by Danreb Victorio
Pikselnesia’s Afterlove EP has been out for a few weeks now, and if you haven’t seen our review, we really liked it.
We were fortunate enough to have Maxi Trois, a game artist at Pikselnesia, answer a few questions for us. In this interview, we learned about a lot of the inspirations behind Afterlove EP, as well as how the studio found it within themselves to finish the game after Mohammed Fahmi’s passing.
SmashPad (SP): We’re starting to see a lot of growth in these slice-of-life sidescrolling narrative games, especially from indie developers. I’ve personally come to enjoy games like A Space For The Unbound (which also has Indonesian roots) and Until Then (which also was special to me with my Filipino-American background). What games inspired Afterlove EP?
Maxi Trois (MT): One of our early inspirations for Afterlove was Backbone, Night in the Woods, and of course A Space for the Unbound, along with a lot of Mojiken’s work (wow what a surprise XD ). They each have their own charm and give off a different aura, even though we’re in the same genre! Isn’t that cool?
SP: Speaking of inspiration, we got a lot of Persona vibes from the game thanks to its calendar system. Was that the intention?
MT: Persona was on our inspiration list, yes. What we really like about it is how well the game captures the daily life of Tokyo, and we wanted to implement that feeling in the game as well.
SP: Are there any plans for a “day select” system, for purposes such as achievement/trophy clean-up, or being able to unlock the other endings of the game without playing through the whole experience again?
MT: Ohoho.. That’s a very interesting idea gently taps programmer’s shoulder
SP: Can you talk about what it was like working on the game with and without Fahmi?
MT: Fahmi had a really clear vision for the game. He was very outspoken about his ideas and wasn’t afraid to execute his plans. Losing him was a very hard blow for all of us, but we did our best to persevere and finish what he started.
SP: What led to the decision to make a game revolving around an indie band and music?
MT: Fahmi really wanted to highlight underrated artists, including L’alphalpha! Their music has a melancholic vibe, it makes you want to go somewhere quiet and think about life.
SP: We appreciate your time!