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Reina & Jericho interview: Mixing time travel with Metroidvania

Finding an escape from an underground fortress is harder than it looks in this upcoming adventure from Reclamation Games. We chat with the studio's CEO to learn more.

Ozzie Mejia

October 13, 2021 3:00 PM

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Trying to traverse through a labyrinthine facility can be tough enough on its own, but now imagine trying to handle a strange artificat that can affect the flow of time. There are a lot of parts working in the upcoming Reina & Jericho, the debut title for Reclamation Games, including the implementation of time travel in a Metroidvania adventure. To learn more, we spoke with CEO Dave Wightman.

Wightman dives into various aspects of Reina & Jericho's development, stemming from the core concept through assembling a Metroidvania map for players to run through. However, the introduction of time travel does throw a twist into what's normally a straightforward experience. In fact, there are certain areas that the development team need to account for.

"Writing save game data for this has been a nightmare," Wightman told Shacknews. "There's reality from Reina's point of view and the things that have happened for her, and then there's like, at every different save point... we snap a version of reality. So it's like, everyone who's dead is dead, everyone who is alive is alive. If she ever goes back to that save point again, that is how reality will reconfigure if she gets defeated and respawns. So we have to track all these different timelines in the game and it starts to get pretty messy."

Reina & Jericho follows the story of title character Reina, as she attempts to escape an underground stronghold. She carries along a strange artifact that changes the flow of time, giving her new ways to get through certain obstacles. The game is set to release later this year on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch. For more interviews like this, be sure to subscribe to Shacknews and GamerHubTV on YouTube.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?