I sat down with the developers of my newest ARPG obsession, Victor Vran.
(Joe) Older ARPGs such as Diablo II, offered loot, skills, and attributes as levers to customize your character. New ARPGs, like Diablo III and Grim Dawn are mostly about loot. Are these discussions your team held while designing Victor Vran?
(Haemimont Games) Victor Vran is all about the challenge. The game mechanics emphasize strongly on your skill, reflexes and strategic thinking with the myriad of shiny items complementing your awesomeness. What’s more important is that our design doesn’t force you to farm the same content over and over. This would have been boring, wouldn’t it? Instead, our high-end content – the Elite Challenges, the Bottomless Pit and the soon-to-be-released Cauldron of Chaos – will pit you against unpredictable odds, where the rewards are cool items and the sense of personal accomplishment.
I love the 5-star challenges in each map. Will we eventually see a New Game + mode where after completing the game, players can go back to these maps and take on new challenges?
Victor Vran already provides you the opportunity to test your mettle against the Elite Challenges. They become available after the death of the final boss and are much harder than the normal ones. Each map gets a set of 5 new elite challenges thus doubling the total number of challenges in the game to 410. We also strongly recommend you to try our community-building features – the Treasure and Bounty Hunts. You would be surprised how our simple sharing mechanics stimulate the altruism of players who provide others the opportunity to face the same epic odds in the name of better loot.
The Hex system is unique! What was the inspiration behind it and how do you see it evolving further?
We aimed to provide you a way to create and customize the game you wish to play. The Hexes would raise the challenge at a rate you seem fitting to the growth of your skills. Essentially, the Hexes emphasize the importance of demon contracts in the story of Victor Vran. The fate-altering powers of the demons are within your reach, but does power justify the cost?
How did you land Doug Cockle to voice Victor? What insight did he provide in designing Victor as a hero?
To be honest it was pure coincidence. We listened to Doug’s voice without knowing that it was him. We thought that the actor behind that nameless voice would make a great protagonist. In the end, thanks to his incredible acting, Victor got the needed equilibrium of dark heroism, cold anger and tragic acceptance to become a person of flesh and bones.
What is next for Victor Vran? Can we expect DLC or a sequel?
We’re planning to extend the support of Victor Vran and update the content and mechanics frequently with free DLCs and updates bringing new weapons, outfits and new end game content. You can read all the cool details about the future and especially about Victor Vran’s first expansion – Motörhead Through The Ages – in the Post-Release Roadmap that we’ve just released on our Steam page.