"ICO inspired us with its mechanics around two characters, its melancholic atmosphere and with the game design philosophy."

It’s clear that Dark Souls was one of the major influences on the game. What are some of the other sources of inspirations you drew from when making this game?

Matteo Sciutteri: A lot. First, of course, ICO. ICO inspired us with its mechanics around two characters, its melancholic atmosphere and with the game design philosophy. But, also, Zelda inspired us, and a little bit Diablo.

What exactly can you tell us about the game’s story?

Matteo Sciutteri: Fall of Light has a story based on two different layers. The first is the story of a father (Nyx) and his daughter (Aether): their world is devoured by Darkness and he’s trying to reach a safe place for her. The second layer is more… intimate: there is a story inside a story, and the players that discovered it have written to me talking about how much they have felt in their own souls the sadness during the end credits.

What’s new in the game with the Darkest Edition?

Matteo Sciutteri: There is exclusive content: a new dungeon, a new boss fight, some secrets areas, and new enemies and weapons. You know, what everyone wants when it comes to a new edition of a game.

What are some of the ways in which the father and daughter’s relationship affects gameplay?

Matteo Sciutteri: Nyx must protect Aether because there are the Shadows – creatures born from the Darkness – who are trying to kidnap her. But she is an Indigo Child, and with her special aura she can strengthen her father. Also, they sometimes need to collaborate to solve puzzles. Finally, during the last boss fight there is a plot twist and… something will change between them.

"We had near 20 years of experience (we worked for a lot of companies in Italy and in other countries as employees) and, despite this, we made the game too big. Because, you know, during the development you think “ok, let’s add this, it’s really cool!”. But… not."

What are some of the different weapon types available to player in the game?

Matteo Sciutteri: There are a lot of weapons and every weapon’s class has a specific move set. You can use a sword with a shield, two-handed hammer, or a crossbow. If you prefer something more “assassin’s style”, you can use two short weapons at the same time.

Given that the game has been developed by just two people, were there any particular challenges you faced when developing the game?

Matteo Sciutteri: Sleep. Ok, seriously… sleep. No, really. We worked for one year, seven days per week, most of the time 16 or more hours a day. It was crazy. But we are proud of FoL.

What are some of the major takeaways you would like to tell new developers based on your experience in developing this game?

Matteo Sciutteri: Stay small. I mean, we had near 20 years of experience (we worked for a lot of companies in Italy and in other countries as employees) and, despite this, we made the game too big. Because, you know, during the development you think “ok, let’s add this, it’s really cool!”. But… not.

And, of course, if they will do a game as regular job, they must do their math.

What has been your response to some of the negative reviews that the game has received?

Matteo Sciutteri: Thank you – to most of them. Because it’s thank you to the negative reviews from the players that we’ll grow as a company. Of course, we are glad when we read a good review, but I’m sure that the next title will be better because of the negative reviews.

"We’re already working on a new title that will be available next year."

Was it always a part of the plan to try and bring the game over to consoles?

Matteo Sciutteri: Yes, but we needed to find a partner to do it. We didn’t do the porting alone: we worked with our console publisher (Digerati) and Stage Clear Studios to bring Fall of Light to consoles.

Will we be seeing more games from RuneHeads in the future?

Matteo Sciutteri: Of course! We’re already working on a new title that will be available next year. I can’t say anything for now, but I put in my answers a small clue. If someone can discover it!

The game will feature Xbox One X specific enhancements. What can players expect if they are playing the game on Xbox One X? Is 4K/60fps on the cards?

Daniel Santos Fonseca: It’s 1080p/30fps.

And how will the PS4 Pro version turn out in terms of resolution and frame rate?

Daniel Santos Fonseca: Also 1080p/30fps.

From a development perspective, how do you find the Xbox One X to be? With so much GPU power, we are sure you must be doing some amazing things.

Daniel Santos Fonseca: More resolution.

How is the game running on the original Xbox One and PS4, frame rate and resolution wise?

Daniel Santos Fonseca: It’s running at 720p/30fps.

"The PS4 is impressive as power and the photorealism is really near. I guess that we’ll achieve it with the PS5 / Scarlett. After that, I guess they will improve other aspects – like Nintendo is doing with Switch"

What resolution does the game run in docked and undocked modes on the Switch?

Matteo Sciutteri: It runs at 720p docked/450p undocked.

Next gen is coming sooner or later. From a development perspective, what is your biggest expectation from PS5 and Xbox Scarlett?

Matteo Sciutteri: I’m very curious. Because they can’t stay sticky on their strategy for a long time: the PS4 is impressive as power and the photorealism is really near. I guess that we’ll achieve it with the PS5 / Scarlett. After that, I guess they will improve other aspects – like Nintendo is doing with Switch.

Fall of Light was a narrative-driven action RPG that launched more than two years ago. Developed by indie studio RuneHeads, the game showed some promise, which it has sought to fulfil with Fall of Light: Darkest Edition, which launched over a month ago on the PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

While the newest edition of the game features new weapons, new enemies, and a new dungeon by way of new content, the question some of you might have is- has it been visually enhanced in the two years since its original launch? We recently got the chance to ask Matteo Sciutteri, game designer of the RPG and and Daniel Santos Fonseca (Stage Clear Studios, cofounder) some questions about the game, and asked them as much.

They gave us very specific details on the frame-rate and resolution targets of the game on all the consoles it’s launched for, and it seems like it’s achieved some Xbox One X or PS4 Pro enhancements. On the base PS4 and Xbox One, Fall of Light: Darkest Edition runs at 720p and 30 frames per second, but on both the enhanced consoles, the game runs at 1080p resolutions, while maintaining the same frame-rate.

What about the Nintendo Switch? On Nintendo’s handheld-console hybrid, the game runs at 720p and 30 FPS in docked mode, same as the base PS4 and Xbox One. However, in handheld mode its resolution seems to take a pretty significant hit. Though it retains its frame rate of 30 FPS, it’s rendered at a resolution of 450p.

Our full interview with the development team of Fall of Light: Darkest Edition will be going live soon, so stay tuned to GamingBolt.

Visual improvements is the most basic upgrade we expect to see with each generation of new consoles, and we’ve seen plenty of radical upgrades over the last two to three decades in this regard. However, we’re now at a point where graphics in video games are hitting unbelievable new highs each year, to the point where it seems like photorealism – actual, true photorealism – can’t be too far away.

Matteo Sciutteri of indie studio RuneHeads – who’s serving as the game designer on the Darkest Edition of the story-driven RPG Fall of Light which originally launched two years ago – hopes to see exactly those sort of improvements with the PS5 and the Xbox Scarlett (or whatever Microsoft ends up calling the next Xbox).

“I’m very curious,” said Sciutteri in an exclusive interview with GamingBolt when asked about his expectations from the next generation of consoles. “Because they can’t stay sticky on their strategy for a long time: the PS4 is impressive as power and the photorealism is really near. I guess that we’ll achieve it with the PS5 / Scarlett. After that, I guess they will improve other aspects – like Nintendo is doing with Switch.”

While photorealism – or getting ever closer to it, at any rate – is something we can almost take for granted at this point, Sciutteri’s remark about investing in other areas’ improvement is particularly interesting. Nintendo have done what they do best by turning their home console into a handheld, and it’s fair to assume that Microsoft and Sony might play to their strengths as well. Perhaps better VR integration in the PS5, and furthering services like Game Pass with the next Xbox? Those seem like exciting investments, to say the least.

Our full interview with Matteo Sciutteri about Fall of Light: Darkest Edition and a few other interesting topics will be going live soon, so stay tuned to GamingBolt.