I first came across Light Odyssey in a post on what was still Twitter at the time, and I immediately fell in love with its style. The team was kind enough to be open to an interview from the start, but then IndieGames/WTF went on hiatus for a while. I’m very happy to finally get the chance to talk about Light Odyssey!
How did Light Odyssey begin as a project and how did your team at SSUN GAMES come together to build it, especially given that this is your first PC title?
Initially, I had been a solo indie developer for 10 years and had released 5 casual mobile games; but unfortunately none of these reached the success needed to sustain myself. Therefore, with the company’s funds nearly depleted, I decided to pivot and start “Project 6” with a “do-or-die” mindset: AKA Light Odyssey.
Funnily enough it started out as a survival game, with clear themes of light, darkness, and hope. However, as time went on, I felt that the soulslike boss rush genre was the perfect fit to convey these themes instead. Giving us the perfect space to tell a story, present bigger obstacles, and let the player be fully in control of their own fate.
While Light Odyssey was a great opportunity for me to combine all my past experiences, I did need help with music, illustrations, audio, and marketing. So, a few years ago, I spontaneously reached out on Reddit and within Busan and came in contact with our composer, 2D illustrator, and interactive audio designer. The latter of which then brought me into contact with our marketing manager.
How is your team structured and organized day-to-day during Light Odyssey’s long development cycle, and are there any tools, practices, or lessons you’ve found especially effective for keeping a small indie team aligned and productive on a big project?
Every day, we’re moving forward together with a strong bond. My personal role is to lead development diligently and share the vision of the game transparently so that everyone is to build on top of it. After all, because game development is a human-led endeavor, I do my best to build and maintain trust within the team.
I think this reflects a lot in how we operate as we don’t have a particular structure or organization for day-to-day team activities. Everyone in the team works independently on their own discipline and reaches out when they need help or input from someone else. We do have weekly meetings where we touch base, discuss upcoming tasks, and share our requests. It’s a lot of work to bring a game to life and we find this approach works best for us as it avoids spending too much time on talking about work instead of actually doing the work.
During all this, some tools that helped us most are the various support opportunities South Korea provides for the gaming industry. As SSUN GAMES is my second venture, I had the know-how to leverage these government programs early on to minimize financial pressure and keep the company running.
However, as we still faced budget constraints, we’ve learned to make the best of that situation and push our skills to the limit. For example, instead of hiring an animator, I made the decision to purchase motion capture equipment and become the actor myself; turning it into one of our team’s specialties!
Facing towering Colossi in three distinct phases is central to Light Odyssey. What’s your process for designing and iterating those phase transitions and attack patterns to balance challenge and fairness for players?
In the beginning, our demo followed the traditional soulslike formula where boss fights typically start and end within the same room. However, I felt like this lacked the distinct identity needed for Light Odyssey and I wanted to create more intense experiences through visuals and gameplay. As a result, taking inspiration from the chase sequences and dynamic camera work in Ori and the Blind Forest, I began experimenting with new mechanics and testing these at exhibitions.
Our current process for designing and iterating on these is heavily based on personal philosophies and player feedback. In general, we believe the key to fairness and balance is ensuring that a game abides by the same rules that it applies to its players. For example, when a player is required to have precise movement, the game’s hitboxes must be precise as well. This approach helps us ensure that, regardless of the outcome, our players feel fully in control.
At the same time, we look for player feedback to test and refine our changes. For example, some players told us during Steam Next Fest that they felt that certain phases are too easy and that they distract from the overall experience after multiple attempts. Because of this, we also try to carefully design them in a way that each phase (meaningfully) exceeds the challenge of the previous phase.
The game mixes intense boss fights with exploration of ancient ruins and puzzles. How did you approach balancing those quieter stretches of exploration and discovery with the high-intensity boss encounters so the overall experience still feels cohesive and builds anticipation?
I wanted to fill Light Odyssey with secrets to provide a truly special experience. There is a unique joy in discovering ambiguous or hidden elements; an experience I’ve always admired in the Legend of Zelda series and Tunic.
Therefore, between boss fights, the player gets to explore and solve puzzles. This design allows us to ensure that Light Odyssey has levels in energy and create the necessary anticipation before each boss. I would say they even coexist clearly in a natural way as it makes sense design-wise but also story-wise. Typically, soulslike games follow a similar structure with grinds between each boss. However, to convey the desolation of the world of Light Odyssey and to keep the stakes as high as possible, we opted for a focus on exploration and puzzles instead.
We haven’t revealed much of this yet but we can’t wait to share more!
At Steam Next Fest, gamescom, BitSummit, Tokyo Game Show and other showcases where you brought the demo, what were some of the most surprising insights or reactions you saw from players, and how did those experiences influence the development priorities moving forward?
We place a high priority on showcasing new demos at these events to collect as much player feedback as possible. Because of this, we’ve gained a lot of feedback that helped us identify our strengths and weaknesses. For example, we’ve confirmed that players respond very positively to the visuals of Light Odyssey during their first impressions, allowing us to prioritize graphics and atmosphere.
Though, what often surprises us are the things that people are drawn to. As a developer, you’re super focused on making the gameplay great and ensuring the game is polished and free of bugs. Yet, when asking for feedback, some people talk about how cute they think our mascot Bandi is, or how they love the atmosphere and the difference in scale between Bandi and the Colossi. Of course, all great, but definitely surprising when we’re so focused on the nitty-gritty.
On a slightly cheeky note, how has wishlist momentum for Light Odyssey evolved during the demo and pre-launch period, and were there any events or showcases that proved especially helpful in driving that interest?
Our success in wishlists has mainly been the result of a consistent effort over the years. It’s been a very gradual incline and can’t think of any particular events or moments that significantly stood out. Perhaps it’s due to the industry’s shift away from triple-A and into the indie scene that has made it increasingly more difficult to stand out and have a break-out moment. However, we’ve been fortunate enough to exhibit at events such as gamescom, Tokyo Game Show, PAX WEST, and PAX EAST and these definitely contributed a lot each time!
