It takes a lot to stand out in a genre as crowded as the Soulslike, but SenseGames’ post-apocalyptic sci-fi action RPG AI Limit has turned its fair share of heads. With its promise of a setting dense with rich lore, challenging and slick combat, varied progression mechanics, or more, the game is checking more than a few crucial boxes, and based on what’s been shown so far, it’s taking solid shape. With its launch not terribly far away, we recently had the chance to reach out to its developers to learn more about AI Limit and what makes it tick. You can read our interview below.
"The game has approximately 20-30 types of weapons in total, covering a wide variety. The variety of weapons provides different combat styles and pacing, making combat experiences more diverse."
AI Limit’s blend of realistic visuals and an anime aesthetic make for quite an eye-catching art style. How did you land on this look for the game?
The theme of the AI LIMIT is post-apocalyptic. When it comes to this style, some works can’t be ignored: Fallout, The Last of Us, Borderlands, Resident Evil, Horizon Zero Dawn… Civilization declines, abandoned cities are overrun by rejuvenated plants, desolate streets are wandering with zombies, bio-mutants, mechanical beasts, and even alien creatures. The causes of the wasteland are also no more than familiar elements such as global nuclear war, bio-viruses (fungal technology!), or mad robots. Although we wanted to create a wasteland degraded from an artificial intelligence crisis, it wasn’t a particularly new idea. So, what we can do to make it unique?
One day, a concept art held my attention: plants burst out from pavement, the green chewed out steel and concrete. Nature takes over the world again when people have vanished.
This has enlightened me: why can we do the opposite? What would happen if plants went extinct?
In a classic post-apocalyptic world setting: humans often lost the ability to transform ecology (otherwise they wouldn’t be in such a situation). The extinction of plants means that the atmospheric environment and food sources that humans rely on would no longer exist. Most post-apocalyptic themes tend to focus on their own subjects and don’t mind sharing the end-of-the-world scenario with plants – so we decided to challenge this notion.
After deciding to remove the element of plants, constructing a post-apocalyptic world would inevitably require an explanation of what is supporting the atmospheric environment and food sources – this explanation can naturally return to the theme of artificial intelligence. Starting from this point, a plethora of ideas emerged: out-of-control technology, plant extinction, organic life forms, urban megastructures, the legend of Elysium… We abandoned the popular elements like mecha science fiction, zombies, and alien invasions, and ultimately constructed a post-apocalyptic world that only belongs to AI LIMIT.
It looks like AI Limit is going to place quite a bit of emphasis on build diversity. What can you tell us about the range of options the game will offer in terms of its weapons and abilities and the different play styles they will encourage?
The game has approximately 20-30 types of weapons in total, covering a wide variety. The variety of weapons provides different combat styles and pacing, making combat experiences more diverse.
Another highlight is the Sync Rate system. It replaced Stamina in souls-like games. This change encouraged players to focus more on their quick thinking and adaptability in combat.
"Because Arrisa, the protagonist, has relatively strong combat abilities compared to other Souls-like games, we have also designed equally capable enemies."
How much of an emphasis will the game place on exploration? Should players expect a large and open-ended map, or will the game feature a more condensed and prescribed design style?
About the exploration: we admire the highly interconnected design in the Dark Souls, where all areas built around the Firelink Shrine within a space of several hundred meters. However, for a post-apocalyptic city that pursues a realistic scale and has a radius of over ten kilometers, this is difficult to achieve. Due to the size of the levels and technical limitations, we did not present this world in a seamless form.
The level-based design is what we are doing. Naturally it has advantages: to highlight stronger thematic elements and to focus more on exploration. During actual gameplay, to eliminate the psychological gap between the size of the playable area and the actual size of the city, the player’s journey will interweave between various environments on the surface and underground of the city. Through a “scene-changing-as-you-move” approach, players will cross the city without realizing it. Such an arrangement also showcases the richness of the city’s scenery. Players are not just constantly shuttling back and forth through the streets of ruins; instead, they experience a variety of wonders on a more three-dimensional, gigantic urban structure.
Boss and enemy design is always key in action games such as AI Limit. What should players expect from the game in this area?
Because Arrisa, the protagonist, has relatively strong combat abilities compared to other Souls-like games, we have also designed equally capable enemies.
Take the Necros, one of the enemy factions in the game, as an example. Necro is a general term for a type of monster that wreaks havoc throughout the city. Their signatures include spikes, blades, tentacles, silver shells, and insect-like wings, symbolizing chaos and slaughter.
The Necros possess overwhelming strength. Some move with swift and eerie agility, making them elusive and hard to predict. Others have sharp claws and blades that not only deal damage but also inflict very troublesome status effects. Some can harness extremely dense energy to create explosions and rays… Even with enhanced mobility, the onslaught of Necros is by no means easy for players to withstand. Only by leveraging all resources and mastering every aspect of the combat system can one hope to survive this rebellious wasteland.
How is AI Limit approaching difficulty? Will the game feature difficulty options?
Our idea is to make AI LIMIT more accessible than Dark Souls while still challenging. The game does not demand perfect execution. Players can utilize leveling up, items, and special skills to deal with difficult enemies when they are struggling.
Regarding difficulty options, no, the game does not have difficulty options, but we are making the game more accessible based on feedback from playtests.
As a developer, what are your thoughts on the PS5 Pro? How does boost in GPU help in developing your game compared to the base PS5?
It’s been 4 years since the PS5 was released. Its hardware is outdated for gamers. The PS5 Pro solves this problem. For developers, the improved GPU will help with rendering and frame rate performance. But right now, our priority is to optimize the PS5 version.
"Regarding difficulty options, no, the game does not have difficulty options, but we are making the game more accessible based on feedback from playtests."
What are your thoughts on PSSR? What kind of opportunities will this open for the game?
I think PSSR is icing on the cake for the platform.
What resolution and frame rate will the game target on the PS5 and on the PS5 Pro?
For PS5, the target resolution is at least 2K60FPS. For PS5 PRO, the target is 4K60FPS.
