BYTE

To live for all eternity is hard. To love for all eternity is even harder. You play as Jonathan Harker, Dracula’s real estate agent, completing work tasks while exploring the castle, speaking with its inhabitants, and hacking into computers. BYTE is a tactics RPG that adapts the classic novel Dracula, by Bram Stoker, with an emphasis on the themes of queerness and technology. An Internet-Age Dracula Jonathan Harker, a young real estate agent from New York City, is summoned to Detroit, Oregon in 1990 to help a mysterious Count Dracula purchase a collection of properties in NYC. Jonathan's proficiency with new technologies like fax machines, telephones, and the internet helped him rise quickly at his firm and earn this assignment, but the closer Jonathan gets to the castle, the wearier he grows. BYTE's story is told through visual novel scenes that use a mixture of in-world and surreal 3D art and full-motion video to accompany the text of the story. Technology permeates BYTE both in its world and in its presentation and the game is a celebration and exploration of early digital computer technology. Jonathan Harker, Hacker At the castle, Jonathan finds that the Count has already equipped his castle with an internet connection, fax lines, and solar power to speed up his work. Despite this, Jonathan finds more friction than expected, as it seems nearly everything in the castle is hidden behind some form of password protection. BYTE features grid-based tactics battles that happen when Jonathan needs to hack into a computer. Combat involves completing tasks rather than fighting enemies. Tasks can include collecting data, getting through firewalls, installing software, and more. New Castle, Old Fangs Mysterious circumstances bring all of Jonathan's friends and even his fiancé to the castle with him. It doesn't take long for Dracula to demonstrate interests in some of Jonathan's closest friends, leading Jonathan, among others to grow suspicious. Queerness colors Dracula from its first page to its last. BYTE re-examines the queer identity of the novel through modern looks at gender, sexuality, and desire.