Review Fix chats with Andrej Kovacevic, Game Director, Exordium Games who lets us know what the upcoming Deep Space-themed adventure has to offer.
Review Fix: How was this game born?
Andrej Kovacevic: A couple of years ago we were looking over all the ideas we had for a new game. One of the concepts that stayed longer with us than the others were deep space battles of epic proportions. That seed of space exploration, unknown adventures and alien technology grew into what Last Encounter is today.
Review Fix: What games from the past have influenced it?
Kovacevic: The biggest influences on Last Encounter are definitely a whole bunch of the recent roguelike titles like Enter the Gungeon, Nuclear Throne, Neon Chrome, Rogue Legacy, Spelunky, The Binding of Isaac and many more, but also titles in space like Space Pirates and Zombies, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, Endless Space and others.
Review Fix: What did you learn during the development process?
Kovacevic: Two challenges come to mind. Balancing the game for all the possible variations of number of players is something that we will be tweaking until launch. Another big challenge was taking gameplay that is usually confined into small spaces, like rooms inside a dungeon, and moving it into space while not breaking either fun or immersion. The final version of space travel with procedurally generated space sectors has proven to be very well received by the players so far.
Review Fix: Any fun stories?
Kovacevic: We’re friends with the guys from Croteam, since we’re all in the same city in Croatia. During one of the local get-togethers we were talking about new projects and one of the Croteam’s guys asked us about the name of our new space title. When we said Last Encounter, they thought that we were pulling their leg. It didn’t occur to us that the Serious Sam series has the First and Second Encounter installments. So, although they thought that we were just messing with them we were already pretty set on the name.
Review Fix: Bottom line- Why must someone play it?
Kovacevic: If you enjoy roguelike gameplay and don’t mind dying here and there, it’s a must! If you enjoy space games, exploration, discovery and alien boss battles, it’s a must! If you enjoy the chaos of local co-op, it’s a must! Also, if you’ve never used a component-based weapon system where you design your own firepower, it’s a must!
Review Fix: The game is beautiful. What inspired the art?
Kovacevic: We are very proud of our art team. They always give their best to communicate the look and feel of the world we’re in and I think they did a great job on Last Encounter. The art style is very vivid and colorful, rendered with care for details. Personally, I like the character and identity they gave to each galaxy the most. Each with its own colors, shapes, inhabitants and surprises. We really put in a lot of effort to the visual appeal of the multiverse. Just wait until you see all the weapon effects and particle systems.
Review Fix: The Switch has been a monster in 2017. What has it been like to work with them?
Kovacevic: Nintendo has been great so far. Very fast and to-the-point communication, very responsive to our needs as indie developers. We were really surprised at how smoothly the whole process is moving along. We’re always cautious when it comes to new platforms that we haven’t released games on before since it’s hard to anticipate everything in advance, but so far there have been no surprises or unpleasantries.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Kovacevic: Finishing Last Encounter for desktop and all the consoles is definitely our biggest focus at the moment. We’re full of ideas when it comes to possible new content for Last Encounter. But we need to take it step by step, so we don’t jinx it. If the initial scope is well received by the community, nothing would make us happier than to supply new content to our space pilots. Fingers crossed.
Review Fix: Anything else you’d to add?
Kovacevic: Hope you have your friends and space suits ready for a great ride through deep space!
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