Recently, Game Rant sat down with CrainyCreation, the indie developer and fan creator ofBionicle: Quest for Mata Nui. The game is a fan project, not endorsed by the LEGO Group whatsoever, that takes place during the first year of the Toa. SinceBionicle: Quest for Mata Nuiwas revealed, fans have been clamoring to know more about that project.
One doesn’t have to look far to see how popularBionicle: Quest for Mata Nuiquickly became, as it has amassed a ton of views on YouTube in a short time span. Here’s everything CrainyCreation had to say.
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Q: It’s been in development for 6 years, right? How’d it get started?
A: Well, I’ve been a hugeBioniclefan my whole live, and even as a kid, I wanted to explore this world in a proper RPG. So that was really the inspiration for it, basically creating the game that I’ve always dreamed about ever since I was a kid.
Q: How hard was it to start up?
A: Well, I had a lot of experience with this sort of thing before, so I kind of knew what I was getting into, at least to some degree. The very first thing I started working on was the movement of the characters and the combat, though both of these things have seen countless iterations since then to the point were they are unrecognizable.
Q: For its combat and open world format, were there any games you looked at? Anything that helped inspire its creation?
A: Yeah, definitely. For the open-world, the game takes some inspiration fromSkyrim, just like a lot of other open-world games can also be traced back toSkyrimI think. However, the game also takes some cues in itsworld design fromMetroid Prime, as in that the world definitely will sometimes be a challenge to navigate. In terms of combat, the game takes some inspiration from theDark Soulsseries, while definitely still being its own thing.
Q: For sure.SkyrimDNA can be found everywhere. Would you go as far as to describe it as either a Metroidvania or Souls-like game?
A: I would say its neither. The best way to describe it is as an open-world with Metroidvania elements. I honestly can’t currently think of a game that handles its world exactly in the same way thatBionicle: Quest for Mata Nuidoes. It’s a concept I’ve given a lot of thought and I think I’ve come up with something that’s not seen often.
Q: That sounds exciting! Shifting gears, what can you tell me about the co-op? It’s up to 6 players right?
A: Yes, it’s up to 6 players. So the co-op is really more of a side aspect of the game, I like to say its a single player game first. But the option is there. If we go back toSkyrim, it basically works exactly like if you just dropped another player into the world. The players can explore the world at their own pace, they dont have to play together, and neither player takes priority over the other. I also plan to include pvp, but only in a very minor way.
Q:So players won’t be tethered to each other? Could they be in completely distinctive environments and maps?
A: Yes. It’s totally possible to be in a multiplayer session with 3 other people and never see them once.
Q: That’s awesome, and the PVP is optional? Anything on that you could elaborate upon?
A: Yeah, PVP is optional. I’m basically including it because it’s very easy to implement with the systems we already have. Currently, I’m planning to include an arena that players can enter where they can battle it out at their own choice. I’m toying with the idea of maybe including an invasion-like mechanic that is also seen in something likeDark Souls, but if I ever do it, that’s probably something that will be reserved for after you have already finished the game once.
Q: Interesting. With these mechanics and ideas in mind, how complete would you say the game is, if you had to give it a percentage?
A: That’s hard to say, and I can’t put a number on it. However, there are a lot of under the hood systems already programmed, the only reason people haven’t seen more them yet is because I want to polish them up visually first. One example is that the entire leveling and progression system is set up already, I just need to work on its presentation before I put it into a video.
Q: Understandable. Is there anything about the level and progression system you can say?
A: Well, additionally to the 12 masks, the progression of your character is defined by 3 things: stat points, disks, and special disks. Disks are basicallyperks, similar to something likeFallout. Every time you level up, you get 3 stat points that you may use to improve various aspects of your character. You also get 1 disk with each level, which you can spend on permanent bonuses. These bonuses are really what allows you to customize your character more in-depth. They can be things like reducing cooldowns for certain abilities or even changing abilities into different variations of them. Some disks will allow you to perform new attacks, for example.
Stat points and disks can also be found in the world and trying to find as many as you can is vital to keeping your characters power up to the challenges, just leveling alone will not be enough. This will greatly help with encouraging exploration, I think. Special Disks act the same way as regular disks, only that you cannot unlock them through leveling. You either find them in the world or get them through quests or by defeating bosses. Special Disks will often be quite powerful and can be game changing.
Q: In the reveal trailer, you mention the different play styles. So I imagine these disks and special disks play a role in this?
A: Yeah, absolutely. What disks and special disks you have chosen can greatly affect how your character plays. What choice of masks you prefer also plays into this and you may get disks that improve the abilities of a specific mask in some way.
Q: Sounds really awesome. Will players be able to get all 12 masks in a playthrough? Will there be some that are missable?
A: You will be able to get all 12 masks in one playthrough. The masks are divided into the 6 great kanohi masks and the 6 noble kanohi masks. The noble masks will be missable.
Q: So, looking through the comments on the YouTube videos, it seems a lot of people are excited about the premise of the project as well as the approach, design, and more. What’s it like to see the feedback on this project?
A: It’s been absolutely amazing! Seeing people react so positively towards this project that I’ve worked silently on for 6 years has been incredible. I’ve received so many supportive messages and people telling me that this is theBioniclegame they always hoped for, and that’s exactly the response that I had hoped people would have. Our Discord server has blown up in just a couple of days (we are at over 6000 members now), and I’ve received countless messages from people that want to help out in the project.
Q: That’s awesome. It seems one common worry is a cease and desist letter from the Lego Group. Is this something you worry about?
Q: For sure. There’s definitely some fan projects that have been known about for years and hopefully this will be one of them. That’s basically all the questions I had prepared. Would there be anything you specifically want to talk about? Anything you want to add?
We ended the interview here, with CrainyCreation having but one request: to make it clear that this is an absolutely free project. In that, CrainyCreation is not accepting funding for itsBionicle: Quest for Mata Nuifan project, nor will it change for the game upon release. It’s clear from the interview and CrainyCreation’s approach to it is that it’s a passion project, so fans should stay tuned for more.
