RESOLUTIION

There are two ‘i’s in innovation

“THERE’S NOTHING MORE AWESOME THAN RIDING A GIGANTIC WORM.”

FORMAT PS4 / PLAYERS 1 / PUB DECK13, MAYFLOWER, WHISPERGAMES / DEV MONOLITH OF MINDS

The marketing spiel would tell you this is a retroinspired action adventure set in an involving science fiction world; there’s crushing combat and strange items to try to decipher, and everything pulses with a vibrant pixel-art visual style. That’s what the marketeers want you to hear. Monolith Of Minds’ Günther Beyer is more refreshingly direct…

“If you’re sick of dungeon-crawlers, roguelite random levels, generic fantasy plots with kings and unicorns, and super HD graphics that make your brain feel like a cube rolling down the wrong end of a triangle – buy Resolutiion!” he tells us.

There’s more honesty when we ask about the game’s visual style, which has been compared to indie hits such as Hyper Light Drifter and Rain World. It’s with good reason: Resolutiion’s pixel-art world is packed with colour, harsh angular architecture, and eyeflattering effects.

Yet while Beyer says the team are overwhelmed by their game being discussed alongside such big names, the art style came out of necessity rather than desire. “Resolutiion’s art style came from none of them, and evolved from our lack of experience and capabilities,” admits the developer. “When we started sometime back in 2015, we had no idea where this idea would be going, or how it should look and feel, because we were learning everything from scratch. Initially, our characters were just blocky blocks of blocks.

When they eventually evolved single-pixel limbs it wasn’t an artistic choice, it was because we weren’t able to animate more complex graphics at that time.”

CRAFT WORKS

That’s a good sell, we’re in. We’re also on board for a game that “stays away from classic switch- or block-pushing riddles” and sets its narrative as the puzzle to solve. As hero Valor you’ll explore, puzzle, and battle across three main story arcs, each with a different theme that reveals a new side to the character. “Through these character interactions, one can slowly but steadily stitch together who Valor is and what this world is about,” says Beyer.

A focus on the world and story as a puzzle in and of itself feeds into the developer’s approach to level design. Every game that aims to tell a story can’t avoid the basic structure of getting from A to B, and for Resolutiion that’s meant a focus on map design to ensure that journey feels unique.

Beyer explains: “There’s a rhythm to the game’s progress quite similar to a good album: if it’s all loud and brutal, the tunes will quickly become tiresome. It’s way more dynamic having slow parts followed by fast ones. Lots of fighting followed by calm spaces. Lore-filled areas before that one big boss encounter. Nesting them creates these vibrant, memorable songs, on an overall great record within a long, balanced discography. It’s all about the music, baby.”

It’s a rhythm the team has enjoyed designing, crafting a game around a special dynamic of where and how to place new ideas and interactions. “We certainly enjoyed all the brainstorming, crafting, arguing, destroying, and rebuilding of each little beat,” says Beyer.

It came at a price, as emphasising the narrative meant the team had to stray from the typical Hero’s Journey. “Above all we enjoy good stories in games,” expresses Beyer, revealing how the game grew organically over time. “The world grew and the story became more layered and epic. It was a natural process and never felt tedious or forced upon us.”

The process has ensured Resolutiion contains some diverse ideas, including a giant yellow worm called Bolshie that you meet throughout Valor’s journey. The worm evolves over time, transforming into various means of transportation. “As Frank Herbert already knew in the ’60s, there’s nothing more awesome than riding a gigantic worm if you want to bring down an empire.”

METAL MINDS

Tying everything together is a soundtrack created by synth metaller Gerrit Wolf. “We’ve been advocating for loud music, forever. If it’s not metal, it sucks! And since music is the gateway to the soul, we knew that we wanted an outstanding soundtrack,” says Beyer. After tracking down the musician because they’d met at a party ten years earlier, the team allowed him to play a three-hour demo of Resolutiion. “[We] asked him if he wanted to join. He smiled and replied: “I said ‘yes’ three hours ago, but I enjoyed your euphoric pitch,” smiles Beyer. “Then we asked him to score skycities, digital forests, contaminated shorelines, and ice-cream loving cowboys. And he delivered way above everyone’s expectations.”

Speaking with Beyer there’s a sense Resolutiion has been built around acts of chaos, somehow coalescing to create one of 2020’s most exciting games. Of course, there are over five years of graft here, and Beyer’s unassuming attitude belies the passion, arguments, and hard work that will ensure you’ll want to explore every corner of Resolutiion’s world.