When designing the game’s protagonist, the studio wanted to verify he channeled Vegeta, not Goku.
Prince of Persia exists in such a strange place for me.
That needs to be included in every metroidvania game from here on out.
But you also still have this deep meaning of existence to it.
And shonen anime is a great example of that.
He’s not supposed to be Goku, he’s Vegeta."
The anime inspirations have always been there.
Sargon uses the equivalent of chi, or ki, or life essence.
And he channels it from his anger, from this rage within.
So that gives him superpowers.
Being super cool is nice, but what does it mean to be strong?
The warrior’s journey was super important in this.
I don’t know if you know Miyamoto Musashi?
In that respect, are there abilities in the game geared towards acquiring knowledge or bettering one’s mind?
Or, like most metroidvania games, are most of the upgrades combat-focused?
No, you won’t acquire powers that make you a better calligrapher.
It’s not going to be something like that.
Because in the end, a metroidvania still needs to have this tight feeling of pure gameplay.
And it can be great just going through the main path–it feels fine.
But I think that the side quests are a good place to define a bit more of Sargon.
Because every metroidvania from here on out needs that feature.
I wish I’d had that for Hollow Knight.
We were just like, “What if we alleviate the memorization of the map?”
And then you’re like, “Oh man, this chest, where was it?”
And the memory charts were one of those tools that just makes it easier to pick up.
Some people don’t use them at all.
Some hardcore Metroid fans, they’re like, “Nope, I’m not using this.”
And yeah, that is fine.
This interview was edited for both brevity and readability.
Got a news tip or want to contact us directly?
