Published , by Kevin Tucker
Published , by Kevin Tucker
The indie game scene is big and only getting bigger largely thanks to developers who aren't afraid to take games in interesting new directions. Shacknews recently had a chance to speak with Catalin Zima-Zegreanu from developer Breadcrumbs Interactive about Yaga, the studio's latest action RPG experience that blends Slavic folklore together with comedy and unique branching narrative paths.
"Yaga is an action RPG [...] inspired by Slavic mythology, and we're trying to make a game that has a roguelike experience but for people who like stories."
Zima-Zegreanu spoke about some of the video game inspirations behind Yaga, the likes of which include Bastion, 80 Days, and the Binding of Isaac. The team was primarily interested in using mechanics similar to those found in the aforementioned games, most notably the option to tell story that can be tailored by user's decisions, such as in 80 Days.
The story of Yaga is one of the game's biggest focal points, and Zima-Zegreanu gave a simple pitch for the game's overall narrative: following the story of Yvonne, a blacksmith who lost his hand who is "trying to find some good luck in the world." Unfortunately, Yvonne is being followed around by Baba Yaga, who intends to trick Yyvonne into "getting rid of the king," while the king is attempting to get rid of Yvonne and claim his wife as his own.
Yaga won the Nordic Game Discovery Contest 2018 in Malmo, Sweden back in May. Players can expect to get their hands on the game when it launches sometime in 2019. For more great videos, including in-depth developer interviews and must-see convention coverage for events like E3 or PAX, be sure to check out both Shacknews and GamerHub.tv over on YouTube.