NOTE: Welcome to the second episode of The Indie Initiative. This series the aim is to bring you an overview of different indie games, their studios and the people behind them. This episode features the final spell of the Ishtar Games. If you want to be a part of The Indie Initiative, please do fill out this form.
What if Final Fantasy Tactics & Dynasty Warriors had an illegitimate daughter? This is the logo for The Last Spell. This is a new roguelike tactical RPG that aims to introduce a game type that is not very common.
“We like to mix things up, and for us it was a great combination,” Ishtar Games designer and producer Benjamin Coquelle said. “[So] let’s give it a chance. We don’t know if it’s going to work, but we’re going to make some prototypes and test them a lot and make it work and get this unique blend of genres.
The game has been in pre-release for two years before its March 9th release, so it has seen several changes. The biggest one is general progression, according to Coquelle.
“I think the progression of the game has changed a lot,” Coquelle says. “We [used to have] only one map.
“After discussions with the players and internally, we decided to make several maps. All of which offer a unique boss and unique mechanics.”
Another difficult area to work on was finding a balance in the development of different elements of the game. From the art style to the gameplay to the sound design, everything felt as important as the rest. Coquelle admits that the reason the game took so long in early use was because of how long it took to find a balance.
“That’s one thing that we kind of failed in this development and why it took so long,” he said. “Sometimes to see if something was going to work, we had to do it 100 percent.”
He added that testing certain elements required being fully immersed in the experience, which was difficult when all the art and sound were implemented in testing.
Throughout the 20-minute talk, Benjamin discusses what he’s most proud of about The Last Spell, the challenges of creating the game, and more. Watch the full episode of The Last Spell below and make sure Subscribe to Insider Gaming On Youtube.
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