Hey adventurers!

Thanks for checking out this week's MythForce interview with Sophia Lamar!

Sophia Lamar is a development lead working with the narrative and UI teams on MythForce. She started in the industry as a programmer on RPGs, took a couple of detours (mobile games, narrative design, and writing), and realized she couldn't stay away from programming. RPGs are her favorite genre, but she loves playing anything with a compelling story and great characters.

What is it about 80s fantasy animation that works so well in a video game?

I used to drag myself out of bed early on a Sunday morning and have Thundercats playing while I got ready to go larping out in the Sevenoaks woods. What a great warm-up to a day's adventuring!

Who hasn't swung an imaginary Sword of Omens around in front of the TV? I grew up wishing I was inside those stories, and the world in my mind often looked like the world of those cartoons. A video game using 80s fantasy animation feels like a return to those stories and makes it easy to slide into the character of a hero and, for a while, live in their world: their friends as my friends, their enemies as my enemies.

Which is your favorite MythForce character to play, and why?

Maggie's my favorite. With her, I can pick my way carefully through an adventure on my own, but I can also support my party with things like blocking ranged attacks for them while they deal with melee enemies at a choke point, or zipping around to take some heat off them.

What is the most exciting, ridiculous, triumphant, or humiliating moment you've had in the game?

Our party was almost to the end of the level, none of us had more than a sliver of life left. We'd carelessly trickled into the next room instead of sticking together and so found ourselves separated by the enemies that had spawned. We tried our best, but when Victoria fell, she was soon followed by a second and then a third party member. Only Maggie was left, with our soul orbs scattered around the room. Somehow she was able to survive until she could summon her familiar to help her thin the enemy ranks, then used her Barrier to avoid incoming arrows and magical attacks as she revived Victoria. I'm pretty sure I was holding my breath as Victoria defended Maggie while they crossed the room to revive Rico, and then, with a casual snap of her fingers, she teleported to my location and revived me just as my orb was about to disappear into the void! Epic save!

What's the most appealing element of a roguelite game?

I like how the combination of procedurally generated levels, randomized level perks, and various persistent upgrade mechanics keeps things fresh while maintaining a thread of familiarity. I enjoy the sense of overall progress as my character gets more powerful over many play sessions.

MythForce has all of these! You get perks when your party levels up in-game, and in each session, you earn XP which goes toward your permanent growth. You can play around with how you spend your XP. It's fun to experiment with different loadouts.

How does the cooperative mode in MythForce compare with the solo play experience?

The co-op mode has been a great way for me to spend time with co-workers that I might not normally talk to—especially great since I work remotely. Our playtest sessions are a great chance to learn what strategies other players have in their perk choices, seeing how they might use their abilities in a different way from how I use them.

You can't beat the feeling of camaraderie that comes from watching each other's back! Like playing as Victoria and charging a group that spawned behind my buddy, or turning around to see an enemy about to brain me an instant before Rico backslashes them!

That's all for today's interview. Tune in next week for an interview with MythForce Senior Game Designer, Kirill Perekrest.