The Legacy Of Isaelius development blog

The whole "indie game retro aesthetic" has been the subject of a lot of critisism lately and I've been giving this some thought. With this game, I like to think that I'm not just slapping on this retro style as a go-to method which fits within the confines of my artistic capabilities.

I LIKE to think that, but that's probably how I landed on the decision.

Here is how I prefer to rationalize it though: I want to create a modern feeling game which acts as a self referential, somewhat comedic celebration of the positive aspects of late 90s CRPGs, as well as the cliché, dated aspects.

Quentin Tarantino likes to make his titles a bit too big and obnoxious, or include "acts", or put a big "The End" before the credits roll, because he loves to celebrate 1970s exploitation films.

In the same way, I'm looking to have my sound effects be just a little bit too repetitive and for players to get frustrated at unfair encounters, ect. All of the little things which we readily accepted at the time, but are no longer considered tasteful.

That being said, I think it's also important for me not to let these tropes take prescience over the narrative, which would render the game a mere novelty and strip it of any possible lasting value. So there's a point of balance I want to achieve here, who knows if I'll be able to.