We the Nerdy recently interviewed Adam Cotterell, the founder of Dread Jasper Entertainment whom created the soon to be released RPG: Nereus Unbound. Adam and his company created a Kickstarter to help fund the project. In this interview, we discuss what we can expect from this game, the future plans for Nereus Unbound as well as the inspiration for the environments encountered in the game.
We The Nerdy: You stated Nereus Unbound is a relaxed paced RPG. What’s that all about?
Adam Cotterell: Nereus Unbound offers gameplay primarily focused around exploration, building and interacting with the residents of your city, and is built on a fixed time system. This time system offers the player unlimited time to explore and complete daily activities without having to worry about watching the clock. When the player is ready, they can perform one of many actions that will advance time, such as sleeping.
Nereus Unbound will also largely lack quick time events and gameplay that requires snappy reflex shots. Instead it will favor puzzle solving, building and gathering type gameplay. However there will still be fast paced and exciting moments, they will just be compartmentalized for the player, waiting to be accessed when the player is mentally prepared.
WTN: What can we expect from this game?
A.C.: Nereus Unbound is a hybrid Sandbox/RPG. You can expect the freedom to grow and explore at your own pace and really do whatever you like with the materials you find in the world. The RPG elements of the game will offer some structure and story to add an element of importance to your sandbox activities.
Ontop of the core gameplay you can also expect to find many side quests, collectibles, unlockables and mini mechanics, such as helping NPC’s along with their lives, be it in romance or friendship.
WTN: What are your future plans for Nereus Unbound?
A.C.: Once the game is completed and shipped we plan to add several extra content packages to the game in the form of free DLC. We also really want to work out a modding system so players can bring in their own content. We still have a long road to travel before we get there, but we are confident!
WTN: Is there a protagonist or an antagonist in this game?
A.C.: Yes! The main character whom you control throughout the entire game also plays a big part in the games story. There will be many story choices to be made throughout the game, all with their own effects on the many twists and turns in the main story.
Although there may be many characters that would fit the role of antagonist in the game, the primary antagonist will be the world and sea itself. A constant, formidable presence, particularly while you explore its depths.
WTN: The environments look beautiful. What was the inspiration behind them?
A.C.: Thanks! We are really pleased with how everything has turned out so far.
We have had MANY different inspirations, but thematically our biggest inspirations came from Anime and Film. I personally made everyone on the team watch the film Waterworld and the anime Gargantia on the Verderous Planet. Both are spectacular in my opinion, although several people on the team asked for a refund after Waterworld.
WTN: Anything else you’d like the We The Nerdy audience to know about Nereus Unbound?
A.C.: You caught us at an exciting time in our development, we recently switched to Unreal Engine 4 as it solves almost 100% of the problems we were having as a team with Unity3D. Be on the lookout for a significantly better looking gameplay demo from us in the near future. We are currently working on a preview for one of the undersea scenes in the game and we are really excited to show off the salvaging mechanics!
To follow Nereus Unbound’s progress (as well as other news), be sure to visit their website.
