Kenshi - Impression & Q&A @ Leviathyn

Leviathyn has posted a new preview of Kenshi, and they included a new Q&A with the games Creator & Lead Developer Chris Hunt.

Where did idea for the game came from and telling us how long it’s been in development? Where there any particular inspirations for this sort of sandbox gameplay?

I’ve been working on Kenshi for around 7 years now, juggling it with part-time employment as a security guard to get by. It wasn’t until last year when Kenshi was accepted on Steam Greenlight that I was able to hire a team of developers. I started working on Kenshi because I got irritated with so-called open-ended games and wanted to make an awesome RPG that I would want to play myself. Players get mollycoddled too much, with super strong hero charters and guided missions that force you to take certain routes and directions. I want to explore places when I feel like, do what I want when I feel like it. Kenshi has no super strong characters, you’re not special, just a puny normal person who needs to work hard to improve like everyone else.

When I played the game’s alpha, I found myself really digging the game’s visual look? Where there any particular inspirations for this?

The current look of the game has a kind of desert sword-punk style to it, most inspired by the Fallout series and Mad Max movies. I’ve always appreciated that open, lonely and harsh environment in games and movies. Saying that though, there will a lot more different terrains coming up in later updates, mostly arid, different deserts and canyons, but also swamplands and others.

Speaking of which, how has the feedback been now that the game is in Early Access on Steam?

It’s been pretty good, people seem excited about it’s potential. The city building aspect I think is most attractive to people – just being able to wander the desert, set up a base and fight off bandit or cannibal raids. The difficulty also makes it pretty addictive.