Interview With SideQuest Studios: Introducing Rainbow Moon!
The RPG genre is littered with mega-franchises from the Final Fantasy series and Fire Emblem all the way to more recent action offerings like Dragon Age and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
What started off as a genre of epic stories and patient gameplay has slowly turned into more of a hack and slash affair with RPG elements thrown in. But for fans of the classic RPG, some strong offerings can still be found.
SideQuest Studios is one developer who is choosing to go back and recapture the days of the classic strategy RPG. Gaming Examiner sits down with the studio to discuss their upcoming game, Rainbow Moon. Be sure to check out screenshots and the trailer on Page 2!
Gaming Examiner: SideQuest Studios is probably best known for the brilliant 2D shooters Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer and its sequel, Söldner-X 2: Final Prototype. What led to the decision to make a strategy RPG?
SideQuest: SideQuest Studios is a small and independent studio. Unlike many of the big development studios, which probably work on a very similar kind of game for years or even decades, we have that kind of freedom that allows us to experiment with different kind of games.
We really enjoyed working on the Söldner-X series but it was never our intention to keep developing one Söldner-X game after another. Although we have a really great fan base, we felt that working on something new would be more creative and innovative.
The idea of making a role-playing game came up quite some time ago. It’s a very classic genre that is loved by many of us and some of us also had some experience working on this genre in the past. Eventually it’s something we all decided on.
And let’s see what the future brings…
GE: With the RPG genre heading more towards action RPGs and less turn based (Dragon Age, Skyrim, etc.), do you anticipate being able to reach a larger audience, or is this game meant to target a specific, niche audience that’s still faithful to a more “traditional” RPG?
SQ: Absolutely, I don’t see any reason why turn-based RPGs can’t still be enjoyed by many people. Millions of people played and loved games like Final Fantasy 7 or Dragon Quest 8 on the PlayStation and PlayStation 2. Does everything really need to move towards the action RPG genre? In fact, I think many fans recently criticized Square-Enix because of the direction their Final Fantasy series is taking.
Another great example is the classic Mario game. With Mario 64, the series made it into 3D for the first time. After Mario Sunshine and Mario Galaxy, Nintendo went back to making a traditional 2D Mario game, which was New Super Mario Bros. And guess what, it was received even better than many of the 3D games.
Rainbow Moon cannot compete with big AAA franchises in terms of production value, but it’s a fun game and has gameplay qualities that big productions often lack. In our opinion this is what really matters and I am confident that a traditional approach does not only have to target a niche audience.
GE: In the heyday of the RPG (more specifically, JRPGs), enemy encounters were random and frequent. Grinding became the norm for any seasoned RPG gamer. Is this something that Rainbow Moon will retain?
SQ: This totally depends on how you like it. Generally there are two type of battle encounters in Rainbow Moon: visible enemies that roam around and random encounters.
On the one hand, whenever you collide with an enemy during exploration, a battle is started. On the other hand, you will also receive invitations for additional random encounters. These invitation messages are 100% optional and you can either accept or disregard them.
When you start the game for the first time, you can select between two difficulty modes: normal and hard. On normal, you can play through most parts of the game without too much grinding, as long as you don’t try to evade too many of the enemies that roam around on the surface. However if you play on hard, you will have to do some extra grinding, otherwise battles may soon become too difficult.
So all in all, it really depends on your play style and your own personal preference.
GE: Final Fantasy Tactics, Fire Emblem, and Disgaea are some of the more popular strategy RPGs out there. What is Rainbow Moon doing to differentiate itself from the leaders of the pack?
Rainbow Moon is not the most typical kind of strategy RPG. Although the game has strategic elements, such as the grid based battle system, it also has a very strong emphasis on exploration, something that games like the Disgaea series don’t have in the same way.
You don’t really have to be a strong SRPG lover to find Rainbow Moon appealing. Let’s say if you enjoyed games such as most of the older Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games, then Rainbow Moon could be right choice for you, too.
GE: Can you describe the battle system for Rainbow Moon and how it will work?
SQ: All battles in Rainbow Moon take place on grid-sized battle maps and up to three members of your party will join one battle group, fighting against various monsters.
Battles are 100% turned based. Once it’s your turn, you will select from a number of available commands, such as “move”, “attack”, “skill”, defend”, “item” and “escape”.
“Move” obviously let’s you move your character on the battle map, while you can execute melee or long range attacks with your “attack” command. By selecting “item”, you can for example use potions or any other useful item from your inventory and “escape” allows you to abandon a battle.
The most important one however is the “skills” command. In Rainbow Moon there are over 120 different skills. These range from powerful attack skills, to support skills, such as healing as well as various others, like analyzing your enemies or even casting light. The latter is something that you are more likely to use during exploration though.
In order to be victorious, you need to find the right strategy and defeat all enemies that are on the battle field. The monsters that you encounter have different behaviors as well. Apart from executing attacks, some monsters can also cast support skills, split into multiple new monsters, merge or even self-destruct.
There are a lot of other features in the battle system, such as status conditions (i.e. poisoning, slowing down, enchanting, etc.) that can be inflicted on enemies and party members, a BIAS and weapon affinity system, passive skills, different deployment patterns, and so on. It’s too much to explain all of these features in a brief interview but we have more information about the battle system on Rainbow Moon’sofficial website. So if anyone is interested in reading up more, this is a great place to visit.
GE: Is Rainbow Moon the sort of game where you are locked into one character at all times, or are you going to be able to control a squad and feely switch between characters?
SQ: You start your journey with a single character, whose name is Baldren. Baldren was cursed by his arch-rival Namoris and for some reason ended up on this unknown place called Rainbow Moon.
On Rainbow Moon you will meet lots of people, including friends and foes. Eventually there will be up to six main characters (including Baldren) that you can acquire and hold in your party. Once a new character has joined your party, you are free to choose the leader as well as up to two companions.
The leader is the character that you actively control during exploration. Your companions will then join you alongside in battle mode.
GE: Will the game be fairly loose in terms of exploration, or should gamers expect a more linear experience?
SQ: It’s a bit of both, something many players of traditional JRPGs will probably be familiar with. Rainbow Moon itself has a huge open world. When you first set foot on Rainbow Moon, you will start on a small island, called Cassar Island.
In order to leave Cassar Island, you will need to progress through certain parts of the story. Once you have achieved this, you can explore other parts of Rainbow Moon. So basically by following your main quest, the world starts opening up bit by bit.
Apart from the main story, there are also lots of optional areas and side quests that you can do along the way. Sometimes you may completely forget about your original quest and end up doing something else in a place that is completely unrelated to your main story.
The cool thing is also that you can always get back to wherever you have been before. So if you have missed to visit a place, didn’t complete all side quests or stumbled across some enemies that were too difficult for you to beat, you can come back and visit the same place again later on. After some time you will also receive various ways of transportation that allow you quicker exploration of the world.
GE: Weapons, armor, spells, etc….will these be upgradable?
SQ: Yes, absolutely, this is a very essential part of the game. First of all, all of your six main characters can equip different kind of weapons, body and hat armor. Further, you can also equip accessories, such as amulets and rings, that will be shared among some of your characters.
In total there are hundreds of weapons and gear combinations. On top of that, all these equipment can be upgraded through a crafting system. Each equipment has a certain number of crafting slots. During your journey, you can collect various materials, which can then be used for the crafting process.
By merging your equipment with any of these materials, your character attributes will increase. Further, by crafting the right materials, you can also receive special abilities.
GE: Can you describe the ‘NEW’ system to our readers?
SQ: Rainbow Moon features a ‘NEW’ system, which guides you whenever you come across something, that you haven’t seen before.
This covers a number of areas in the game. For example if you find a loot bag and want to collect all the treasures, any item that you found for the first time will be marked with a ‘NEW’ icon. This means you should pay special attention to the characteristics of the item.
The same system is in place for a number of other things, such as when visiting merchants (all items on offer for the first time will be marked consequently), defeating enemies for the first time (which will be marked as ‘new’ in the bestiary), tutorials, and so on.
The ‘new’ system is also an important tool for quest updates. When you talk to people on Rainbow Moon and a new part of your quest log has been unlocked, you will see a message that reminds you about your next task. In case you didn’t pay too much attention to the instructions received, you can always read it back in your quest log.
So all in all, it’s a very modern approach, which makes sure that you won’t suddenly get lost. It’s also very helpful in case you took a longer break from the game and want to find your way back into it.
GE: Will Rainbow Moon continue to be supported after release via DLC? Any planned sequels?
SQ: A number of DLC items will be available upon and during the first few weeks after launch. We will still announce more details in the next few weeks.
A sequel is not planned at the moment, but if Rainbow Moon is well received, we certainly won’t rule it out. With enough fan support, we’d surely love to be working on another role playing game.
Thank you to SideQuest Studios for this interview! As a massive fan of the traditional RPG, I am more than excited for this game. Be sure to stay tuned to Gaming Examiner for our review once the game launches!
