At Marooners’ Rock, we love it when we get the chance to get creative with our questions. I recently had the chance to send five questions to Will Seunghwan Sin, the project manager of one of our favorite games from PAX East this year, MISTOVER.
For anyone unfamiliar with MISTOVER, check out the trailer below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s92M2fj8mE0
Q: What inspired the setting of MISTOVER?
A: Most of the setting is inspired by our previous roguelike title, Retimo Adventure.
(Screenshots of gameplay from Retimo Adventure. No English version of it since these are prototype screenshots.)
In addition, our art direction was to depict the suspenseful and gloomy environment to be as dark as possible.
Paladin prototype art.
Some concepts—such as the bloodsucking “Light Flower,” polluted items, and so on—were inspired by movies. MISTOVER is also influenced by H.P. Lovecraft’s stories, but it’s not directly based on the Cthulhu mythos. Specifically, we wanted to create monsters that hadn’t been created before.
Q: What games do you consider to be inspirations for this game?
A: We are very much inspired by Darkest Dungeon and Etrian Mystery Dungeon, since they are beloved in many parts of the world. However, MISTOVER will convey unique results from permadeath and various random elements, and through that players will experience the game’s challenges.
Q: What sets MISTOVER apart from other roguelike RPGs?
A: If I were to summarize MISTOVER into a single sentence, it would be “Suspenseful adventure under harsh conditions.” Humanity is under savage attack by mystical monsters and in danger of annihilation. The fate of mankind is entirely determined by your decisions and actions. The tension of this situation is reflected in the form of a clock. You don’t want the clock to strike 12. The peril facing MISTOVER’s world’s will be shown in various ways, including visually and literally. For example, the following images show the color changes according to the degree of the world’s destruction.
Q: What feelings do you hope gamers come away with after a session playing MISTOVER?
A: As a project manager, I’d hope that players feel that it was difficult and painful—but fun overall. Of course, the ending feels great…when you saved the whole world. However, if you failed, and everything collapses, it might not feel so rewarding.
Q: Through some accident of AI, your game has become self-aware and is demanding a human spokesperson who embodies everything that MISTOVER stands for. Who is that person, and why?
A: I’d say Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), a character from the 1980 movie “The Shining” fits well as MISTOVER’s spokesperson. He is losing his mind in an isolated hotel in the dead of winter. It’s similar to how all living things in the world of MISTOVER are getting polluted and destroyed by the Mist. If he had something to say to your readers, that would be: “If you want to protect your family, team up and make it out of the Mist!”
Michael Riley, who plays Jax in the 2004 movie “Cube Zero” also comes to my mind. It’s because he has a streak of sadism in his nature, and he enjoys watching the survivors trying to escape from the Cube he created. If he were in the world of MISTOVER, it’s likely that he would cruelly imprison those who escaped. Shylock—a character who understands the danger the world is in—looks quite similar to Riley’s portrayal of Jax, in terms of how he dresses and so on. In our game, 堀 総士郎(ほり そうしろう, Hori Soshiro) voiced Shylock. Here’s a short sample of his work for you!
Conclusion
Huge thanks to Sin and the entire MISTOVER team for this interview. The game will be coming soon to Steam. More information can be found on their official website.
