Video games as an artistic medium still have a lot of untapped potential to convey stories and emotions. We’ve seen a wide range over the years, but there was definitely a race to squish the most polygons into a single screen for the longest time. Now that the graphics of games are shifting more towards the importance of artistic direction with games like Stardew Valley, Breath of the Wild, and Fortnite hitting high sales marks, we are starting to see more and more experimentation and less emphasis on pure visual fidelity. Pode is kind of a product of this dynamic, an adorable adventure game that has the player helping out a fallen star through a calming, yet mysterious journey.
We were able to collect the thoughts of Yngvill Hopen, the director of Pode on various aspects on the game, it’s soundtrack, and influences. You will also be seeing a full review of this game in the soon from one of our Marooners’ Rock writers.
How did development come about?
As this is our first big project there has been a lot of things we’ve had to figure out. Especially since we have a dynamic world with regards to everything growing as you go. There’s been a great deal of trial and error, and we’ve made some significant cuts to the original concept, simply due to them not working out as intended, and not being essential to the core experience. We are very proud of the final game though, and we do feel we’ve made the right choices along the way.
Is Pode a passion project or an experiment?
A bit of both. For me personally, it’s a passion project. This is exactly what I wanted to make and releasing it has been a dream come true, but there is definitely a lot of experimental elements. Like working traditional cultural elements on the visual side, and the non-violent/non-destructive direction regarding gameplay. Both of these posed some interesting challenges.
Pode shares the same composer as Journey and Abzu, Austin Wintory.
What’s the story behind that score?
I met Austin Wintory at a small games conference about 5 years ago. I was already a big fan of his music, especially the soundtrack for Journey. When we started working on Pode a few years later, I knew that I wanted him to create the music for it. As it turned out we were both going to that same conference the following year, and so I asked him to meet with me to discuss our new game. When I showed him what we had at the time, he was instantly intrigued, and I was completely ecstatic that he wanted to work with us.
It’s been an absolute joy to work with him. He’s by far the most enthusiastic person I know, and his energy is truly infectious. When he pours all that into his work, magic is bound to happen.
What was going on during the production of the game’s soundtrack?
Before work started we had done a lot of research into what we were really looking for for Pode, and we discussed these things with Austin to make sure we were on the same page. However, we really wanted Austin to put his mark on this, so it was important to us that he was able to explore what the theme and message of the game meant to him. We had a few feedback sessions for the first drafts and then it was mostly him sending us stuff, and us squealing with joy at everything he made. It was a lot of fun and we really feel he managed to capture the soul of Pode with his music.
What emotions do you hope to invoke in the player during play?
We’ve always aimed for a calm, serene, happy feeling with a touch of mystery. I think Austin has captured this very well.
What has it been like creating for the Switch as a platform?
It has been surprisingly straight forward. Appart from optimizing our ever-growing world to run smoothly on the hardware, there have been very few issues.
Is it easier to develop for by comparison to others?
It’s definitely been the easier platform to develop for in our experience.
Pode sets itself apart with a unique art style and also having a non-violent approach to problem solving.
Pode? What does that word mean?
It means grafting in Norwegian. Specifically as in grafting a branch of one tree onto another. For example, to get one tree bearing two different fruits. But it’s also a word we use as an endearing nickname for small children (my little pode). Both of which we felt were fitting for this project.
Pode is available now on the Nintendo Switch eShop. With Nintendo pushing to have more and more games on the platform, it’s easy to let things slip by and they often get shuffled around on the marketplace. Give it a quick search and let us know what you think.
