It’s never fun to see Kickstarter projects fail, even ones that seem destined for failure from the beginning. However, it’s especially troubling when it’s a solid campaign with a very promising game. Igenos : The Last Phoenix was one of those games; it had fantastic visuals, a compelling gameplay conceit, and even a demo for prospective backers to try. Unfortunately things didn’t turn out well for the developers at BearInMind Games. Since it launched on January 15th the Igneos Kickstarter campaign only managed to raise $5,840cad of its $40,000cad goal. Sure, the campaign wasn’t a disaster, but with the February 19th deadline rapidly approaching things looked grim. And with that, the developers of Igenos cancelled their Kickstarter yesterday, citing the poor trending.
Timing being what it is at times, we actually had a couple Igenos features ready to be published. First was a playthrough of the Igneos prototype by John Seeger. Next is an interview that Ahmad Khan did with the brains behind Igenos, offering up further gameplay details, and even a little haiku. While the phrasing in some of these pieces may seem a bit awkward (“Why should people back your campaign?”), it’s presented so that the info on the game can still get out there in hopes that readers can reference it once the next Igneos campaign launches.
Igneos : The Last Phoenix prototype playthrough
A lot of Kickstarters try and launch with some unique twist, whether it’s a prototype when it comes to games, free songs when it comes to music, or the first 6 minutes of an indie movie. In the case of Igneos : The Last Phoenix from BearInMind Games we have a downloadable prototype; let’s take a look at it.
Now, keep in mind, before you read on, I fully understand that a prototype is not necessarily an accurate representation of the final product.
The developers behind Igneos promise an aerial melee combat game where you control a Phoenix in order to bring light back to the world. An interresting concept to be sure. However, the developers haven’t brought out their full guns with the prototype they’ve released, at least that’s what I hope.
Going by both the prototype and the Kickstarter there‘s little variation in both attacks and enemy types, and the stretch goal that promises more enemies makes no mention of additional weaponry.
However, when I downloaded the demo I was hopeful there’d still be an enjoyable experience to be had. While it was critisized a bit before the Kickstarter launched, the demo is just a prototype.
That being said, even if a demo or prototype doesn’t represent the final product, it’s there to help convince backers to give you money for further development. The camera control feels very iffy and gave me somewhat of a headache; not something you want backers to experience when they’re on the fence about backing your project.
Aside from that, however, many issues have been acknowledged by the developer already. I do thnk that Igneos has a lot going for it; especially the great visuals.
Agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments below, or on my personal Twitter or Facebook linked below.
An Interview With The Developers of Igneos : The Last Phoenix
I am a sucker for mythological creatures, and when they are introduced in video games? Well then that just makes it all the more awesome. And I can tell you what makes it even better: If the mythological creature in the video game is a big flaming Phoenix. That thought was stuck in my mind when I tried out the demo from BearInMind Studio’s Igneos: The Last Phoenix – Aerial Combat Adventure Game features. You play as Pharos, the last remaining fire-bird as it awakens to discover that the world around him has been covered in ash and frost. You Control Pharos as the giant bird fly through strange environments in order to save the already-dying world. You will use the ability of flight and the inherent fires within Pharos to battle the enemies that come in your way. I won’t spoil the game much more than that for the readers, please play the demo and decide for yourself if it catches your fancy. Suffice to say the demo piqued my curiously and I fired a message to BearInMind in the hopes that they can answer some questions about Igneos. Surely enough the fine folks over at BearInMind were gracious enough to take some time out of their schedule answer my patent dirty-dozen questions.
Cliqist : Can you tell us a little about yourself?
BearInMind : We are a team on game developers (mostly) based out of Vancouver, Canada. Originally we made a game called ‘The Last Phoenix’ over four-months when we were in Game Design school. We eventually put the project on Steam Greenlight expecting to just leave it there. However, fans picked up the game and encouraged us to build it out to a full project.
Cliqist : Tell us a little about BearInMind Games, hats the story behind the unusual name?
BearInMind : Haha, absolutely. So you know how there’s always that one expression that someone says? Well whenever we were together and working in a meeting, I would undoubtedly say, “Well, bear-in-mind that we need to, etc, etc” It became a running gag and the name stuck. The actual Bear on the logo was based on a doodle I’ve been doing since way back in school.
Cliqist : Can you explain in your own words what kind of game is Igneos: The Last Phoenix?
BearInMind : If I have to describe it in two words, the easiest I’ve found is: Flying Zelda. It’s an adventure game where you need to explore this vast open world, battle against enemy characters. Another big difference from typical flying games is that we are melee-flying. We haven’t seen many and it gives us a lot of new mechanics to try.
Cliqist : What video-game, film, literature or artwork do you believe influenced Igneos: The Last Phoenix?
BearInMind : We’re drawing some inspiration of design from games like the Zelda; Ocarina of Time and games like Metroid Prime, even other indie games like FEZ have helped us find a direction. Thematically we drew some inspiration from the Fantasia ‘The Firebird Suite’, there’s a phoenix-like creature that appears there that ends up destroying a forest to ash and ruin. We’re doing the opposite in Igneos, mind you.
Cliqist : “Igneos is a flying adventure exploration game” Please elaborate?
BearInMind : In Igneos, you’re going to have this overworld. It’s a vast open area for you to explore however and wherever you want. There’s puzzles, secrets, enemy patrols and bases that will be scattered throughout. There’s two major types of environments the over-world which you’ll spend most of your time solving puzzles, exploring, completing challenges, etc. Then there’s dungeons which will challenge everything you’ve picked up in the overworld.
Cliqist : What kind of difficulty level can gamers expect in Igneos, would there be settings for both casual and hardcore Gamers?
BearInMind : For the base tier of the Kickstarter, we’ll be targeting a mid range difficulty with side-challenges for the hardest elements. We may be targeting a New Game+ or Dungeon Shuffle mode in the future. 😉
Cliqist : What kind of game-engine will you be using for Igneos and why?
BearInMind : We are building it in Unreal 4. It has been the most effective at handling the development of things like our restoration abilities.
Cliqist : What kind of game length(hours of gameplay) has BearInMind planned for Igneos: The Last Phoenix?
BearInMind : That’s depending on how this all turns out.
Cliqist : Why should people back Igneos: The Last Phoenix Kickstarter?
BearInMind : I think the biggest thing is that backers are going to find that this game is pretty different from other projects out there. It’s not a simple rehash or revisiting of other games. We are also devising a system that cuts down on the Kickstarter Curse where content never makes it into backer’s hands. We are devising a system to cut the game’s contents into episodes (think Telltale Games). That way we will get meaningful installments out to backs on a better schedule.
Cliqist : What platforms are you planning to bring Igneos: The Last Phoenix?
BearInMind : PC is for sure, and we have stretch goals for Mac/Linux that are available at the 70k CAD Stretch Goal. We really want to visit console releases down the line, and that will be addressed if we can reach stretch goals.
Cliqist : Can you close us out with an Igneos: The Last Phoenix related haiku?
BearInMind : Hah! Sure, why not.
A vast dead continent…
With a flash, life creeps back
Bird’s on fire, yo.
Thanks to BearInMind Studio for taking the time to answer my questions! If you’d like to learn more about Igneos: The Last Phoenix – Aerial Combat Adventure Game be sure to check out its Kickstarter campaign before it ends on February 19, 2015.
As mentioned earlier, the Igneos : The Last Phoenix Kickstarter campaign has already been cancelled, an unfortunate event for such a promising title. However, once the developers launch a new campaign we’ll definitely be covering it!
