Leading up to the release of Echoes of the End, developer Myrkur Games has released a new behind-the-scenes video, this time around focusing on how the studio created the characters for the title. The video features developers from the studio that all focus on their ideas of what makes for a compelling protagonist for a game. Check it out below.
In the video, performance director Dadi Einars takes the lead in talking about how the studio started its development of Echoes of the End with a simple concept – “A warrior with magical abilities”.
“That was the thing we knew about [protagonist] Ryn before we knew anything else,” said Einars in the video. “That was the game we wanted to make.”
“Before she was a person, she was, well, a warrior with magical abilities. Over time, that description evolved. She wasn’t just a warrior, she was a ranger on a solitary posting expected to be able to fend for herself in the dangerous wilderness. She didn’t just have magical abilities, she was a Vestige, born with an affinity for destructive magic that most people feared and shunned. Her solitary posting became less about faith in her abilities, and more an expression of the fear her people felt for her.”
We also get the developers discussing how they see Ryn themselves, and how they could relate to her character and the backstory that was eventually developed for her. Aldis Amah Hamilton, who voices Ryn, for instance, spoke about how much she loved her as a character right from the get go.
“For me, the most helpful thing when I get to know a character is, of course reading the script, and their responses and reactions to whatever is going on,” said Hamilton. “But I also am just inherently curious about why people do the things they do and how people tick.”
Einars and Hamilton also talk about the other characters in Echoes of the End, including Ryn’s brother Cor, the rest of her family, and her main travelling companion for the game, Abram Finlay.
Myrkur Games had released another behind-the-scenes video for Echoes of the End earlier this month focusing on the game’s cinematic approach to its combat, and how the studio took player feedback from the previous trailers into account as the game got closer to release.
“When we started making Echoes of the End, we already had some pillars in mind for the combat system,” said Einars in that previous video. “First, Ryn is both a trained warrior and a vestige; someone born with an affinity for ancient destructive magic. She is powerful, and playing as her, you should feel powerful too. Second, we wanted the interplay of melee combat and magic to be central to the experience. It’s about mobility and precision, weaving in and out of range, and using your abilities to control the battlefield.”
Echoes of the End is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S later today. Game director Halldór Snær Kristjánsson has also confirmed that it will have a runtime of between 14 and 15 hours for the main story.
