Review Fix Exclusive: Inside ‘Warden: Melody of the Undergrowth’

Review Fix chats with Warden: Melody of the Undergrowth developers Calum Spring and Tim Bermanseder who break down the development process and goals behind the Nintendo 64-inspired platformer.

About Warden: Melody of the Undergrowth:

Trapped in an ancient forest, a young prince searches for a lost god. Here he befriends the spirit of a young girl and a volatile child, and they quickly find their destinies intertwined. Players control all three protagonists as they explore an overgrown fantasy landscape, meet its strange and wonderful inhabitants, and overcome the ancient magic and puzzles protecting it. All this is wrapped in an interactive, non-linear story that challenges allegiances and true intentions. In order to survive and bring balance to the forest, your combat, platforming and puzzle-solving skills will be put to the test.

Review Fix: When did the initial idea for this game come to you?

Tim Bermanseder: Warden was conceived in a group discussion where we reflected the games we loved when we were younger and were unhappy with the grey colour palettes of recent games. Bouncing ideas off each other we landed on the common ground of the N64 and how it’s games inspired and shaped us in our youth and we just wanted to give back to the world.

Review Fix: What games inspired this one?

Calum Spring: Some of the inspirations are obvious, others less so! Some of our team members brought strong Zelda influences to the table, others, like myself, brought nostalgia for Banjo-Kazooie and it’s platformer ilk. We tried to find a workable middle ground between these that highlighted some of the greatest things about each genre.

Sprinkled amongst that are some more modern influences like Dark Souls, which we looked to for the way it made combat feel weighty and rewarding.

Bermanseder: For myself it was all about Majora’s Mask, one of my favourite games of all time for it’s colourful fun gameplay combined with the much more adult and darker themes that make it a classic. Beyond the obvious inspirations a SNES game of my childhood Lufia 2 (Estopolis in Japan) for it’s mind-bending puzzles and engaging storytelling.

Review Fix: What made all of those Nintendo 64 platformers special?

Spring: I think a big part of it was that they weren’t afraid of being bright and expressive and were just bursting with colour and character. They also didn’t hold the player’s hand too much, making it feel more like a real, unique world you were exploring, even if you sometimes got lost!

Bermanseder: Limitations breed creativity as the saying goes. Older hardware couldn’t realize the huge imaginations of their developers and thus the games that were created needed to find unique solutions to communicate to the players the exciting worlds they were in.

Review Fix: What do you play for fun when you’re not developing?

Spring: I’m addicted to Civilization VI at the moment, but my favourite game of all time is Company of Heroes. I try to play at least a little bit of everything, it’s good to have a wide pool to draw influence from.

Bermanseder: There are so many games, and as a developer games for fun is always muddied with a bit of analyzing how others have built their games. Generally speaking though I play a lot of DotA 2 and Overwatch with my friends to stay social. Beyond that I recently have been enjoying Firewatch for its deep and immersive story and irregular gameplay.

Review Fix: What has development been like?

Bermanseder: I like to think development has been akin to a band jamming together. Spending long nights in an office together riffing off each others ideas and sharing our progress. It’s been a lot of fun. Like most bands though it wasn’t always awesome. We had our differences and argued frequently over design decisions, however ultimately this was for the better we are a stronger team now and lean on the diversity of opinions we have available, from a programmers take on a artist’s problem to animators assisting design. It’s been a lot of fun.

Review Fix: With all the competition on the mobile market and in the indies now, how difficult was it for you guys to try and make something that stood out?

Spring: You’re right about the competition, the biggest challenge is just getting noticed. There are plenty of amazing, original games out there that just get lost in the noise.

Bermanseder: Certainly the games space is flooded and thus marketing is king, being a small indie team making a big game we didn’t have many resources to devote to letting people know about the game however we believe the nostalgic elements we drew upon makes Warden uniquely appealing to anyone who played games before 2000 and an indie gem for those who stumble onto it.

Review Fix: Who do you think will enjoy this game the most?

Spring: We wanted to create something that would be enjoyed both by those in their 20s and 30s who grew up with the games we did, as well as the younger audience of game players who may have missed something from that era that isn’t captured quite as much by today’s games.

The nostalgia element is a strong pull for the adult audience, but we equally designed Warden to feel to kids today like those games felt to us when we were their age. Hopefully we achieved some part of that.

Bermanseder: And for those who missed the last millennium Warden stands as a glimpse into the past and what it was like to play and experience those games.

Review Fix: Bottom line, why must someone play this game?

Bermanseder: Warden allows a new generation to peer into the design ideologies of a bygone era, but with the accessibility and playability of a modern game. In movie terms Warden is a period piece that is consumable by modern audiences, and anyone who wants to see what the N64-era inspired in us, or relive those days from their own youths, should have a lot to enjoy in Warden.

Spring: We also wanted to tell a story that didn’t rely on convention, throws some curveballs, and is family friendly but isn’t afraid to touch on subjects like questioning allegiances. Players tell us they love Warden for the platforming, or the exploring, or the combat, or the story. There’s something in there for a lot of different people.

Review Fix: How do you want this game to be remembered?

Spring: I’d say the most remarkable element is that it was largely created by a team of just 3 people. It still blows my mind what we were able to accomplish, I’m so proud and grateful of our team. There are some rough edges in there but I think keeping in mind how big of a game we made with such a small team is what’s most worth remembering.

Will there be more Warden in the future? It’s possible! It’s definitely a world that I think would be fun to revisit.

Review Fix: What are your goals for this game?

Spring: Warden was the first “real” game we’ve made. We made prototypes and game jam games and other small projects before this, but we were really still students when we jumped into Warden’s 30 month development cycle. The things we learnt about making games and working effectively in a team were invaluable, it’s already easy to see the differences in new projects we start now.

Warden being successful will help us eat and live while working on future games, but the experience we gained is the real take away for me, I’m so excited to see what we’re empowered to create from here on!