Q: While playing the demo during a PR event in Milan, the look of the game reminded me to Samurai Jack, a Cartoon Network. Have you got any sort of inspiration from it for Severed? Or from any other media?
A: We draw a lot of inspiration from media that pioneered the sharp and stylistic look. For example the art team enjoys the old concept drawings from the 50’s and 60’s about how the “future” would look. And like you mentioned, we also draw inspiration from this generations cartoons that utilize sharp edges really well like Samurai Jack, as just one example.
Q: How long was the development for the game, and how much time have you spent on the Wii U version? Which aspect has been the most challenging during the development of this version?
A: We began working on Severed in early 2014, and took about 2 years to complete the initial launch version of the game for PS Vita. It took another few months of development time to design / port / optimize / playtest the Wii U version of the game to a point that we were happy with it.
The most challenging aspect of the Wii U version was deciding how to use the two output displays effectively. We knew that gameplay would have to be on the Wii U Gamepad (because of the touch input requirement), but what should be shown on the TV? The game? The map? Ultimately we decided that we’d always show the game on the Gamepad, and allow the player to choose dynamically what they’d like to show on the TV.
Q: What’s the element of Severed that you are most proud of?
A: Personally speaking I’m most proud of the studio approaching the relatively unexplored genre of touch based swipe combat. I think Infinity Blade did a good job of putting touch based combat on the map – and we were excited to push this further. It can be very tough when there are not many other games to draw inspiration from mechanically speaking.
Q: The game is so different from Guacamelee, why did you choose to change the genre so much and not to stick with the Guacamelee formula?
A: Severed was certainly a very large departure from Guacamelee!.As a studio you often need a break after working on a certain title for a period of time. At some point you run out of new fresh ideas, and the best solution is to tackle a completely different game that uses your brain in a new way.
Q: The look of your games is iconic, do you think that the graphic style is one of the main pillar of your projects and it’s going to be like this for a long time?
A: The look of a Drinkbox Studios game is important to us. We feel every title we’ve created, including our first success Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack, each have a very unique appearance. We think players enjoy fresh and exciting games, not only in respect to game mechanics but also how the art style looks.
Q: Speaking of sales, are you satisfied with the performance of your games on Nintendo’s platform, so far? Do you think that the cross buy for Severed is going to boost the game’s sales significantly?
A: We were very satisfied with the performance of Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition on the WiiU so are excited to be bringing Severed to the WiiU/3DS. I’m not sure if cross buy will boost the game’s sales but we really just wanted to give the Nintendo player base the option to decide how they wanted to enjoy Severed.
Q: The mood on Severed is very dark, and the narration feels intimate. Do you think narration it’s an element that must be improved on videogames? Did you come first with the story or the gameplay?
A: Narration can be an important aspect to video games. I don’t think it is a requirement for every game to have an amazing narrative, or any narrative for that matter – but video games can tell some spectacular stories. With Severed I must admit that the story and the gameplay somewhat emerged simultaneously – although this isn’t always the case with our previous games.
Q: Since everyone is waiting NX, we would like to know if there is any chance to see Severed and Guacamelee on NX or maybe an entire new title
A: Maybe? We don’t even know what the NX is so it is impossible for us to say. What I can say is that we’ve been happy to work on the WiiU and 3DS so hopefully can continue that relationship with Nintendo’s NX – whatever it is!
Q: When you’ve chosen to make a gameplay based on touch screen, were you afraid that people would refuse to play it? Have you ever thought about a more traditional version?
A: Yes. One of the biggest challenges we felt was convincing people that Severed was a compelling touch based game. On occasion people would approach us at video game conventions to only roll their eyes when they heard it was a touch game. This all changed once they actually tried the game themselves – but it was a challenge. It would be difficult to convert Severed to a more traditional style control system since so much of the mechanics are touch based.
Q: Have you ever seen a game that made you thought “we should have done a game like this before”?
A: From time to time I’ll see games based on ideas that I had thought of in the past, and think: “Yeah, this was a good idea. Why didn’t we make it?”. It’s pretty easy to come up with ideas, but it often takes a lot of time to implement them, so it’s not really possible to pursue every good idea that’s thought of.
