When Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes arrived last year on the Nintendo DS, it was a revelation. Achieving high ratings across the board, it was a game that proved that new ideas and brilliant execution were the key to a great RPG on the DS not merely touch based gimmicks. With its 30 hour long campaign, as well as an engrossing story and head-scratching puzzle-based gameplay mechanics, its a game that would definitely qualify as one of my favorites on the platform.
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So when the Xbox Live Arcade/ PlayStation Network version was announced, I have to admit I was a little skeptical. Clash of Heroes was perfectly suited to the dual screen setup and although the idea of a redesigned game in glorious HD sounded enticing, I was worried that the guys at Capybara Games were simply in it to make a quick buck.
Fortunately however, Game Rants very own Rob Frappier was able to get an interview with Dan Vader, writer of Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes, at the C2E2 in Chicago, and all those fears can be put to rest.
Game Rant: What changes were made to the game as it heads to PSN and XBLA?
Dan Vader: We started from scratch. This is in no way a port of the DS game. We took the things that work about the original game and we kept the story, we kept the characters, we kept the mechanics and then we just completely redid the art from scratch. The original game was a very cute, very beautiful pixel game and as a company, were very passionate about pixel art and that retro look, and were big old-school gamers so it was a thrill to make that kind of a game. And now, for the HD crowd, for [XBLA/PSN], we knew we had to bring it to that next level.
We had a similar experience making another game of ours Critter Crunch -- where we made [the game] for iPhone, mobile
[It was] a really beautiful game, we brought it to PSN and completely rethought the art from scratch and the whole game was hand-animated. We did the same thing with [Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes] the same animator that worked on Critter Crunch, Kiko the lead animator from Critter Crunch is also the lead animator for Clash of Heroes, except this time, hes got the whole art team working together to really bring this beautiful, high quality, hand animated artwork. So you have animations that are incredibly detailed and minute, all hand animated by the artists. Some attacks have a hundred frames of animation, so its sort of blurring the lines between game and animated movie. Thats what we tried to do with Critter Crunch (and I think we did a fantastic job with it, we got a lot of great response on that) and were doing the same thing with Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes. Its just making it this beautiful, lush, sumptuous visual experience.
GR: What is the future of mobile gaming?
DV: Well, I know were very excited about downloadable platforms. We think its a really cool way to deliver the games to the audience. Were definitely committed to doing things weve already done things on downloadable platforms (Critter Crunch for PSN) and we have some upcoming things were working on. So, we love the downloadable marketplace. As far as mobile; we started in mobile development and, I mean, look at the way the iPhone is going theres a lot of cool things happening on there. Were developing a really cool iPhone game right now and so, I think ideally, we like to try to do both have the freedom to do both. Theyre both really exciting and theyre both going to morph and change they already have changed so much since their inception that I think theyre both really exciting.
GR: Do you have any advice on getting into the industry as a game developer?
DV: Were a small, independent company made up of game lovers who wanted to work in the industry and didnt know how. The way that the company started was just a bunch of people on a forum saying Lets start a game company and thats what happened! It was sort of a collective, and little by little, people left and it focused down onto the most committed and those people are still there today, and its a true indie spirit within the company. I guess my advice would be to just
try to make a game! You know, make a small, focused game and hopefully someone will take notice.
And thats the cool thing about the downloadable platforms and the new surge in attention towards indie games you dont have to be a juggernaut to make a game. You can be one guy in your apartment look at Braid. You can be a really small team making a really focused thing and it can be a hit! It can really strike a chord and connect with people, so Id say now is the best time ever to get into games. You just have to believe that there isnt this giant wall in front of you.
GR: When will Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes launch?
DV: We dont have a launch date, but its coming sometime this Summer.
GR: Great! Thank you very much for your time.
Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes HD is coming to the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network sometime this Summer, but until then, you can find the original title out now on Nintendo DS.
seems to run ok at least.
