Souldiers Development Interview – Leo Fernández Infante on Inspirations and Game Depth

Souldiers is an upcoming 2D Soulslike game from Retro Forge Games, and it’s looking like it will be a pretty fun game so far. We recently got to talk to developer Leo Fernández Infante to learn some more details about the game! Read on for the full interview.

EIP: First off, how’s development going?

Leo: Hello! I’m happy to say we are (at last) getting into the final stage of development: polishing and bug fixing, but this is such a big game that we still have a ton of work ahead.

EIP: Retro Forge may be a new studio, but your team as a whole has plenty of video games industry experience. Can you talk a bit about some of the previous projects team members have worked on?

Leo: We have worked together as a team in our previous company, developing games for 3rd parties with licenses from Disney, such as Pixar’s Cars… But Souldiers is something totally different. This is the kind of game we all have been dreaming to make for a long time!

EIP: Since this is a Soulslike game, can we expect a lot of the staples from those games to be here (limited heals before resting, inventory limitations, losing resources on death)?

Leo: Well, by Soulslike we mostly mean technical, hard to beat and merciless combats based in pattern recognition and timing, rather than a pure hack&slash experience. Of course, some other elements are present too, like the classic block, dodge and parry moves, as well as limited healing between checkpoints.

EIP: What made you guys decide to go with a retro art style for the game?

Leo: Dani and Alberto have been polishing and developing their pixel art style for many years now, and we have always loved their pixel-based works, so going for this art style was a natural choice.

EIP: Will there be multiple weapon types for each character class, and will we find or make upgrades to our equipment?

Leo: Our main weapon and basic equipment is different for each class and it doesn’t change during the game, but it can be upgraded. Apart from this, you can also find different secondary weapons during the adventure, each of them with their own unique flavor.

EIP: Will there be a co-op feature in the game?

Leo: No. From the beginning Souldiers was planned as a single-player adventure.

EIP: How extensive is the Masteries tree system?

Leo: We have a unique mastery tree for each class. It grants our character some passive abilities and powers, but players can also unlock new moves that keep growing their range of combat choices. For example, the first unlocked Mastery adds a new special move that is different for each class.

EIP: How much side content will be in the game (side quests, extra bosses, etc.)?

Leo: We have a lot of side quests to follow during the game. These are a perfect way to keep leveling up, improving equipment and getting new items to help players beat the main story, and also helps us to know some NPCs a little better. The game also rewards players who explore and enjoy discovering every secret from each environment.

EIP: As well as being inspired by Soulslike games, is there any influence taken from recent Metroidvania games like Hollow Knight or Ori, or any other media you’ve drawn on in creating Souldiers?

Leo: As game developers, every game we play and every other piece of media we experience, like, for example, a TV series or movies, is an opportunity to find inspiration from, and to get back to your own game with a bunch of new ideas and things to improve! We have been playing the early NES and Super NES generations, and the influence of these games in Souldiers is quite obvious, but we also love modern takes on action games (and other genres). Also, the indie scene we have today is an infinite source of inspiration and more risky points of view along with reinterpretations of classic standards.

EIP: We really appreciate you taking the time to answer some questions for us, and we’d like to wish you the best of luck with the launch of your first game! Is there anything else you’d like to share?

Leo: Thank you! We are very grateful to all the people that are showing their interest in Souldiers and support us. Releasing this game is a childhood dream come true.