Earlier this month we received an email from Quickfire Games after they saw our review of MoaCube’s visual novel Cinders. We’ve since learned about their upcoming Kickstarter campaign for Exogenesis: Perils of Rebirth and are intrigued by this adventure game / visual novel hybrid.
Exogenesis puts together the point-and-click gameplay of adventure games with the heavy focus on storytelling found in visual novels. Players take on the role of Yudai Sayashi, whose sister Miho sadly dies when she triggers a deadly trap after his club of ‘treasure hunters’ come extremely close to a prize. Two years later Yu discovers the mythical Noah’s Ark and learns about the existence of the Lazarus Protocol inside; can he use this to bring his sibling back to life?
Sharan Balani, CEO and Founder of Quickfire Games, explained the development of the game to us: “Exogenesis is being developed by an independent development team, with whom we are partnering to help bring their game to market. We are working with them because they need help getting their project on Kickstarter. It’s important to note we are not simply acting as an avenue, we are an active participant in the development of the game as we also feel passionately about it.” We thank Nicolo Sanchez, Director / Writer / Game Designer, for taking the time to answer our questions.
How did the team meet and what made you decide to start making Exogenesis: Perils of Rebirth?
“Exogenesis is a personal leap for me. There is much to be desired in the Philippine game development industry so entering via conventional means made no sense to me. It took the maturity of the commercial visual novel scene with the successes of Analogue: A Hate Story and Cinders for me to realize what I can do on a relatively shoestring budget. From there, I tapped into my network and eventually formed the team we have now. I met our programmer through a common friend in college, while I had to scour the internet to find our artists.”
Are you a gamer yourself? If so, what’s your preferred genre and do you have any favourite titles?
“Definitely! Growing up, I was big into JRPGs and I still aspire to make my own series. It’s a shame that many amazing franchises from that space have disappeared into the ether. Suikoden, Breath of Fire… When you think about it, the staying power of the Tales series is almost unimaginable.”
On the official website, Exogenesis is described as an adventure game / visual novel hybrid. Have you faced any challenges in combining these genres, and why do you think there’s a lack of such games on the market?
“It’s as challenging as it is fun to make the game, so we’re not going to regret choosing that genre any time soon. In AAA development I can imagine how hard it is to green-light these expensive-to-develop-games unless you’re doing a popular title like Ace Attorney. As indies, I can see the time it takes to develop a good story as the biggest deterrence. Indie game development tends to involve a lot of iteration in order to find what’s fun then slap a story onto it. Applying this process to story-telling is a daunting task. You can put together a prototype in a day or two, share it with your friends, and receive instant feedback. In writing a story, it takes a lot to achieve the desired effect. For example, the epic twist in 999 took several game endings to build up.”
The website advises that the title is inspired by Ace Attorney and Zero Escape games. How would you say these titles have influenced your work?
“As I’ve told Kotaro Uchikoshi-san (creator of Zero Escape) in our chats, 999 for me was a turning point since it showed me how powerful narrative can be when intricately woven with gameplay. Ace Attorney does this too, but where AA is fun, Zero Escape is gripping and intense. Beyond writing, we’ve also taken note of how AA uses expressive sprites and variable text speeds to great effect. The heavy emphasis on character interaction with a pinch of investigation in Exogenesis may also be likened to AA. We are taking the issue of player choice differently from these games, though, and we’re excited to see how players will receive it.”
In writing a story, it takes a lot to achieve the desired effect.
Players take on the role of Yudai Sayashi, who is looking for a way to bring his dead sister Miho back to life after discovering the mythical Noah’s Ark. Are you able to tell us a little more about the storyline?
“Speaking of inspirations, I was moved by the anime (originally manga) Cross Game from renowned manga artist Mitsuru Adachi. I loved how the death of a character early on tied everything together without ever losing its emotional impact on both the viewer and the characters of the story. Reception of the game’s prologue has been divided, but we’d like players to care about Miho a lot more.”
Can you tell us about the kind of gameplay that players should expect?
“We’ve done something unusual in our demo in that it covers roughly 80% of the game’s first chapter, which is a whole lot of content to go through. The idea is to ensure we’re delivering a preview indicative of what the full game will be like. The major elements of Exogenesis are there. Basically, we have room escape-like segments separated by the exploration part where the focus is on character interaction while there are still environmental puzzles to solve. Unveiling every character’s story (both major and minor characters) can be a puzzle on its own.”
‘Mind-boggling thematic environmental puzzles’ are a big part of Exogenesis. Would you be able to describe one of these for us (without giving too much away!)?
“What really ruffles my feathers when it comes to point-and-click adventures is how nonsensical some of the puzzles can be. Uchikoshi-san did an amazing job of making puzzles contextual. Ace Attorney also never deviates from its theme – you’re a lawyer and you’ve got investigating to do. We’re doing our best to have puzzles as thematic as those from the aforementioned titles. For example in our demo, the nature of that place (which players have to figure out on their own!) allows for a reason why Yu is locked inside a girl’s room. We try our best to come up with smart puzzles that lead to a ‘Eureka!’ moment when you solve them, such as the diary in the demo.”
Exogenesis is described as having multiple endings and branching story paths, with over 150,000 words. Has this taken a lot of work to achieve?
“While production of the game formally started around September of 2013, the story’s been thrown around since late 2012, so it’s definitely taken a lot of work. I’d like to say we’re fortunately in a position where everything is set in place and we just need to type everything out now, but the truth is well-developed stories have a life of their own. We still deviate from the original plot once in a while.”
The development team deviates from the original plot every now and again.
The artwork shown in the trailer really adds to the post-apocalyptic feel of the game. What made you decide to go in this visual direction?
“Getting the right post-apocalyptic vibe is crucial. Couple that with the game’s dark themes, and that’s how we arrived at the game’s art style. It helps that we have fantastic artists who are perfect for the project.”
Is there any advice you’d give to someone who’s thinking of making an indie game or visual novel?
“The first thing that comes to mind is that putting a good team together is HARD. But you don’t want a so-so team unless you’re fine with a so-so product. If you’re thinking of making an indie game, network as early as you can. Be active in communities where you can share your ideas and talented people may want to hop on board. Once you do have a respectable team, handle everyone with care. Make sure you understand their circumstances because the worst thing that could happen is a key person leaving the project in the middle of an important phase.”
Can you tell us which part of Exogenesis you’re currently working on? How are you feeling about its release?
“Right now our focus is on showcasing more of the game in the hope of winning players’ vote of confidence for our Kickstarter campaign. Exogenesis is currently being funded by one guy and everyone has to do extra work to make ends meet. Without proper funding, completion of the project will take years. Our projected target of releasing on Q4 2014 is only possible if the team can focus all their efforts on Exogenesis.
“The enthusiasm and excitement of players who hear of our game is our biggest motivation. I’m sure everyone in the team feels the same. Personally, I’m itching to ship the game and see if the plot twists we have in store are as mind-blowing as we think they are!”
The team are aiming to focus all their efforts on Exogenesis.
Once again, we’d like to thank both Sharan and Nicolo for talking to us. We’re really looking forward to seeing more of Exogenesis: Perils of Rebirth and will be keeping a close eye on Kickstarter for the campaign. In the meantime, take a look at the Facebook and Twitter to keep up-to-date with what’s happening!
Note: we’ve asked Quickfire Games for a link to the demo mentioned in the answers above. As soon as we receive this will add it here.
