Game Rant interviewed one of the developers of Laxidaze, a new monster-taming action RPG set in a distant future. In the region of Cascadia, shaped by powerful Nanims, players can catch creatures and use them in battle to their aid. Considering the ambitious scope of the project, Machine Elf Studios did draw inspiration from other titles to have solid a foundation to build Laxidaze on, including games like Persona, Pokemon, Monster Hunter, and Mass Effect. Andrew Vigueras and Michael Riera, developers of Laxidaze, grew up together and bonded over games ranging between FPS games to RPGs, with Mass Effect being the biggest influence over their work on Laxidaze.
Elements from Pokemon and Monster Hunter can easily be spotted in Laxidaze, due to the Nanims being a predominant feature of the game's exploration, combat, and breeding. Persona elements are especially found in the social simulation aspect of the game, which is influenced by Mass Effect as well, with the latter also being a great source of inspiration for its expansive story and depth of branching dialogue options. However, Laxidaze is pretty much its own game, and it takes the best parts of each of these titles to blend them in a unique combination.
How Persona and Pokemon Games Shaped Laxidaze
Pokemon games have been shaping entire generations of players for 25 years now, and the monster-taming aspect of them has never faded. What Laxidaze does is build on that and deliver a fully fleshed-out game in terms of storytelling and compelling characters as well. Laxidaze also retains classic features of Pokemon games, like chromatic Nanims and an endgame system similar to Pokemon League. Game Rant asked if there were rewards planned for players catching all Nanims, like completing the Pokedex in Pokemon games, and Machine Elf Studios answered that it never really thought of that as an option, but it would love to add something similar.
There is also romance in Laxidaze, and players can recruit and then become romantically involved with several Hunter NPCs and regular people from Cascadia as well. This is not the only cue taken from Persona, considering that Laxidaze's battles are a healthy mixture of turn-based combat games thanks to its Tactical Mode and real-time encounters. Battling fills up Nano-meters, which can then be expended to activate the Tactical Mode at any given time to freeze the encounter and provide players with several options for actions to perform.
The Influence of Mass Effect on Laxidaze
Mass Effect's influence over Laxidaze is huge, to the point that the developers would add branching endings based on dialogue and choices for the whole game if they could. However, Machine Elf Studios is set on at least doing so for smaller side missions, but is looking for more funding than the Kickstarter campaign to improve Laxidaze even further. Andrew and Michael didn't play a lot of RPGs back then, and when Mass Effect came out it broadened their view on what RPGs can be.
Machine Elf Studios is excited that Mass Effect Legendary Edition came out recently, because new gamers who never played the original trilogy are now starting to appreciate it, and those two would like to see more expansive social-simulating titles out there. Romance in Mass Effect is not too dissimilar to that of Laxidaze, where players are able to become acquainted with their teammates and start developing a relationship with them. Dialogue can be a tricky thing, though, and some NPCs may not like some of the options presented to players if they choose them. Overall, Laxidaze is a very deep game that could become the new big hit when it releases.
Laxidaze is in development and will come out in 2023.