Marcus Pukropski, who is the CEO of SideQuest Studios and also served as the project leader for Rainbow Skies, answered some of our questions about the game.

"Just to name some of the big new features, we have added monster taming, a new dialogue system, a new magic school and upgrade system, combo attacks, treasure hunts and a new fishing mini games."

This game was initially set to release in 2014. What led to the game’s release getting delayed so much?

A combination of many things. First of all, we probably announced Rainbow Skies way too early. We had plans for the game and worked on the first concept art, but development hadn’t really started. At that time, we only had one full-time programmer employed and decided to bring Rainbow Moon (and later Söldner-X 2) to PS Vita first. The ports took a lot longer than expected, which had a knock-on effect on Rainbow Skies.

While one part of the team worked on the Vita ports, the other part did a lot of content preparation. Characters, world and dungeon assets were created. Part of the story was written. The world map and dungeons were built, etc. While the content creation helped us a lot (there’s so much visual variety in Rainbow Skies!), full time production didn’t start until middle/end of 2015.

We hoped to complete development a lot faster, but Rainbow Skies has turned into a very ambitious project. It’s a big game with about 400+ hours of content. We’ve also added German, French, Spanish and Italian localization, which really isn’t an easy task because the game contains nearly 200,000 words. Last but not least, we did not want to compromise on the quality of the game. Long story short, it’s a number of reasons but we are very happy with the end result and hope that people will be happy with the final game.

Now that you’re finally close to getting the game out, are you satisfied with how it’s turned out?

Yes, absolutely. As mentioned before, we hardly made any compromises at all. We spent a lot of time optimizing and tweaking the balance of the game and are really happy with the final result.

This game is a sequel to Rainbow Moon. What are some of the changes and improvements we can expect to see in this sequel?

There are so many new and improved features in Rainbow Skies, it would be a very long list. Just to name some of the big new features, we have added monster taming, a new dialogue system, a new magic school and upgrade system, combo attacks, treasure hunts and a new fishing mini games. Apart from the new features, we also reworked and improved almost all the existing features, including a battle system overhaul.

Also, as mentioned before, there is a lot more overall content and visual variety in Rainbow Skies if you compare it to Rainbow Moon. We also put a slightly larger focus on storytelling and character development.

Can you tell us a little about the story in the game?

At this point we don’t want to spoil more than what we already revealed. A brief story introduction can be found on rainbow-skies.com. Overall the story is a lot more diversified and comprehensive compared to Rainbow Moon. We invested a lot more time into creating character profiles and story settings. At the same time, we tried to keep all conversations entertaining and full of humor.

In terms of story presentation, we also made major improvements. Compared to the simple monologues in Rainbow Moon, conversations now take place between all party members and NPCs, which lets players identify themselves with the different characters a lot better. We have also added a number of brief cutscenes, custom animations and animated emoticons.

What can you tell us about the crafting system in the game?

The Rainbow Skies crafting system is built on the system found in Rainbow Moon, with a lot of updates and improvements. One of the biggest changes is that all equipment can now gain experience points and level up. Leveling up equipment can result in better stats and additional crafting slots. Apart from leveling up equipment, special ‘+’ versions can be created by using crafting crystals. Some of the equipment found in Rainbow Skies can be upgraded up to 9 times. This gives players a lot more freedom as they don’t constantly need to buy new gear but can instead use the crafting system to upgrade existing gear.

Of course, materials can also still be found and used for crafting purposes and there are a lot of secrets built into the system. We have recently written a detailed blog post about the game’s crafting system.

"Rainbow Skies can be played in a lot of different ways. If you just want to play through the story and ignore most of the optional content, you can probably complete the main story in about 35-45 hours."

Would you say there still exists an audience for games such as this with long narratives and complex systems?

I certainly hope so because there are not many games that are similar to Rainbow Skies. Games like Disgaea probably offer even more complex systems, but they don’t offer the same amount of exploration that we do. Hopefully we can contribute to making this genre a little more popular and that a lot of players will enjoy our game.

On that note, how long would you say it takes to complete the game?

That really depends on your play style. Rainbow Skies can be played in a lot of different ways. If you just want to play through the story and ignore most of the optional content, you can probably complete the main story in about 35-45 hours. However, if you want to complete all the side quests and optional content, you can easily invest 200 hours into the main story alone. In addition, there’s also a lot of end game content. If you would like to see and do everything the game has to offer, it will probably take you about 400 hours or longer.

What would you say are some of the inspirations behind this game?

Most of all of course Rainbow Moon, which we launched back in 2012. Other inspiration came from Disgaea, Final Fantasy Tactics, some of the older Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games as well as some lesser known NIS games.

The game is now confirmed for the PS4, which also means it will support the PS4 Pro. Can you please let us know the resolution and frame rate it will run at on these conoles?

There will be no difference if you play the game on a normal PS4 or a PS4 Pro. The game runs at 60fps with very short load times on both systems. It’s a 2D game and our graphics are already perfectly anti-aliased, so there wouldn’t really be a big benefit from playing the game at a higher resolution.

"Generally speaking, the PS4 is not very difficult to develop for. But it’s always a big challenge to perfect and optimize your game from a technical point of view."

Given that you are now working on both the PS4 Pro and PC, what kind of technical differences did you found between the two?

Generally speaking, the PS4 is not very difficult to develop for. But it’s always a big challenge to perfect and optimize your game from a technical point of view. But of course, this was a lot harder on PS Vita because of its technical limitations. The PS4 as well as modern PCs are so powerful, it’s a real shame that many other games don’t always fun at 60fps or have other performance issues.

In a recent interview, Mark Cerny, the lead engineer of the PlayStation 4 Pro claimed that converting a base PS4 game to PS4 Pro version is just 0.2 Or 0.3% of the overall effort. What is your take on this? Do you think that the extra work required to develop an additional Pro version will actually be bigger than the number quoted?

That very much depends on the game itself. For many 3D engines, it’s probably not a lot of extra effort to increase the resolution or improve the frame rate. As mentioned before, our game already runs at 60fps (on all systems), so there’s not much left to improve. However, if you want to increase the resolution in a 2D game, you basically need to redraw or re-output all the frames. In case of Rainbow Skies, this would have been an enormous task and potentially have taken several months, if not longer. We feel very happy with how the game looks like and believe that a stable and high frame rate is much more important than a higher resolution.

Sony are promising an advanced work distributor in PS4 Pro along with new Polaris features like Delta color compression. What is your take on these features and do you have plans to take advantage of them?

As a small team, it’s difficult to be state-of-the-art and support all the latest technologies, which often requires a lot of extra time. For us, other focuses, such as gameplay are much more important. Nevertheless, considering our small team size and the game’s millions of assets, what we have achieved is still very ambitious and has cost us a lot of energy.

Is there a specific reason why you are not launching your game on the Xbox One?

Rainbow Skies runs on a proprietary engine, which has been optimized for PlayStation system. We would love to support more platforms, but considering the small team size, it’s currently not possible.

Any chance of a Nintendo Switch version?

No plans at the moment.

"I personally find a high and constant frame rate a lot more important. Higher resolutions require a lot of additional computing power. As a result, the frame rate usually suffers."

What is your take on the recent trend of Games as a service model and the possible controversial monetization practices arising from it?

From a business point of view, it’s just natural that companies go for whatever yields the highest returns. From a consumer point of view, we are not big fans of F2P, loot boxes or other controversial monetization practices. It’s great to see that so many indies keep traditional gaming alive. 😊

The current generation of consoles will probably end in the next couple of years. What is your biggest expectation from the next PlayStation and Xbox?

Nothing revolutionary to be honest. Everything will be a little bit faster and a little bit prettier. 🙂

From a developer perspective, do you think the next-gen console era will be the 4K/60fps era?

I personally find a high and constant frame rate a lot more important. Higher resolutions require a lot of additional computing power. As a result, the frame rate usually suffers. Ideally a game should always run at 60fps (or even 120fps) and at maximum resolution, but at the moment we are still far away from that.

Is there anything more you’d like to tell our readers about this game?

We are happy about every single player that supports us and hope that you will have as much fun playing the game as we’ve had developing it. If you would like to support us, you can pre-order a boxed copy of Rainbow Skies (and Rainbow Moon) at Play-Asia.com or wait until the PS Store release. Rainbow Skies is currently in QA and we hope to announce a release date soon. See you soon on Lunah! 🙂

Many thanks for the opportunity!

Each console generation has usually brought improved visuals and the promised of bigger games, even if their content didn’t expand substantially. That’s been mostly true this generation, though it’s taken some time to get off the ground. The games have gotten bigger but it’s taken time for games like God of War, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice and so on to arrive.

So it’s interesting to hear an indie developer’s take on the next generation, specifically the next Xbox and PlayStation 5. SideQuest Studios is currently working on Rainbow Skies, an indie role playing game with turn-based combat, tons of content, a vibrant world and so much more. If the current console generation ends, what does SideQuest Studios expect from the next?

GamingBolt spoke to SideQuest CEO and Rainbow Skies project leader Marcus Pukropski about the same and asked about his biggest expectation from the next PlayStation and Xbox. Pukropski responded, “Nothing revolutionary to be honest. Everything will be a little bit faster and a little bit prettier.”

The biggest question is whether the next generation of consoles will mark the time that 4K resolution and 60 frames per second games take over. Pukropski believes from a development perspective that, “I personally find a high and constant frame rate a lot more important. Higher resolutions require a lot of additional computing power.

“As a result, the frame rate usually suffers. Ideally a game should always run at 60fps (or even 120fps) and at maximum resolution, but at the moment we are still far away from that.”

Apparently the next generation of consoles is set to arrive in 2020 with the PS5, at least according to analyst opinions. What do you hope to see? Let us know in the comments.

Stay tuned for our full interview with Marcus Pukropski in the coming days.

Rainbow Skies, the next entry in the Rainbow series of SRPGs, will be releasing next year for the PS4, PS3, and PS Vita. It will support Cross Save when it launches.

“Thanks to the tremendous support and feedback from our fans, we are thrilled to bring our Rainbow RPG series to the PS4,” said Marcus Pukropski, CEO of SideQuest Studios. “Rainbow Skies is our biggest and most ambitious project including a complex background story with multiple, interwoven narratives and many additional features and improvements such as monster taming, player upgrades, skill books and combo systems.”

Rainbow Skies isn’t the only Rainbow entry coming to PS4 either- the previous bestseller in the franchise, Rainbow Moon, which is currently already available on PS3 and PS Vita, will also be made available on PS4 some time next year. As with Rainbow Skies, it, too, will support Cross Save.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage.

CEO of SideQuest Studios Marcus Pukropski stated that, “We have enjoyed great support and success on the PlayStation®3 system in the past and are happy to bring our latest development to the PlayStation® family in 2014. Rainbow Skies combines lots of fan feedback with our own vision and will be an awesome mix of old meets new. We are looking forward to showing gamers more of Rainbow Skies in the months to come.”

New screenshots for the game have also been released, showcasing the various environments the player will explore. Check them out below and decide if this is another cozy addition to the PlayStation line-up.

We spoke in detail about how the sequel is shaping up, possible platforms, release date, sources of inspiration and other things. Check out the entire interview below.

Ravi Sinha: The first game Rainbow Moon did pretty well on PSN – well enough to be ported to PlayStation Vita. How was the set-up going into Rainbow Skies after the former’s success? 

Marcus Pukropski: Our core team is currently split. While I am working on the Vita port of Rainbow Moon, my colleagues Moritz and Julian have started creating assets and maps for Rainbow Skies. At the same time I am also guiding concept and design decisions for the new game. Although we are just a small team, this way we can work on two projects at the same time.

Ravi Sinha: What was the process by which EastAsiaSoft decided on SideQuest Studios for the sequel Rainbow Skies? 

Marcus Pukropski: Once we finished our work on Rainbow Moon, we sat down together and discussed our options. On the one hand we were already pretty sure that we wanted to bring Rainbow Moon to the PlayStation Vita, on the other hand we knew that we won’t need the entire team for this. Our games run on a custom-built engine, porting Rainbow Moon to the Vita is mostly a rather technical task.

Considering a few options, we ultimately decided to work on a new RPG that builds on Rainbow Moon’s system. Thanks to all the setup and tools that we built for Rainbow Moon, we got started almost right away.

So far we’ve been working for more than six months on Rainbow Skies and have already made great progress. In terms of content and visual variety, Rainbow Skies is going to be our most comprehensive game that we’ve ever worked on when it’s ready for release in 2014.

Ravi Sinha: Was there any pressure to live up to the “spirit” of Rainbow Moon? To try and build this brand new game but still entertaining fans who loved the original? 

Marcus Pukropski: This is always a very difficult task. On the one hand we want to please fans that loved the original and on the other hand we also want to listen to all the constructive feedback that we have received and further improve the game. At the end of the day, you can never make everyone happy but we have the feeling that we are heading into the right direction with Rainbow Skies.

We are refining the game design, adding a lot of new features but at the same time we are staying true to our roots. We aim to make Rainbow Skies a more diversified game, I’m sure fans will love it. 

Ravi Sinha: Did you look at any similar games when planning the follow-up to Rainbow Moon? If so, which ones in particular stood out the most? 

Marcus Pukropski: Obviously we are also playing games and look at what other games have to offer but this isn’t really the way that we are planning for our games. We don’t want our games to be too similar to any other game series. Instead we are trying to find our own niche and follow our own ideas.

Recently almost our entire team has played Level5’s Ni No Kuni. We all fell in love with the game, so maybe we are going to take a little bit inspiration from this game. 

Ravi Sinha: With all the gameplay elements abounding in the genre, from Item Worlds to marrying characters and recruiting their children to your army, what is the process for creating a unique “hook” or aspect to the gameplay? 

Marcus Pukropski: Our main focus lies on uncompromised gameplay. Players love the series for staying true to traditional gameplay. You won’t find long and often boring CGI movies in Rainbow Skies that you cannot skip, instead you can fully immerse in a fantastic fantasy world. Exploration and turn-based battles are our two major key aspects.

Rainbow Skies’ battle system is a little more complex than what you can find in many other RPGs but at the same time it’s still very easy to understand without being over complicated.

Character and gear customization will also play a major role in the game, as well as the new monster taming feature. In Rainbow Skies the player can catch, tame and fully upgrade monsters before taking them alongside into battle. 

Ravi Sinha: Rainbow Skies’s parallel worlds, the light and dark realms, no doubt tie into the story of the game. Can you give us any unique examples of how this will tie into the gameplay? Will we see players going into one world to unlock the way forward in another a la Zelda: Link to the Past? 

Marcus Pukropski: Zelda: A Link to the Past is a good example of how the parallel world will look and feel like but gameplay wise it’s going to be a little bit different. The player will be able to unlock parts of the parallel world at a certain stage into the game and can then freely explore it.

Some places and towns that exist in the light world can also be found in the parallel world but in a very different state. There will be different themes for different parts of the parallel world but we don’t want to spoil too much at the moment.

The two worlds will be tied together in a limited way and there will be some gameplay connections but it’s quite different compared to the Zelda example that you mentioned. 

Ravi Sinha:  Can you tell us a bit more about the new battle system? How will traps and projectiles play into the combat this time around? 

Marcus Pukropski: The battle system itself will remain 100% turn-based. Just like in Rainbow Moon, battles will take place on grid maps, however this time the maps will be a little bit smaller. There will be a number of improvements, including new combo attacks, tamed monsters that can join the player into battle, an improved enemy AI, tons of new skills and a lot of other smaller tweaks.

Traps and projectiles will not be part of the actual battle system. Instead they will come into play during dungeon exploration. There will be a few action elements and puzzles to add more gameplay diversity. 

Ravi Sinha:  Nils Ngai from EastAsiaSoft told IGN that: “[Platforms] are still unconfirmed at the moment but given our track record, chances for being a PlayStation exclusive are high”. So the million dollar question is: Any chance of seeing Rainbow Moon/Skies on a Nintendo console/handheld in the near future? 

Marcus Pukropski: Unfortunately we cannot confirm platforms at the moment but as far as I can tell you, Rainbow Skies is unlikely to be released at too many platforms at a time. We have very limited resources and just like our previous games, Rainbow Skies is running on a custom-built engine, which doesn’t make porting a quick and easy task.

I’m not going to rule out a release on a Nintendo platform in the future but at the moment it looks unlikely. There are still a few formalities that need to be taken care of but I think that we will be ready to announce platforms in the next few months. 

Ravi Sinha:   Despite being on the cusp of the next generation, RPG strategies like Fire Emblem (with Awakening) and Disgaea (with D2: A Brighter Darkness coming soon for PS3) are still highly regarded by fans. Is there a long-term goal to continue in this vein, maybe bring out some more Rainbow games in the future?  

Marcus Pukropski: It’s hard to tell at the moment but as long as we are successful, fans are asking for it and we aren’t running out of ideas (quite unlikely though), I see no reason why we should stop making more role-playing games. It’s a genre that we found to really enjoy working on. 

Ravi Sinha:   Finally, when can we expect Rainbow Skies to release? 

Marcus Pukropski: Unfortunately it’s going to be a while. We aim to release Rainbow Skies in late 2014. If you want to follow our development, make sure to check our website at www.rainbow-skies.com frequently for updates. Oh, and if you haven’t played Rainbow Moon yet, there’s still enough time for it. 🙂

Many thanks for giving me the opportunity for this interview. 

Rainbow Skies promises to have a new world with new characters. The developers are also working on a new story so this is not exactly a sequel.

Marcus Pukropski, CEO of SideQuest Studios said: “Built on Rainbow Moon’s system, Rainbow Skies is a completely new game that is set in a new world with new characters and a new story.”

“A lot of feedback has been taken into consideration and we are confident that Rainbow Skies will offer an even deeper and more versatile gameplay experience, while staying absolutely true to its roots. We can’t wait to show more of Rainbow Skies to our fans.”

The game also promises to have an advanced combat system, mini games and an improved side quest system.

Rainbow Skies is current schedule for a 2014 release for handhelds and consoles.

We also have the first screenshots for you. Check them out below.

The game has been in development for a long time, but I guess that’s one of the reasons why it appears to be so polished, compared to other arcade games in its class. It makes a good first impression, and that’s something that really convinces you to spend more time on it and see what the developers have crafted.

I love the visual style, which is a bit cartoony yet so charming to look at. This is not a graphical powerhouse by any means and it kind of feels like something that’s best suited for a portable. A Vita version of the game would have been something incredible, and a surefire way to pass time considering there’s so much content on offer here.

This is an arcade game after all which is exclusive to PSN, and for a price which is quite incredible when compared to the content it offers. Any RPG fan would have their hands full with this game.

While the game follows basic RPG conventions and gameplay mechanics, one thing that’s a let down is the story. It’s pretty barebones where its your typical hero vs villain scenario with a lack of twists and turns. The game puts you in the shoes of Baldren who hunts his foe called Namoris, and the latter teleports into a world called Rainbow Moon.

I have to say, the art design really stood out amongst other things, although, it kind of felt like you were transported into a cartoony Diablo 2 world.

As soon as you reach the new world, you will soon encounter enemies which you can avoid and reach the first village, but in case you choose to fight, you can scrape through and also get introduced to the combat system.

The combat system is quite simple where the enemy and you both get a turn to get close to each other, but bear in mind, ranged attacks will work even if you aren’t close to your enemy. It’s a bit tough early on in the game, so like almost all RPGs out there grinding helps immensely.

However, in Rainbow Moon, the need to grind to present a proper challenge sometimes takes you out of the overall gameplay experience. The UI and HUD are very well designed and actually helps in making the game accessible to plenty of people out there. In short, you won’t feel lost or need to invest a significant amount of time to just learn the gameplay mechanics.

I shudder at the fact that the game is slightly challenging on normal difficulty so how difficult will it actually be on hard?  Rainbow Coins are the currency of the game which you can spend at vendors to buy items and abilities to use in skill slots. Everything else is like a normal RPG where killing enemies nets you experience which you can use to level up. There are also sub-turns that enables you to do more actions whenever you move.

It’s quite a lengthy game, and a charming one too. The need to grind for experience reduces the overall enjoyment because it isn’t satisfying, but if you are a veteran RPG player, chances are, you would love it.

This game was reviewed on the PS3.

“We have taken an innovative approach by combining classical elements with new ideas,” said Marcus Pukropski, CEO of SideQuest Studios.

“In Rainbow Moon you will find foes roaming the surface of the planet and have a chance to battle in additional random encounters. The latter, however, are 100% optional and can be disregarded if you so decide.”

You can read more about the game over here. Tell us what you think in the comments section below.