“BitSummit Let’s Go!!” has been held from the 14th at the Kyoto City Kangyokan “Miyako Messe”. This event brings together many indie games from both Japan and overseas.
At this event, the adventure game “Glaciered”, developed by Studio Snowblind and published by PLAYISM, was also exhibited.
This work is a marine action-adventure set on a far-future earth surrounded by glaciers. An impressive title with a sci-fi story in which you control one of the evolved birds, “Grayshard”, and fight against numerous creatures in the sea to protect the Great Ice Age “Eternal Winter”.
At this year’s “BitSummit Let’s Go!!”, we will not only be able to play the game, but we will also have the opportunity to interview the developer, Kei Shibuya! In this article, we will tell you about the pattern.
◆Fighting marine creatures attacking from all directions, “flying in the sea” bird action feels great!The world view reminiscent of authentic science fiction is also enchanting
Visit the booth and start playing immediately. (Of course) From the start, the world of the sea is spreading. Apparently, intelligent “Grayshards” seem to have a language, and while talking with unseen beings (I didn’t know if it was ultrasonic waves in the sea or transcendental telepathy) in a sour male voice. I’m going to go on.
The charm of this work is the battle that unfolds over 360 degrees, and I have seen it somewhere … I will fight against creatures that seem to be evolutionary systems of some kind of creature. The first thing that appeared in front of me was a crocodile-like marine creature. The sight of monsters that are twice as large as Gray Shards attacking with their mouths wide open is impressive.
It was such a shock that I thought, “I can’t win with birds!” While dodging brilliantly, you can use both wings to chop it up. While dodging alligators that are biting you up, down, left, and right, you will receive a charged slash.
For a short time, the author was excited, saying, “Tuai’s abilities are overwhelming!”, but the difficulty level of this work gradually increased. Aside from one-on-one battles, 360-degree multi-on-one battles in the sea are quite fun!
Just when you think you’ve dodged an attack, there’s another one waiting for you… you’ll have to know the enemy’s position spatially, not planarly. While the unfamiliar writer was flustered, the gray shard was sunk as expected… it was a retry.
In fact, the creature called “Tuai” is a hermaphrodite, and as instructed by the tutorial in advance, she lays her eggs on the edge of the cliff… but the respawn point in the game is the egg she laid herself!
I thought it might be another individual, but it seems that this one also has consciousness as a “Grayshard”. The corpse of the “previous self” that remains on the stage is used to obtain nutrients (experience points), and the setting is such that the player crosses over his own corpse.
As the tutorial progresses, the greyshard learns ranged attacks and abilities. Attacks from both near and far are likely to be the key to this work. Although wings that can fly have time restrictions, they will not be attacked from 360 degrees if they leave. Conversely, it is also possible to have a play style that hunts enemies that have strayed from the herd with a fierce attack in close combat.
What I felt was worthy of attention was the system around the status increase. By accumulating nutrients such as “carbohydrates” and “proteins”, we will extend “only one” from the brain and muscles. According to what I’ve heard, it’s possible to create a build that specializes in long-distance, but you’ll need to have some “lipids” left to increase your ranged attack power when you raise your stats.
It seems that it is possible to re-roll the status, but you will have to play while paying attention to the remaining nutrients.
Armed and fighting style is ready, and a huge shark attacks when you are getting used to playing quite a bit. It will be a boss battle. Even though the physical strength gauge was pushed to the very limit, I was able to successfully defeat it, and the trial play in this event ended.
From the point of view of the enemy’s behavior, this work is a type of action that continues to be quite severe. Of course, you can also attack from a distance, but in any case, there is no difference in the situation of “from which direction the enemy will attack in the 360-degree sea”. It was a good impression that the battle where a moment’s carelessness would be fatal made me feel “the struggle for survival of those who live in the sea”.
In the next section, we will deliver a mini interview with Mr. Shibuya, who is developing such “Grayshard”. We also asked questions about the settings of “Grayshard” and “Tuai” and the world that will expand in the product version!
◆ “Grayshard” developer interview! “I want to create a story that appeals to those who like experimental sci-fi.”
――Thank you for your support this time! I would like to begin with a brief self-introduction.
Mr. Kei Shibuya (hereafter, Mr. Shibuya): Thank you very much for your time. My name is Shibuya from “Studio Snowblind”, which is producing the ocean action adventure “Grayshard”.
――The setting of “Grayshard” is characteristically “far future”, why did you choose such a setting?
Mr. Shibuya: There are various reasons, but the best is that it is a subject that has not been worked on much. The “near future” 100 or 200 years ahead is relatively popular in cyberpunk worlds and space operas. However, when it comes to the distant future, I feel that I can hardly see it. So I thought I’d like to use an untouched subject.
――While playing, I was wondering… Are “Tuai”, including Grayshard, an evolutionary form of penguin?
Mr. Shibuya: It’s not a penguin (laughs). Although they are birds, they evolved from a different lineage than penguins.
―― That’s right! I easily associate it with the images of birds and glaciers…! The greyshard seemed to be the same entity it was before it died, even though it recovered the deceased instance. Furthermore, I feel that they are hermaphrodites that lay eggs even though they are masculine, and that they are truly transcendent creatures that transcend life and death and gender. Where did the nature of these greyshards “tuai” come from?
Shibuya: It’s the result of thinking “what kind of suggestive depiction can be pursued” as a depiction of the future drawn by science fiction. Gender should be one of them. For example, hermaphrodites shouldn’t have the same values as humans.
I set up the story while guessing how animals that have undergone transcendental evolution, which is completely different from humans, would act with emotions.
――During this trial, the enemies attacked from 360 degrees, and it was a battle where you could really feel the “fear of the sea”. What kind of threats and monsters await in the final version?
Mr. Shibuya: First of all, we plan to prepare not only the standard that everyone expects, “This is the sea!” I would like to add from these two aspects.
――In the game, there were two types of weapons, a handgun and a shotgun, but will there be more long-range weapons? Also, I felt that the attack motion of enemy creatures was quite sharp, but are there defensive abilities?
Mr. Shibuya: Weapons will continue to increase. Also, regarding abilities, things with counter elements are scheduled to appear.
――In this work, I felt that you had to plan your builds, such as consuming multiple nutrients to improve your stats. Are there other ways to use nutrients besides growing greyshards?
Mr. Shibuya: It exists. You can re-roll your stats, and for other uses, the equipment in this work has rarity and random special abilities. It is also possible to consume nutrients to strengthen it, or even add new characteristics.
–I see! In that respect, the Hakusura element is established!
Mr. Shibuya: That’s right! In fact, the performance is such that it can be used mainly for long-distance attacks. That’s why I’m having a hard time balancing the game… I hope you can play with your favorite build and style.
――To begin with, what made you decide to create “Grayshard”?
Shibuya: Sci-fi novels are the source of my ideas…I really like 80s sci-fi, and many of the works from that era were avant-garde. Among them, I am particularly inspired by Robert L. Forward’s “Dragon’s Egg”, which is a work that depicts the encounter between creatures and humans living in a world where gravity is extremely heavy. , “What would happen if a creature that was completely different from humans had intelligence?”
――There are no humans in this work.
Shibuya: There are so many idioms in Japanese that have the character for “person” in them! “personality” and “personality”. It’s hard to draw there! In English, it’s only about “Man”, so it’s easy to avoid.
–surely……! In other works, there are also works that make it a gag taste and draw it as “a bird that is not a personality”.
Mr. Shibuya: Yes. In “Grayshard,” I don’t want to use too many coined words and get confused, so I try not to use unnecessary words.
――Finally, what kind of gamers do you want to deliver “Grayshard” to, and what kind of enthusiasm do you have?
Shibuya: There are many great high-difficulty action games out there, but it has a unique sense of control and floating that takes advantage of the fact that you can move in all directions and is “under the sea”, and it’s highly strategic in terms of positioning. We will push forward development so that we can deliver something that will satisfy those who want to enjoy battles that emphasize fighting.
Also, I’m thinking of writing a solid sci-fi story, so I’d like to create a story that will appeal to those who like sci-fi, especially those who like old-fashioned, experimental sci-fi.
–Thank you for this time!
No release date has been set for Glaciered. It will be released on PC (Steam).
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