Just watching the trailer to Scavengers Studio’s next game, Season, you can almost feel the world lift immediately from its chaos and gently glide you into a peaceful, harmonious existence. This is probably one of the many reasons video games are so important, it can free us from our own reality and transport us somewhere completely different. Speaking to IGN recently, creative director and writer of Season, Kevin Sullivan, talks about reading wholesome comments associated with the game and what the inspiration behind Season is.
Sullivan says that the response to the beautiful trailer to Season “has been super generous, and really friendly, and quite touching” but also points out that the next time you post a comment about a video game, be mindful as you never know who could be reading what you’ve written. “My mom reads the comments on Season stuff. I don’t think people on the internet are thinking that these people’s moms are reading this.” Sullivan exclaims “Before you post the comment, imagine that the person’s mom reads it.”
Even though there wasn’t too much to go on in the short trailer, it’s a testament to Scavengers Studio on how well it has been received. It seems obvious that even just over a minute-long trailer can ignite strong feelings and passion in its viewers and it certainly feels like it’s more about the quality than the quantity. Of course, when players are given a slice of a game they want to know about the whole cake and this naturally leads to speculation on what it’s all about.
“When I’m reading the YouTube comments, people seem to either think that it’s like Breath of the Wild, or that it’s like Journey,” he explains. “And it’s in between.” Sullivan continues on to draw a connection between Season and 2012’s beautifully atmospheric game Journey, but that Season is “not that linear or that strict. It’s not a AAA open-world game and it’s also not a corridor art game. It’s in between.”
Intrigued, people have been trying to figure out what’s in store for them and some comments have stated that Season could be similar to games like Gone Home, Fire Watch, or Dear Esther but Sullivan sets the record straight by saying “I guess I’d say, given that we made Darwin Project, we have a lot of gameplay-oriented developers on the project. It’s not going to be a walking simulator – as much as I love those games where there’s no gameplay.”
Season has been thought about and worked on meticulously since 2016 and in the beginning, Sullivan presented video essays to his team to show them his passion for how the game’s base idea would be fleshed out. Not wanting to stop there though, Sullivan even went the extra mile in getting together with the production director to create a Season board game to really bring his vision to life “It got to the point where it was almost D&D style,” Sullivan says “I needed to be there administering the board game.”
As with some video games, there’s a real-life story or experience behind them in which the creator wants to share with the players. Sullivan talks about his own adventures around Asia and the places he experienced while there and how he came to understand its history by meeting other people “There’s basically these levels of mystery and story that are going on that you’re trying to unfold and understand,” Sullivan continues. “Your mission of recording stuff and talking to people is how you uncover that history. There’s things that are happening in the present that are important, and there are things that have happened there in the past that are important, and you’re uncovering that. As much as it is like a road trip, it’s more like the idea of being a stranger in a strange land and trying to understand and do something there. It’s not just blowing past stuff on a bike and being like, ‘That looks cool. That looks cool.’”
Sullivan also talks about how thankful he is that the studio can focus the entire gameplay on the PS5 and PC and that taking the game to next-gen technology will enhance the adventure, giving the player the best immersive and visually impressive experience possible “We’re focused on the PS5 and the PC because it really will let us give the best experience possible” he expressed “Having the processing power of a PS5 is a huge relief because it changes everything with optimization and the way we’re able to layout the maps. We want to make the best looking, smoothest and most immersive experience we can.”
We are bound to hear much more about this gorgeous game over time but as of right now, the studio is still in mid-development and no release date has been discussed. But from what we have seen and heard, Season looks to be on track to be an incredible game that will offer the player a whole world of jaw-dropping experiences, visuals and captivating stories. It’s certainly high on my list and I can’t wait to finally get to play it
The post Season Creative Director Says the Game Won’t Be a Walking Simulator and Elaborates on Its Connection With Breath of the Wild by Rachael Fiddis appeared first on DualShockers.