Sure, let’s dive into this—picture yourself in the summer of 2017. Reykjavík, Iceland. Picture the scene: a bunch of gaming geeks, myself included, huddled in a room at Myrkur Games, which at the time was a newborn studio. If you asked me then what we’d hatch out of this brainstorm soup—well, turns out, a video game premise was born. Who would’ve thought?
We were all buzzing, chatting up storms about what makes games tick for us, the tales that linger in our minds, heroes that felt alive, moments that just stuck with us. You know the ones. Maybe we got a bit too caught up in nostalgia—or maybe that was just me, spacing out for a second there. Anyway, we came out of the session with this wild idea: Why not us? Why not make a game that echoes all that jazz we love so much?
Poof, there it was—Echoes of the End. It’s this cinematic, third-person action-adventure game, plopped right in the fantasy land of Aema, which borrows a slice of inspiration from Iceland’s raw, untamed beauty. You’ve got Ryn, this rad warrior with a knack for ancient magic, fighting to rescue her brother from a clench-tight empire. Think epic battles, and puzzles that make you scratch your head in that good way. Plus, there’s a trusty sidekick along for the ride.
Visuals? We’re talking Icelandic landscapes, baby! Glaciers, lava fields, you name it. Thanks to photogrammetry—a buzzword I still fumble to say—these landscapes aren’t just inspired by Iceland; they’re pretty much Iceland, digital-style. Imagine a game where you casually fly a drone over Sólheimajökull and slap that icy beauty into your virtual world. Mind-boggling, right?
Character models had us starting on a shoestring: one camera and a spin on a stool, like some amateur photo shoot. Now, fast-forward, and we’ve got this camera rig that doesn’t involve cheese platters or awkward rotations. Oh, and motion capture? Used to be a rich studio’s toy, but lo and behold, we built our own stage. Sixteen cameras, not 200 like the big dogs, but hey, it’s doing the job.
Unreal Engine 5—that’s been the gamechanger, trust me. It’s like the magic potion letting small teams like us think big without tripping on our ambitions. Building a world that’s immersive and sprawling isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds anymore.
You’re probably thinking, why all this passion poured into Echoes of the End? It’s because there’s no roadmap for this kind of journey. We’ve watched our project morph and evolve over the years into something we’re itching to share with you.
Go ahead, peek at the teaser we dropped. When? Oh right, the game drops on August 12 on Xbox Series X|S. Fingers crossed, it leaves you dreaming about creating too, nudging you with that silly idea: If we can, why not you?
