We get the deets on the highly-anticipated kaiju brawler.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/feature/59897/dawn-of-the-monsters-interview-with-13am-games-alex-rushdy
You loyal readers out there in Readerland are probably aware of my enthusiasm for waifu and dinosaur-based video games, but you may not realize that I'm also an enormous kaiju fan. I saw Godzilla 1985 somewhere around 1988 and was hooked for life, so you can only imagine how hyped I am for 13AM Games' upcoming Dawn of the Monsters (DOTM). It looks like the game I wanted SNK's King of the Monsters to be back when I was going to Pizza Hut regularly for the "Book It" program. Neal Ronaghan and I got a chance to pepper 13AM Games' CEO and DOTM creative director Alex Rushdy with questions about the game. It was a real pleasure--thanks to Alex for indulging us!
NWR: Dawn of the Monsters is clearly a love letter to kaiju and tokusatsu media, and it seems to be pulling from virtually all aspects of the genre. There's obviously a lot of Godzilla in here, but Ultraman and maybe Pacific Rim as well. What were your touchstone inspirations for the world and characters of the game?
AR: You’re absolutely right! Honestly, I’m a humongous fan of kaiju and tokusatsu stuff, and I’ve watched so much that it’s hard to exclude anything from our influences on the game. I’ve been a Godzilla fan since before I went to kindergarten! That being said, some of the key specific inspirations for the story and concept are Ultraman Gaia, Pacific Rim, Patlabor, Godzilla: Final Wars, and the ’90s Gamera trilogy. There are, of course, other real-world and non-kaiju influences, but those choices in particular had a huge impact on making this game!
NWR: 2. Your monsters have a really recognizable look to them, which is impressive in a genre as crowded as this one. Can you talk a bit about the art design side of development? I've been blown away by the collaborations you've done with illustrators from across the kaiju world. Was that always part of the plan, or did that become a possibility during development? When you've got somebody like Shinji Nishikawa designing a character, do your guys give him concept art to work from or just adapt whatever he comes up with?
AR: Thanks! We put a lot of work into designing our creatures and our team did a fantastic job. The challenge when designing our cast of characters was that we needed to balance an iconic/recognizable look alongside a new and striking design that would be exciting and fit their gameplay mechanics. There is a difference between a “kaiju” and a “giant monster,” and we wanted our characters to feel like they stepped out of a long-lost Japanese kaiju anime. This meant paying a lot of attention to silhouette, color, and shape language, as well as sticking to the “could this character exist as a guy in a rubber suit?” rule. Every monster had to somehow work with the silhouette of a man (or at least work as a practical puppet/prop) to fit within the aesthetic we wanted.
The plan was to work with famous kaiju artists from the beginning! We wanted this game to feature a world that felt genuine and authentic to kaiju fans, and we certainly didn’t want it to feel like a pastiche or parody. This meant we needed to get some of the biggest names in the biz to contribute. Thankfully they were just as excited about the project as we were and were happy to contribute. It’s been a real honor working alongside the likes of Yuji Kaida, Shinji Nishikawa, Matt Frank, Zander Cannon and more!
And yeah, we actually gave Mr. Nishikawa pretty free reign. We explained the concept to him and what the boss he designed had to do, and he supplied a few different designs for us to choose from. It was great! Here’s what he came up with:
Shinji NishikawaNWR: The 2D brawler genre has been going through a huge renaissance lately. Did any particular games inspire you on the brawler side of Dawn? Core staples of the genre aside, your Augment system seems pretty unique for a brawler. Can you talk about that system? Was it challenging to keep things balanced, or can players overpower their characters?
AR: We did play a lot of beat-’em-ups when we were planning the game (I’m a huge fan of them), including TMNT, Streets of Rage 2, Sengoku 3, and others. That being said, the major influences on us, design-wise, were more “modern” brawlers like Bayonetta, Ninja Gaiden, and God of War. We wanted to bring the depth and expression of those games into the 2D beat-’em-up space. That’s why you have access to an instant dodge, a block, a parry, and other staples of modern action games.
As for the Augments, we wanted to offer players a lot of variety and expression in how they play. Not only are the four characters very unique, but you can customize each one. I’m a big fan of games like Monster Hunter and Samurai Warriors that let you upgrade your skills and abilities. The Augment system is a way to simplify that concept so it’s easy for anyone to understand, but with enough depth in build-making to encourage experimentation. There are some really incredible combinations you can pull off! It’s generally pretty balanced and there is a hard cap on certain stats and abilities.
We decided that it wouldn’t be exciting for Augments to simply give you a few stat boosts like increased attack or defense, so each one is focused on a unique perk often with a tradeoff. For example, one augment might give you more health from executing, making the game a bit easier if you’re in a pinch, but another might increase your damage but decrease your defense: great for increasing your score, but tricky if you can’t play really well! They make for interesting choices.
Zander CannonNWR: What is the game's overarching story? Who are the major players?
AR: The game takes place in the near-future of 2065, after climate change has awoken monsters called Nephilim from their slumber. In response to the worldwide catastrophe, the planet creates DAWN (the Defense Alliance Worldwide Network), and assembles a team of four gigantic heroes including two Nephilim. They are Megadon “the living volcano,” Ganira “the Terror of the Seas,” the gigantic mech Tempest Galahad (piloted by Jamila Senai), and giant warrior Aegis Prime (the superhero alter ego of Eiji Murasame).
These four heroes are trying to stop the Nephilim and uncover the mystery of their existence, but not everything is what it seems at DAWN…
NWR: What did you learn from the development of Runbow and Double Cross that has helped out with the creation of Dawn of the Monsters?
AR: We learned a lot. And a lot of that learning came from making mistakes! We not only learned how to properly scope and budget a game, but we also learned how to better focus our design onto a few specific areas instead of attempting a very broad design. At the core of Dawn of the Monsters is a game that makes punching giant monsters feel really, really good.
Aside from that, a lot of the tech we developed for the visuals in Dawn was built off of tools we made for Runbow and Double Cross. It also helped that after years of purely 2D action we were able to get enough confidence to add another dimension to the gameplay and work with fully 3D environments!
Matt FrankNWR: Between Seismic Toys and Limited Run Games, you have quite a bit of physical reach for DOTM. Is this a world you hope to build out beyond this game? What is the pie-in-the-sky hopeful future for the world of DOTM?
AR: We’d absolutely love to! Obviously we are focused on delivering a fantastic game first, but people have latched onto the world and characters that they’ve seen so far and even some of our early merch sold out really quickly! The ultimate dream for me would be to do a live-action series or movie, kinda bring it back full circle! We’ve already received multiple requests for a comic book series, so who knows where it can go?
NWR: What are your favorite kaiju/tokusatsu films and shows? Any personal favorite character designs? Personally, I still hold out hope that Toho or Legendary will pick up the rights to Gamera so that we finally get the showdown of the century. At the very least, Toho's gotta let Anguirus show up in the Apple TV Godzilla series, right? Dude wasn't in King of the Monsters or Godzilla vs. Kong!
AR: If someone came up to me and said “I’ve never watched a kaiju film before, what do you recommend?” First, I’d say “Godzilla (1954),” and then I’d say “Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995) and its two sequels!” Really, the Gamera movies are so fantastic, and I think a lot of people forget about them because they aren’t Godzilla films. But yeah, I love all the Godzilla and Gamera movies and at this point I’ve watched them all too many times to count.
Aside from that, I really love Ultraman. Like, it’s becoming a problem. I own almost every series on DVD or Blu-Ray and I’ve been watching the new shows as they simulcast each episode! My absolute favourite Ultraman series are the original, Seven, Return, Tiga, Gaia, Max, and X! But really they’re almost all absolute bangers!
I’m also a humongous fan of Pacific Rim (the original!), and the original King Kong.
There are some excellent indie kaiju/tokusatsu movies I want to shout out to as well, like Howl from Beyond the Fog, Psycho Goreman, and Gehara! Anyway, I better stop now or I’ll keep listing off kaiju movies until this interview becomes a wall of text. And you’re correct, it’s an absolute travesty that Anguirus hasn’t made his Monsterverse debut. There is a skeleton that looks suspiciously like Anguirus in Atlantis in KotM, but that can’t count!
Yuji KaidaAnd there you have it, folks. Thanks again to Alex, that was a blast. I have to make a shameful confession here: I've never seen Ultraman. Any version of Ultraman. I know. I need to get on that ball, especially since they're basically all readily available here in North America now. I'll also enthusiastically back up his Gamera trilogy recommendation: the three Heisei-era Gamera movies (Guardian of the Universe, Attack of Legion, and Revenge of Iris) are some of the best kaiju films ever made. They're worlds better than the Showa-era Gamera series--although those movies have their charms too--and the Millenium-era follow-up, Gamera: The Brave was such a letdown. I'm super excited about Dawn of the Monsters, so keep an eye on this humble website for a review in...just a few days! It's coming out on March 15th. HYPE!
Topic: Dawn of the Monsters Interview with 13AM Games' Alex Rushdy (Read 1504 times)
