{"id":50186,"date":"2013-02-07T09:55:24","date_gmt":"2013-02-07T07:55:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/?p=50186"},"modified":"2013-02-07T09:56:51","modified_gmt":"2013-02-07T07:56:51","slug":"american-mcgee-interview-akaneiro-demon-hunters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/features\/50186-american-mcgee-interview-akaneiro-demon-hunters","title":{"rendered":"American McGee interview – Akaneiro: Demon Hunters"},"content":{"rendered":"

MyGaming caught up with American McGee (Alice, Quake II) to ask a few questions about Akaneiro: Demon Hunters – a twisted version of Little Red Riding Hood told as a dungeon crawl \u2018em up set in post-feudal Japan.<\/p>\n

The blood-soaked take on a classic fairy tale (something McGee has become known for) is a point of interest, and the man himself gave some insight into what inspired Akaneiro.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe original idea for\u00a0Akaneiro\u00a0came from my reading of a book called \u201cThe Lost Wolves of Japan,\u201d which details the destruction of wolves in Northern Japan around 100 years ago,\u201d said McGee.<\/p>\n

McGee explained that the extermination of the wolves came at the hands of Western cattlemen who had introduced beef consumption and cattle ranching to a people who were vegetarian \u2013 and who lived in relative balance with nature.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis history seemed to invite further exploration and expansion \u2013 with my idea being to illuminate the man vs. nature aspects present in the reality and fairy tales we create,\u201d McGee added.<\/p>\n

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The famed game designer went on to say that during the development of the Alice sequel, the team learnt a few tricks that could help bring the stylistic story to life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we were working on \u2018Alice: Madness Returns\u2019 our tech and art team developed some techniques for rendering an Asian Domain.\u201d<\/p>\n

McGee went on to say that the design team found a balance of familiar gameplay features, with a unique look and style, in order to create something relatable, but fresh.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe design team combined many best-in-class features from the genre to present the ARPG game play you’ll find in Akaneiro. The core gameplay elements are those that most fans of the ARPG genre will be familiar with,\u201d McGee explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany players have described the resulting balance and flow as being very “streamlined.” That means if you’re a fan of the genre then Akaneiro is definitely worth checking out,\u201d said McGee.<\/p>\n

Akaneiro: Demon Hunters, has now hit its Kickstarter goal of $200,000. Asked what the Kickstarter initiative was focusing on, McGee said that it was to \u201caccelerate delivery of key features and platforms \u2013 like adding co-op multiplayer or bringing the game to Linux.\u201d<\/p>\n

McGee also said that the success of the Kickstarter campaign now allows for \u201cthe core development team [to be] focused on Akaneiro longer while they work to deliver the new platforms, devices and features outlined in the campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

A beta of Akaneiro: Demon Hunters is currently free to play on the Spicy Horse website<\/a>, with the game set to arrive on Steam after being Greenlit by the community.<\/p>\n\n\t\t