4Gamer.net released an interview on the development of Tree of Savior. CEO, Kim Hakkyu and vice president Kim Se-Young both attended the interview. A lot of things were covered by 4Gamer. We are also extremely thankful to the translation contributors mainly TheDirtyDeal, Orix in the forum and Japan TOS for their work on these translations.
In the G-Star 2014 event held in Pusan, 4Gamer (4G) got a chance to talk with IMC Games about their highly anticipated game “Tree of Savior”. This article will try to cover about the different aspects of the game as told by producer and director Kim Se-Young and imcGAMES representative Kim Hakkyu, from the 80 classes that make up the game to what the game aims to accomplish in the future.
4Gamer:
Thank you for meeting us today. First off, will both of you explain what role do you partake in Tree of Savior?
Kim Hakkyu:
At the beginning, I handled the more technical aspects of the game, but I’ve become more of an adviser to the game’s development. Basically, I’m leaving the roles of producer and director to him (Kim Seyon).
4Gamer:
Why did you want to create Tree of Savior?
Kim Se-Young:
Lately there have been so many games that even if you look at the screen, you can’t tell which one it is, so we wanted to make a game that, just by looking at the screen, you recognize it and say, “Oh, it’s that game.” High end games have increased, and even though the graphics have gotten pretty, I felt like many of the actual game’s contents have no great differences.
4Gamer:
I see.
Kim Se-Young:
We planned this game’s content to resemble the classic ones, but the server and other things related would be high-end. In fact, we wanted the actions of the player to be recorded in databases.
4Gamer:
In other words, the actions used by the players can be used in many ways. However, since you said that “aspects of the game would be classic”, how about the action element of the game?
Kim Se-Young:
There are slightly less action elements in Tree of Savior, so please do not assume that there will be a lot of action in the game. Despite not being an action-centered game, we have incorporated the feeling of action to preserve some degree of tension.
4Gamer:
In Japan, a lot of people view Tree of Savior as the “new generation of Ragnarok Online”. As a creator of Ragnarok Online, what is your view on this?
Kim Hakkyu:
If there are people who have always played Ragnarok Online, since there is probably not much more that can be done (with that game), I think I would like for those people to play this game.
Kim Se-Young:
Personally, I think it’s closer to a game previously made, called “Arcturus”, than “Rangnarok Online”. The fact that characters could jump, the key based movement system, using items that actually look like they could be in a museum, and the appearance of the world, are closer.
Kim Hakkyu:
Since “Arcturus” does not have a big player base, so many people might not know much about it. However, it is certainly similar to Arcturus in terms of the story and stuff like that.
4Gamer:
Speaking of the story. How did you create the story in Tree of Savior? Please do tell about some background info about it.
Kim Hakkyu:
I only know the monsters and the map from what I have seen, but I do notice the sheer abundance of plant-type mobs in the game. I can describe the story as “a world where the Goddesses that vanished disguise themselves as plant-life”.
So that you could recognize the monsters or maps when you see them, there are an unusually large amount of plants. We have painted an adventure where the goddesses have vanished, and the world has been covered in vegetation.
4Gamer:
So that is connected with the title, Tree of Savior, huh?
Kim Se-Young:
Yes. There is a very large tree in the game, and the story involves looking for the secrets it holds.
4Gamer:
What is with the goddess disappearing? Moreover, isn’t the girl with wings on her back in the trailers a goddess?
Kim Se-Young:
That is the Goddess of Destiny. In the game, she is a being that makes a prediction, and gives the player a trial. We based the story on Lithuanian mythology, but there will be different goddesses who will appear in the game.
4Gamer:
That makes one of the many goddesses who suddenly vanished. Well then, please talk about the other features of the game.
Kim Se-Young:
Tree of Savior has three main features. First, it has the appearance unlike other games; there are many options available to players; and a wide degree of freedom is given to the players, allowing them to do many things in the game. It is hard to explain it concisely, but want to create a standard for MMORPGs. We also made it so that various people could play various roles. The fact that there are 80 classes is also because we wanted to make various roles.
4Gamer:
I feel that having 80 classes is a big factor in the game. However, is there an overarching classification for them? How are the classes organized?
Kim Se-Young:
The standard classes are usually composed of the Swordsman, Wizard, Archer and Cleric. Each has 20 classes, making 80 in total.
4Gamer:
I see. I notice that some of the classes do not exist in any other games.
Kim Se-Young:
I think that there are many that you have not really heard of, for example the “Pied Piper”. Like the “Pied Piper of Hamelin”, Pied Piper can control monsters by playing the flute.
4Gamer:
That did appear in the trailer. I am impressed at how it was able to lead on monsters by playing the flute.
Kim Se-Young:
This class can play the flute, and can’t really do anything like attacking.
4Gamer:
By the way, which class does the Pied Piper belong to? Is it the Cleric class?
Kim Se-Young:
Actually, it’s the Archer class. It can move monsters around using a flute, but not only that, it can make them do other actions like attacking.
4Gamer:
Is there anything else?
Kim Se-Young:
How about the Corsair? This character leads a band of pirates, and anyone who joins his party become pirates.
4Gamer:
Interesting. Please do tell more about the others.
Kim Se-Young:
Okay then. There is also the Paladin, a battle healer. Paladins can make pillars of light that prevents mobs from entering the zone but allows players to attack the enemies from the inside. It is a very convenient class.
The Linker is a class that links enemies together. Linked enemies take damage every time each individual is attacked. In addition, allies can also be linked together, giving a buff that shares the HP of all linked allies among each other.
The Shinobi uses magic that allows him to make doubles of himself.
The Thaumaturge can transforms one part of his body.
4Gamer:
How does the Thaumaturge transform its body?
Kim Se-Young:
For example, enlarging one’s hand increases attack damage and enlarging one’s head increases one’s Intelligence. Enemies, on the other hand can be weakened by shrinking them down, which helps in hunting.
4Gamer:
So it is a class that grows and shrinks things. Can you enlarge enemies too?
Kim Se-Young:
Yes, to the point of exploding.
4Gamer:
So it appears you can do things like make monsters bigger or control them with a Pied Piper. I wonder whether you can shrink boss monsters.
Kim Se-Young:
Currently, boss monsters can be shrink down. However, we are planning to put a restriction for it.
4Gamer:
Would you like to talk about other classes? We want to hear more about them.
Kim Se-Young:
The Murmillo is a merman/mermaid. It is a class where you can boost your stats when you wear a fish head. It is also a close-range fighter, but can also jump from far away to attack. However, there is also risk to it.
The Centurion is a class that can manipulate his party members. He can move players into various formations, and can change a member’s positions by double-clicking on numbered squares.
4Gamer:
The other players can’t do anything under the Centurion’s formation effect?
Kim Se-Young:
Players can move away, breaking the formation and allowing each player to attack individually. Currently we are in the process of making it so that it can be possible to return to the formation currently being used.
In addition to that, Druids can manipulate plant life, and can transform into other monsters.
The Dievdirbys is a class inspired by an existing Lithuanian occupation that involves creating statues out of wood. In the game, they can create a statue of the goddess and warp, so if there’s a time that you don’t have money on hand, this class can make a warp statue.
The Oracle is a class of foresight. It knows where a monster will attack next, and can determine what a monster will drop upon death. Oracles can also transform an undesired mob into another.
Aside from this, there is also a class that can perform out-of-body experiences (lol). The developer blog already posted about this so please do read up.
4Gamer:
There are so many classes in the game, is not it?
Kim Se-Young:
Each class has a distinct style of attack, and each has a role to accomplish in the game, so I hope that everyone enjoys playing these classes. A while ago, when we talked about the Corsair as a class that leads a party of pirates, I forgot to mention that said pirates could bury treasure and use pirate flags, among other things.
4Gamer:
That would be interesting to see.
Kim Se-Young:
In boss battles, we are trying to avoid scenarios where “certain party setups are required to beat the boss”. You’ll be able to win with many different combinations of classes.
4Gamer:
Still, how were all these classes thought up? Did everyone get together to think up ideas or something?
Kim Se-Young:
Basically I thought of them by myself. I’m always thinking of how I can make the game more interesting.
4Gamer:
It might be difficult to balance these classes.
Kim Se-Young:
The issue on balance for example applies to 10 classes with the same role. However, we make sure each of our classes have different roles at the start. Therefore, I feel the popular discussion of balance does not apply here.
Kim Hakkyu:
If all of them had the same attacks, everyone would likely choose the strongest class, but since there really are so many roles, I don’t think the issue of balance will come up.
4Gamer:
I see.
Kim Hakkyu:
There are various classes, and currently we’re figuring out how to group those classes to go about resolving the various situations that arise. We’re hoping that there will be a super-play that will be beyond the expectations of the developers. I’m really looking forward to what kinds of the plays the users can come up with.
4Gamer:
Will the game mainly take place in the world map, or will it be instance based?
Kim Hakkyu:
Generally, almost all of it will take place in the world map. In regards to quest bosses, those will be handled via instance, but field bosses will be in areas accessible to everyone, so it’s possible there will be large battles.
4Gamer:
Please tell us more about aspects of the game outside of battle.
Kim Se-Young:
Since the game is still in its Closed Beta stage, we will be focusing more on the implementation of battles. We’re thinking of a number of things, but we want to start by having the basics ready, and then plan to add in more.
4Gamer:
Got it. At the moment, what would you say is the percentage of completion.
Kim Hakkyu:
The things that needed to be done for the CBT have already been completed, so after that is to see the reaction and make adjustments.
4Gamer:
From here on will you be increasing the number of classes?
Kim Hakkyu:
For the time being, rather than increasing the number of classes, I think I’d like to be able to focus more on demonstration the roles of the existing 80 classes.
4Gamer:
By the way, Nexon Korea already has announced that they will release the game on South Korea, but how about Japan?
Kim Hakkyu:
We are still deciding about that, but it is likely that Nexon may end up handling the Japan server as well.
4Gamer:
I see. Well then, any last words for the readers of 4Gamer who are excited for the game’s release?
Kim Se-Young:
To everyone in Japan, we appreciate your anticipation of the game, and we hope that you enjoy the game when it goes live.
Kim Hakkyu:
I think it’s an honor that so many people are in anticipation. We are working hard so the Japanese fans will enjoy it.
4Gamer:
Japan thanks you.
Portuguese Translation here.
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