From the primary second I performed Sword of the Sea on the Summer season Recreation Fest Play Days, I knew that it was like the sport Journey, which led down from that great recreation created years in the past to the second after I was enjoying the newest recreation from Matt Nava’s recreation studio, Big Squid.
I performed the start of the sport. You begin out as a anonymous character within the sand. You begin browsing via the sand, kind of like a snowboarder in SSX. Besides you’re not driving on a snowboard. You journey on a sword, gliding above the sand as should you have been on a hoverboard.
Oddly sufficient, the expertise of snowboarding was the inspiration for Matt Nava, inventive director on the sport and founding father of Big Squid. He instructed me that he was impressed by being each a snowboarder and a surfer and the feeling of transferring quick. Whenever you’re in that second, he mentioned that these excessive sports activities turn into meditative. It’s about being again in nature and connecting with it.
We’ve seen these sorts of video games in Flower, the place you change a metropolis from grey to greenery, in Journey as you slide via the sand, and in different peaceable video games as effectively. There are pictures from The Pathless and Abzu, the corporate’s earlier video games, in Sword of the Sea. When you wield a sword as a mysterious character in Sword of the Sea, you don’t use it in violence. As that character, you might be trying to find one thing, however I didn’t be taught what that was in my quick demo.
The sport has stunning music, however you play the sport in silence. There’s no dialogue. No spoken narrative. It’s just like the online game model of a poem, or a silent movie. Within the recreation, you progress round, resolve puzzles, and if you accomplish that you change the sand to sea water. It’s a really satisfying expertise.
I famous it was odd how Big Squid was hitting its stride with this recreation, whereas the remainder of the trade was struggling as a result of lack of funding, excessive prices and altering gamer tastes. However Nava revealed in our dialog that Big Squid was on the brink for some time till PlayStation backed the corporate. It was an attention-grabbing chat in the midst of a really chaotic demo day on the Summer season Recreation Fest.
Right here is an edited transcript of our interview.
GamesBeat: What are a number of the inspirations for this? I really feel like I see a variety of Journey right here, and your first recreation as effectively.
Matt Nava: And even The Pathless, which was our recreation after that. It was all about transferring actually quick and momentum. It’s all of these concepts. However actually, the inspiration is simply from being a snowboarder and going browsing myself. Whenever you’re truly doing that stuff, you’re transferring quick, and it’s excessive, but it surely’s actually this type of meditation. I’m actually within the meditative, religious aspect of these excessive sports activities. Often when video video games painting excessive sports activities, it’s very a lot about simply the floor stage of it. It’s not about the true cause that folks return to surf. You wish to be in nature. You wish to join with nature. You wish to discover.
There’s this type of magical sensation you may get. That’s what we’re making an attempt to attain with this recreation. Take the motion and the velocity, however allow you to get into that movement state and begin to join with the scene.
GamesBeat: Is all of it silent? No person talking, no narrative?
Nava: Yeah, there’s no dialogue within the recreation. There are undoubtedly characters. You’ll meet one other mysterious character alongside the way in which. There will likely be a narrative that performs out as you make your method via this world. There are many totally different biomes to discover past the sand. You’ll see within the trailer that we simply put out on the showcase. There are snowy areas and different issues. We’re telling the story with a type of atmospheric narrative.
GamesBeat: Do you continue to want a story designer for that?
Nava: Oh, yeah. We’ve had a author on this recreation. It’s hilarious. We’re like, “Okay, don’t write any phrases, however please assist us.” It’s nice. Within the later model, there are little lore fragments you could find and skim to be taught extra concerning the backstory of the world. You’ll be capable of learn some little poems concerning the historical past. It’s very refined, the way in which we do it.
GamesBeat: Is that immediately related to your previous video games in any respect?
Nava: All of our video games are related not directly. What we love to do is let the gamers give you these connections. We’ll undoubtedly give them some clues and issues to go on. However we by no means spell out precisely how they join. We have now imagery from The Pathless and from Abzu, so should you performed these video games you’ll acknowledge some issues. You’ll see that connecting area, for positive.
GamesBeat: The animation and the setting, it looks like these are each areas the place you already know what you’re doing. The sand and the ocean. Was there one thing that was very acquainted about doing this, or did you need to be taught extra?
Nava: It’s humorous. I assumed, “I did a sand recreation. I did a water recreation. This will likely be straightforward.” However then we added this new factor, which is that the terrain is animating. It’s continually transferring in each body. That meant we needed to invent this new tech. This can be a very customized piece of expertise that we made with the intention to transfer with this wave at excessive velocity. It was acquainted, but in addition a very new problem. It was a variety of enjoyable.
GamesBeat: What timing do you bear in mind? Is that this scheduled for launch but?
Nava: Yeah, it’s going to be out on August 19, fairly quickly. We have now to complete this factor. We’re virtually executed.
GamesBeat: What platforms is it going to?
Nava: It’s going to be on PS5 and PC, Steam and Epic Video games Retailer. Day one on PS5 it’s going to be on the PlayStation Plus service.
GamesBeat: Do you be taught a lot about the principle character, or does he stay mysterious?
Nava: He’s very mysterious. You do be taught extra about him via the lore that you just learn within the recreation, these little fragments. He’s type of this empty go well with of armor to start with. You see that droplet hit him and make him come to life. He’s type of this empty creature. He’s trying to find one thing.
GamesBeat: How would you examine the event to previous tasks? Has it moved quicker?
Nava: Each recreation that I make takes about three or 4 years. This one is about 4 years of labor to date. We began it throughout the pandemic, proper after The Pathless shipped. It was the primary recreation we began remotely as a crew. We needed to determine that every one out. The crew got here collectively. It’s fairly wonderful what they’ve pulled off.
GamesBeat: How many individuals are on the crew now?
Nava: We have now 16 or 17 folks. A medium-sized crew.
GamesBeat: And that’s intentional?
Nava: That’s our id. We prefer to maintain it small. We’re a detailed group of associates, mainly, making bizarre, out-there video games.
GamesBeat: There’s a sword, however typically your video games have been non-violent. Do you need to use the sword?
Nava: It’s humorous. The primary recreation I made with a sword, we’re not doing fight or something. There are issues that you just reduce. You noticed the little–what I name ocean seeds, the place he interacts and slashes it and the water comes out. Afterward there’s going to be a type of antagonist you meet. There are scripted moments. However yeah, there’s no second to second fight within the recreation. It’s actually concerning the motion. The sword is a part of the lore.
GamesBeat: Do you think about this one thing that anyone ought to be capable of determine? Is it a failure if somebody doesn’t know what to do subsequent?
Nava: Considered one of our massive challenges once we designed the sport was to make it with the intention to actually simply play and uncover learn how to play without having to look something up. Simply self-guided. We secretly train you issues as you go. To start with we present somewhat textual content that tells you the way you soar and so forth. However we do secret stuff like–if a participant already jumps earlier than we present them that textual content, we simply don’t present the textual content. We perceive that you just already know learn how to soar. We don’t have to inform you. We’re making an attempt to get out of your method and allow you to be within the recreation, not remind you that you just’re enjoying a recreation.
GamesBeat: Is it your personal engine?
Nava: It’s Unreal Engine 5, however our crew is exclusive in that regardless that we’re fairly small, we do various customized rendering. It doesn’t seem like all the opposite Unreal Engine video games. It has a really distinctive visible fashion, and that’s actually due to the customized tech that we placed on high of Unreal.
GamesBeat: What’s troublesome about getting that executed?
Nava: The largest problem is getting that character motion to really feel good. We’ve been engaged on the way it feels to go off the jumps and work together with the motion of the waves. We do some issues like–you go quicker on the sand. You go even quicker on the water. You go slower on tile. With out having any type of velocity management for the participant, you simply routinely go on the velocity that feels proper in all places. Simply ensuring that all of it feels completely good if you’re transferring is the factor we’ve saved engaged on for 4 years.
Later within the recreation you’re going to find environments which have snow and lava. Some very surreal environments. We’re taking these landscapes that you just’ve seen earlier than. You’ve seen a desert panorama. You’ve seen the water. However not like this. You’ve by no means seen a mountain of water. You’ve by no means seen the terrain transferring like that. There’s going to be locations that you just don’t anticipate to see in a recreation like this in any respect.
That was one of many greatest challenges after I was pitching this recreation. I’d give you a chunk of idea artwork. “Think about this animated. Think about these waves transferring.” “You’re simply displaying me an image of the desert.” You need to see it in movement to know it. However when you do, as soon as you’re feeling it, then all people says, “Okay, I get it.”
GamesBeat: How did you financial this recreation?
Nava: We’re partnered with Sony. Sony’s been our monetary backer. They’ve been nice companions. They understood the sport early and believed in us, believed within the crew. We’ve had a detailed partnership with them prior to now. We labored with them to ship Abzu as a console unique again within the day on the PS4. They’ve all the time been shut associates of the studio. They’ve an excellent crew at PlayStation Indies.
GamesBeat: Have you ever mentioned how effectively your previous video games have executed to date?
Nava: I don’t have these numbers readily available, however the good factor is that it’s sufficient for us to maintain going. They’ve been profitable. We nonetheless have to get funding from massive firms, however each considered one of our video games has discovered its fanbase. We put out our trailer and we have now our Discord. Everybody was going loopy. It’s actually enjoyable to see. They’re doing new fan artwork already, which is a giant morale increase for the crew.
GamesBeat: It looks like you’re hitting a stride right here, even whereas the remainder of the trade has struggled.
Nava: It’s been a tricky time with so many studios closing. We have been on the brink for some time. Final yr was actually tough. We persevered and fought laborious. Sony actually got here in and helped us. They made it so we may proceed and end the sport. We’re grateful to them for serving to us make it via a extremely laborious time.
