Roguelite games are a unique genre, and inspiration for their creation can come from a variety of places in the gaming world.Holomentois one such title, and game developer Sean Weech is working hard to bring this game toSteamin 2021. to create the game that Weech envisioned, he has drawn his inspiration from many different games such asBreath of the Wild, and during an interview with Game Rant, he shared some more of these titles.
While Weech has been working onHolomentofor three quarters of a year, he’s drawn from many different sources when designing this world. One of the most notable comparisons that Weech made recently on Twitter was toBreath of the Wild. When he originally played theLegend of Zeldaopen world game, Weech said that he had hoped to be able to fix up Hyrule and the castle area onceCalamity Ganonhad been defeated.
However, this showed itself to not be a feature in the game, so Weech decided to incorporate the idea into his own game. Even though roguelite games are not very permanent in their nature, he decided to add a twist with his game.
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Sometimes games in this genre will add features that last even after the player dies so that grinding for multipledungeon crawlsfeels more meaningful and can build the player up to go farther in the future. However, Weech decided to add a way for the player to also have lasting effects on the environment and help the NPCs around the area as well.
Breath of the Wildisn’t the only non-Roguelite game that inspired Weech to createHolomento. Another big inspiration for Weech wasStardew Valley:
“The game has this incredible way of making me feel nostalgic for a genre I never played as a child…The core gameplay loop is fun and extremely rewarding.”
The developer of that game, Eric Barone, was also great inspiration to Weech, and he said that he enjoyed following Barone’s growth as a developer, which pushed him to pursue his own Indie game dreams. One thing in the game that stuck out to Weech wereStardew Valley’slikeable NPCs that the game brought to life, and he decided to carry over characters like these to his own game.
While Weech describesHolomento’sworld as “cursed and battered land,” he also says that the characters he creates may not be as dark as the world around them. When referring to the characters in his game, he said that he is attempting to create NPCs with “fun personalities and dialogues.” Another game that he said he had in mind when creating these characters wasPaper Mario, trying to emulate the some of the natures of the characters from the Nintendo title.
Creating an Indie game takes a lot of time and effort, and developers can find inspiration in many places, even outside of their intended genres. While the combat takes inspiration from more Roguelite games such asRisk of Rain 2andDark Souls, Weech has looked beyond what is typically expected from the genre to add new qualities that enhance the setting of Eventide Hollow and its atmosphere. Not only can the player feel like they are improving their character as they continually grind through the game, but they can also better their surroundings and become more acquainted with the NPCs that share the world with them.
Holomentois currently in closed alpha and is scheduled to launch for PC in 2021.
