Just a couple of days after first unveiling new action adventure title Woochie the Wayfarer, developer LoreVault and publisher Nexon Games have revealed more details about the title through a new video. The video features an interview between game director Kang Dong Yeon and art director Mok Youngmi, and you can check it out below.
The two go into quite a few details about not only Woochie the Wayfarer, but also the studio itself. For instance, Youngmi refers to the game’s primary setting as being “Joseon fantasy”. Going into more detail, the art director explains it as being “a world based on historical research, blending in imaginative and fantastical elements to enrich the gameplay.” Considering the title’s setting, players will also get to meet characters from Korean myths, including Dokkaebi, Gumiho, and even characters that players might recognise from period dramas.
In discussing the challenges associated with working on a game based on Korea’s Joseon era, Youngmi speaks about there also being certain advantages, including comprehensive reference materials about various aspects of the setting, from culture to fashion and even food.
“The challenge is finding the right balance between accuracy and fantasy,” explains Youngmi. “Because the Joseon era was a real period in our history, accuracy and responsibility matter. At the same time, imagination and creativity are key to gameplay. So we’re always discussing what to portray realistically and what to reinterpret. When it comes to mythical creatures from folklore, reference images are often scarce or nonexistent. That makes them tricky to design, but also makes it exciting—we get to bring them to life through our own interpretation.“
Yeon describes Woochie the Wayfarer as being a story-driven single-player game that will have a fair bit of focus on combat. The story itself is aiming to deliver an emotional journey, and the game will make use of different kinds of storytelling methods.
“Woochi’s story has many traditional versions, which makes him open to broad interpretation,” explains Youngmi about how the game’s rendition of protagonist Woochie will differ from the original character. “We want to capture his existing charm, while adding our own vision—creating something distinct from films or TV dramas. We blend traditional Korean looks like gat, hanbok, and dorongi with fantasy elements to create our unique version of Woochi.”
While Woochie the Wayfarer looks like it might be a rather dark game when it comes to atmosphere and story if the original reveal trailer is anything to go by, according to Youngmi, the studio didn’t explicitly set out to make a dark game. Rather, in contrast to what we saw in the trailer, the game will actually be bright, full of vibrant colours and an “inviting tone” that the studio hopes will help distinguish the game from other fantasy games developed by East Asian studios.
Along with this interview, we also get to see a small clip of gameplay which showcases the exact kind of warm and inviting atmosphere that Youngmi describes. The clip features Woochie walking in a pasture to a large tree, in a field full of flowers. Unfortunately we don’t really get any more gameplay from the clip.
Woochie the Wayfarer is being developed for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
