Interview with Indie Developer 'Among Giants' about their upcoming game 'Albatroz'.

‘Albatroz’ is an upcoming game from indie developer 'Among Giants'. It is described as a game where you 'Leave your dull urban life behind and set out on a journey to find your lost brother, who disappeared while looking to reach a mythical mountain called Albatroz. Use your survival skills to traverse beautiful yet challenging landscapes, ranging from scorching coastal regions to freezing mountains. Manage your resources, strengthen your body, and improve your abilities as you face the wilderness head-on. Discover yourself as you find that the journey might actually be just as important as the destination.' I was lucky enough to interview the wonderful team over at 'Among Giants' and they gave incredibly insightful and interesting answers!

How many people are there at 'Among Giants', and what are their roles?

The core team consists of 11 people, including a director, technical artists, writers, programmers, musicians, and 3D artists.

How long have you been working on 'Albatroz'?

We've been working on 'Albatroz' for six and a half years.

Albatroz is described as a backpacking adventure RPG. Talk to me a little about what that means, and what influenced the idea. 'Albatroz' is a deeply personal project that reflects our passions and experiences as a team. We have a strong love for backpacking and mountain climbing in remote, beautiful places around the world. Nearly everyone on our team shares this passion. During one of our trips to the southern part of Patagonia, we were inspired to create a game that would capture our love for mountains and backpacking. We wanted to bring the same sense of adventure and exploration we experience in real life into the game. Given our fondness for classic JRPGs, we thought it would be interesting to blend our love for outdoor adventures with the storytelling and gameplay mechanics of old JRPGs. This combination seemed like a natural fit for us. Over the years, we have drawn inspiration from a wide range of books, movies, and games. Films like "Into the Wild," "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," and "The Darjeeling Limited," as well as books like "Steppenwolf" by Hermann Hesse, have significantly influenced us. Our games also incorporate elements of surrealism, inspired by directors such as David Lynch and Wes Anderson. These influences helped shape 'Albatroz' into a unique experience that merges the beauty and challenges of nature with the rich, narrative-driven gameplay of JRPGs. Through 'Albatroz,' we hope to share our love for exploration and the profound impact of nature on our lives with players.

The game is about using your 'survival skills'. What skills does Isla have and how do these work from a gameplay perspective? The whole idea is to take the structure and pacing of an old JRPG from the PSX era and replace the traditional fighting system with a crossing system, where the challenge is to navigate and survive the terrain and environment. You have a party of three characters, each with unique skills and strengths. One character excels at climbing, another at crossing long distances, and another at descending mountains. You can switch the party leader at any time to utilize these different abilities. You need to monitor the status of each character, including their arms, legs, hunger, and thirst. Additionally, you must manage the temperature with different clothing and items. Temperature has a direct impact on all other statuses and is dynamically affected by various factors. For example, being in a cave or near a lake will change the temperature. The system is quite intricate, with many layers of depth that add to the overall challenge and immersion of the game. The environments all look incredibly beautiful. Are these inspired by any specific real places in the world?

Yes, we drew inspiration from Patagonia, specifically Torres del Paine National Park and the mountains around El Chaltén. It's a magical place that deeply inspired us, and we even used some of the mountains as references for our artists. We had a really hard time over there hahaha, the trails there are challenging, but it´s a really beautifull place.

What do you want people to feel when playing Albatroz? ''Albatroz' is a true expression of our team and the experiences we've had over six years of development. We hope players will see these impressions in the game. We believe that games are a horizontal medium, fostering a dialogue between players and developers. We hope that players who are struggling with similar challenges can find insights and connect with us through their perspectives. 'Albatroz' explores themes of knowing when to stop and start anew. This theme resonated with our team during development, as some members faced serious personal challenges, such as health conditions and depression. These common struggles inspired us to address these issues in the game. Our previous game focused on distorted memories of failed relationships. After its release, many players shared their struggles with us and how the game helped them. We aim for 'Albatroz' to have a similar impact, providing an honest and useful experience for our players. In addition to the themes we've woven into the narrative, we want players to experience the sense of freedom and contemplation that we felt during our own trails. We aim to evoke that feeling of vastness, where the grandeur of the surroundings makes everyday problems seem small in comparison.

Talk to me a little bit about Isla as a character. Isla is a young woman who has no experience with trekking. She lives a life that never changes, going to work and returning home to a monotonous routine. Over time, she starts to feel that nothing in her life is real anymore, like everything is just a copy of something else. She decides to search for the last thing that felt real to her, which was her relationship with her older brother. Her brother was a famous backpacker who disappeared while searching for the mythical Albatroz mountain. Isla decides to travel to the southern lands in search of her brother. Upon arrival, she discovers that the Albatroz mountain doesn’t exist as she thought. Instead, it is an old legend among the locals, who refer to it as "the mountain that walks."

What elements of 'Albatroz' will people find the most surprising? I think people will love the pacing of the game. We've put a lot of effort into the pacing, ensuring that 'Albatroz' feels like a well-rounded journey. The game is divided into several scenes, each exploring different flavors and gameplay elements. The overall feeling is a blend of humor and ethereal experiences, but each chapter delves into various genres such as adventure, suspense, action, and contemplation. To support the pacing, we incorporated diverse gameplay systems that complement each other. Beyond the trails, players can engage in car driving, explore villages, plan routes, experience first-person flashbacks that reveal Isla’s backstory, and tackle epic trails that function like intense boss fights. Talk to me a little about the soundtrack of this game, and what the process is like when creating the perfect music to complement the adventure. We used real instruments for all the tracks to give the music an authentic feel. Our main musician lived in Patagonia for some time in a very isolated place, where he met many local musicians. These Patagonian musicians helped us create the soundtrack, using traditional Patagonian instruments. We spent considerable time crafting the lyrics for the songs with vocals, as the lyrics help tell the story. The music evolves along with the characters, starting with indie and folk rock influences and gradually transforming into something unique that reflects Isla's character arc.

What video games influenced you to make Albatroz? Several video games influenced 'Albatroz.' 'Shadow of the Colossus' and Fumito Ueda's subtraction design influenced the feeling of some regions in the game. 'Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind' had a significant impact on the visuals and emotional tone of the characters. 'Xenogears' profoundly affected us with its message and narrative ideas. The pacing and character development were influenced by old 'Final Fantasy' games from the PSX era. Additionally, 'The Long Dark' and 'Journey' provided us with some gameplay ideas. When/Where will we be able to play it!? There's a demo available on Steam right now! The demo offers more than five hours of gameplay, which we believe is necessary to give players a thorough understanding of what the game is about. 'Albatroz' is very unique, so the extensive demo helps convey its essence.

Thank you to 'Among Giants' for a wonderful interview. What do you guys thing? Are you excited to play 'Albatroz'? Also where is the most beautiful place you have traveled? Answer in the comments below!

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