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The differences and similarities between the Jules Verne novel and Return to Mysterious Island

It’s difficult to provide a short answer to this question. In fact, the game is a logical sequel of the book “The Mysterious Island”, which was the sequel to the previous Jules Verne’s novel “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea”. In order to understand the links between the game and the novels, we have to summarise the books, and explain who Captain Nemo is, as he appears in both novels.

Captain Nemo ("nobody" in Latin), whose real name is Prince Dakkar, is the son of an Indian rajah. He takes part in a rebellion against the English occupying his country. His wife and children are killed during the confrontations and the rebellion is crushed. Nemo, filled with bitterness, withdraws from society and secretly builds the Nautilus, a revolutionary submarine.

Nemo travels the seas in his Nautilus for many years. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea takes place during this period.

As time goes on, Nemo, who is aging, sees the members of his crew die one by one. He gives up navigating and retires on a remote island in the Pacific Ocean, an island not found on any map. His Nautilus is anchored in a large sea cavern, hidden on the side of the volcano which towers over the island.

Years go by… On a dark night, a hot air balloon crashes leaving five American citizens on the island. Their adventures are related in the novel The Mysterious Island.

Nemo, who is a misanthropist, savours his solitude. He hides from the castaway men, leaving them to manage by themselves. They have neither tools nor weapons, but a great deal of experience. They manage not only to survive but to prosper using the island’s resources. In just a few years, they are able to master pottery, metallurgy, agriculture and raise animals. They build a mill, a hydraulic machine, roads, dig lakes and caverns with explosives and even build a telegraph that connects their farm to the main house.

All the while, the castaways feel that they are being spied on. Nemo watches them. When very difficult situations occur, Nemo is compelled with his natural generosity to help them, but without being seen.

This is the end of the story as Jules Verne tells it:
Nemo, who is dying, comes out of hiding and invites the castaways to come on board the Nautilus. At his request they scuttle the Nautilus along with Nemo and the treasures on board. The volcano erupts shortly after and destroys the island. The castaways, who miraculously survive the explosion, manage to reach a narrow reef, the only remains of the island. They are then taken in by a passing ship.

Our game is based on the following idea: Nemo’s death, the destruction of the Nautilus and the explosion of the island never happened. Jules Verne’s story is a white lie invented in order to protect the Captains’ solitude. In reality, the captain is in perfect health when the castaways leave him to return to civilization!

Alone once again, the captain invents an isolating shield which surrounds its island. Nothing can go out from there: neither material object, nor radio waves. But in the opposite direction, the shield will allow radio waves to pass so news from the outside world is allowed in. It also sometimes occurs, during violent storms, that a change of tension neutralizes temporarily the shield which delivers passage to an object of small size: fish, seal… or the body of a shipwrecked woman pushed by the current: our Mina.

So, our game puts the player in Jules Verne’s setting some one hundred fifty years after the novel. Mina will of course find a lot of ruins let by the castaways. (Devoted Jules Verne’s reader will recognize some features!) Many puzzles consists on repairing existing elements on the Mysterious Island. This is our tribute to Jules Verne all game long, not an adaptation, but we are very close to the spirit of this novel. So, we have a lot of item’s combination, too, in order to capture the “build your own technology” feeling of the book.

Character descriptions of Mina and Jep, and the importance of their relationship in the game

Mina is a young navigator engaged in a solitary race. She has studied Botany in the past. She likes nature, knows the plants well and loves animals. She is a strong, positive, cordial and sensitive character.

In Return to Mysterious Island, Mina discovers that the island is the home of a troop of monkeys. The majority are hostile and very protective of their home and make every attempt to drive Mina away. One young monkey however, bullied by its peers, is nursed back to health by Mina and becomes her pet animal. She gives him the name “Jep” (We took inspiration here from the novel, whose heroes also tame a monkey called “Jup.”)

Jep appears a very useful helper. More important, he’s a friend and an ally to Mina, as the main thing for a castaway, after survival, is to avoid loneliness and find company. Jep can be combined with inventory items to complete tasks in the game that Mina cannot do - climb a high tree, for example and cut something down from the top of it. There are, of course, some emotional links between Mina and the monkey, as well as between Mina and her ‘guardian,’ Nemo’s ghost

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