PlayStation LifeStyle recently got a chance to talk with Welson Gan, the Co-Founder of Magnus Games, about their upcoming co-op RPG sim Re:Legend. In the interview, he answers questions abou the Square Enix Collective, multiplayer, and more. As of writing up this interview, the Kickstarter campaign for this game has already hit its PS4 and Xbox One goals having raised over $240,000. Please check out the full interview below and keep a look out for more news on this promising role-playing game.
PlayStation LifeStyle: You’re working with a lot of really talented composers. How did you get them all on board and agree to work on Re:Legend?
Welson Gan: We have always been fans of Final Fantasy‘s music. In fact, we bought the OSTs and our favorites are FFX, FFXIV, and FFXV! We even went to the Distant Worlds concert. Luckily enough, we got the chance to meet the composers during Casual Connect Expo and one thing led to the other. Next thing we knew we were already working together.
PSLS: It’s rare to see a multiplayer-based Simulation RPG. What made you go in that direction?
WG: We’ve wanted to play a simulation RPG with friends and family for a really, really long time. We’ve been waiting, but haven’t really seen anything like that, so we decided to make one ourselves. We still remember years back, whenever we finished a quest with some friends in Monster Hunter, we would cheer and talk about it for hours. These are the experiences we want to remember, to share, and to keep within us for a long time.
PSLS: How influential was the Square Enix Collective in getting Re:Legend made?
WG: We believe the main reason for the success we’ve gotten so far is the Square Enix Collective. We would like to take this opportunity to thank them as we could not have done it without them. We’ve learned so much during the Square Enix Collective campaign and the team at Collective is still giving us advice to this day. It is really hard for indie games to get attention, so we did a lot of research and reached out to other developers for advice. We ended up trying to approach SEC. We were really worried at first because submitting the pitch to them meant that we would be competing with many other indies for that limited slot. We started without knowing what to do, or how should we respond to the campaign, and they’ve given us a lot of guidance and advice. Having the chance to learn from industry pioneers was really important and has benefited us in the long run. Their huge fanbase helped us improve our game by showing support and telling us what they like or dislike. Developing a game that is enjoyable and memorable is our fundamental goal, so early feedback was extremely useful.
So yes, SEC was an important milestone for us! Looking at the response and interest from the community really gave the whole team a huge boost in confidence. Now that SEC helped introduce our project to a wide audience, it’s our responsibility to deliver a game that meets their expectations. The community is growing with us, like a family, which means a lot to us.
PSLS: You said that the concept was conceived in 2015 and was canceled. Looking back on it do you feel like that was a good overall experience for you? Were you able to learn from it and further refine the idea that became Re:Legend?
WG: Yes, it was indeed an excellent learning experience and we’ve learned so much since 2015 when we started. It was a really tough journey and there were countless times when we thought about giving up. We’re glad that we chose to keep pushing ourselves to overcome all those challenges. There are still more to come, but we’ll always do our best to overcome them.
WG: It’s a funny story, but the simplest way of telling the story is that one of our artists is good at drawing cute stuff while the other is good at drawing mechanical stuff, so we decided to combine both of them. Expect to see more cute and mechanical designs in the future! Since we were young (when the NES and original PlayStation launched), we’ve been watching anime, and playing different RPG games such as Digimon, Xenosaga, FF Tactics, FF Chronicles, and more. That’s when we started to develop a deep interest in RPG games. After figuring out the direction of the game, we started on concept art for the game. From standard proportions, to cute, to cool-looking characters, we ended up having a unanimous vote from our team for the current chibi style. Since this is a Sim-RPG we want players to have a very relaxing feeling while enjoying the game, so we decided to proceed with this style. But that’s not all, we have many many more Magnus that are very cool looking. All we can say for now is there will be a balance between cute and cool. Keep in mind that right now we are only revealing the baby Magnus (first stage of evolution), and this is just the beginning…
PSLS: Are there any other games that have influenced Re:Legend in certain areas?
WG: There are plenty of games that have inspired us to create Re:Legend, but the game that influenced us the most would be Digimon World 1. It was a classic and we wished that we were able to play with friends since the day we started playing the game.
PSLS: Multiplayer is the focus, but what can players do solo?
WG: Despite multiplayer being the focus of the game, it is perfectly fine to play it solo. We’re planning to change the way single-player is played a little bit by allowing players to bring multiple Magnus out on an adventure at once so it doesn’t feel as lonely. You will be surrounded with your lovely Magnus all the time! Whatever features that you are able to access in multiplayer will all be available in single-player too! Some players might want to spend some time alone taking snapshots at random places, or exploring for hidden _________ ( oops, we’ll be revealing it in the near future), and some people just love to wander around looking for the Magnus they want. Those who enjoy farming can have their own private time playing in single-player mode where you can slowly plan out what to plant not only on land but underwater too! What you’ve done/collected/achieved in a single-player game won’t be wasted because you are able to open up for your friends to join whenever you want. Both single-player and multiplayer modes will definitely bring you different kinds of fun!
PSLS: The floor is yours. Tell our readers why they should consider backing Re:Legend on Kickstarter.
WG: First we would love to let all our backers know that you are awesome! Thank you for spreading the news and believing in us, it really means a lot. Game development is never easy; it’s full of challenges and obstacles from concept to execution. But all the time and effort we put in is worth it when we see all the care, positive comments, and excited sharing from you guys. This is motivation for us to work hard and improve the game. Now to new friends who are reading this or have yet to back us on Kickstarter, please take your time to go through our plans for the game, and look at the different tiers to decide if you’d like to support us. We understand that it might be hard for some of you to believe in a Kickstarter project, but we will try our very best to live up to the expectations!
PlayStation LifeStyle would like to thank Welson Gan for taking time to do the interview. Re:Legend’s Kickstarter still has 10 days to go, and the project can be followed on Twitter at @playrelegend.
