Gaming: Project Windless Creative Director Says The Developers Chose A...

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In Sony's February State of Play, Krafton Montreal revealed Project Windless, an open world action RPG set in the world of acclaimed Korean fantasy series, Lee Youngdo's The Bird That Drinks Tears. With the books' first English translation being published later this year, Project Windless will be the first exposure for many in the West to a setting that's been called "the Korean Lord of the Rings."

It will also feature a sick-as-hell nine-foot sword-wielding warlike rooster man as its protagonist, a choice of hero that's drawn unironic delight from many—PC Gamer staff included—since the game's reveal. In an interview with PC Gamer, head of Krafton Montreal and Project Windless creative director Patrik Méthé said the reaction is exactly what the studio was hoping for.

"We knew that the hero would create a shock, but I was surprised by the amount of people who were like what the f—huh? but then were like 'I'm in,' before three quarters of the trailer had even played," Méthé said. "Cool, that's what we wanted."

The world of The Bird That Drinks Tears offers plenty of compelling options for potential heroes. It's populated by four peoples: There are humans, of course; there are the mischievous, fire-manipulating tokkebi; there are the reptilian nhaga, who ritually remove their own hearts to achieve immortality. And there are the rekon: a race of nomadic, solitary avian giants renowned for possessing a strength that can outclass a dozen enemy soldiers.

But the hero of Project Windless isn't just any rekon: He's the Hero King, a legendary figure whose history has been mythologized across the more than 1,000-year gap between the game's place on the timeline and when the novels occur.

"One of the reasons we felt the Hero King was the right choice is because he's a mythical character," Méthé said. "He's remembered, but no one is still alive who was there. It gives us a level of flexibility, because the worst thing for us would have been to try to emulate too closely what's in the novel at the expense of the game."

As a figure shrouded in legend, the Hero King's ambiguous past will let players experience a story that feels like one they shaped while maintaining the way the mythical rekon is remembered centuries later. But the main reason Krafton Montreal chose a rekon for its player character is a simpler one: It's because literally everyone interviewed to work

Source: PC Gamer