drake at night, you get to see both sides of Oriole. Like any city, it can be two completely different places on each side of the sunset. During the day, Oriole feels artsy yet restrained, a place full of soul that’s maybe seen better days. The city is similar at night but still distinct, it feels neon, jazzy but also eerily quiet. Drake’s sections were my favourite, there’s something about venturing through the urban nightscape that really appealed to me.
Frank and Drake isn’t “only” about moving from place to place, contemplating your position in the cosmos and the crippling existentialism of the human condition. There’s a lot of that, but there’s also some point-and-click and puzzling thrown in there for good measure. I liked the puzzles, they were creative yet entirely solvable. A couple of head-scratchers to be sure but nothing that’s going to stump you for longer than a few minutes.
I will say, some of the controls with certain puzzles are a little clunky. One particular moment where I had to open a combination locked safe sticks in my mind because I had to operate my mouse with as little wrist movement as possible lest the dial spin uncontrollably, resetting my progress. It can also take some time to figure out what you’re able to actually interact with on the screen. I spent a solid five minutes fruitlessly extending and shortening television antennae before I realised I could also rotate them to solve the puzzle.
These are small complaints, however. The core of Frank and Drake is a self-reflective journey. It was an experience where I appreciated the mystery, I appreciated the lore but I appreciated the aesthetic and the themes even more. I relate to both Frank and Drake in different ways, and I think this is exactly what Appnormals was going for. A narrative game that makes you reflect on the real world and your place in it is always a blessing, and in my view, Frank and Drake accomplishes what it sets out to do. It’s a game with a lot of heart.
