Tokyo Game Show 2018: Exclusive Interview with “Ultra Age” CEO - Mr. Hyun Woo Kang ℅ Intragames and Next Stage!

7:00 PM September 29, 2018

Anime Convention / Anime Expo [Article Category]

It’s not often that you get an opportunity to sit down with the CEO of a company and talk about their upcoming project, and so we were elated when Intragames offered us a chance to sit down with Next Stages’ own Mr. Hyun Woo Kang, developer for Ultra Age. Ultra Age is the latest action title to come from out of Korea, a country that is currently on the rise in the gaming world and delivering content that’s sure to appease action game fans around the world. We sat down with Mr. Hyun Woo Kang to discuss more about his upcoming project, why he decided on the name, and what fans can expect from this NieR: Automata and Devil May Cry inspired title! A huge thanks to Sue for taking the time to translate our interview into English! We love you!

Ultra Age TGS 2018 Build Play Demo Pre-release

Interview Session

First off, we’d like to thank you for giving us this wonderful opportunity to sit down with you and talk about your game!

It’s my pleasure. And thank you as well!

With so many genres out there right now, fusing together to create unique experiences for gamers, what inspired you to use the “rogue-lite” mechanic in Ultra Age?

Rogue-lite is a pretty stylish genre and yet, there aren’t that many titles out there with rogue-lite embedded into the gameplay and so I thought it would be great to make one.

What were some of the obstacles that you faced during the process of developing Ultra Age?

At the moment, there are only 5 people developing this and so, due to this limitation, it’s quite tough to get everything done on time. This is also the first time I’ve created my own title, so it took some time for me to get adjusted to that type of working environment.

Despite the challenges you face, the game still looks exceptional!

*laughs* Thank you so much.

Where did the name “Ultra Age” come from? Does it have any relation to the story?

Indeed, it is in fact related to the story and carries 2 meanings. First, I wanted to emphasize the post-apocalyptic era in the game to convey a message to the player. “Ultra” in this way refers to the future; “Age” is the name of the main protagonist and so, “Ultra Age” is conveyed as the Age of the Post Apocalyptic Era.

That’s quite a unique approach to the name! Very creative!

Thank you!

The Korean gaming market at the moment is developing rapidly, and so therefore there are a lot of expectations that come from those in the west. What will you do to tackle those expectations?

In the current Korean gaming climate, a lot of players tend to only pay attention to the AAA titles and focus on high quality. So, my goal is to try and satisfy everyone by implementing high visual quality, configuration, and how the gameplay mechanics feel overall. I will do my very best to execute that.

After spending time playing the game I noticed that the control scheme felt very simple. Was this the direction you wanted to focus on for players?

Actually, because it’s just the demo, I tried to make it as easy to engage as possible so that players can get a feel for the action. Once the game is fully released it will certainly provide players with a guaranteed challenge

Bonus Question #1

What do you think makes a good video game vs. a great video game?

A good game is just a good game, but a great game is one that resonates with you long after you’ve played it. It remains in your mind and encourages you to keep coming back to it and try again, even after years have passed. It’s a game that sticks to your soul.

Bonus Question #2

You mentioned playing a lot of NieR: Automata and Devil May Cry, were these inspirations to create Ultra Age?

Actually, I was hugely inspired by the Devil May Cry series (1 is his favorite). I have been playing it since the very first entry! NieR: Automata of course is very fun and actually, the Dark Souls series inspired me as wel,l so combined it gave me the vision to create Ultra Age. I enjoy playing hard games like Bloodborne too!

Any final words for those looking forward to Ultra Age?

I’m actually quite excited to be here at Tokyo Game Show since this is my first time being in Japan, so hearing as much feedback from players will give me enough information to further polish the game to make it a great one.

Final Thoughts

We’d like to say a huge thank you once again to Intragames for giving us this wonderful chance to talk with Mr. Hyun Woo Kang, and to discover more about his passionate mind and debut title! We wish you all the best and look forward to playing Ultra Age when it releases for PlayStation 4 next year!

Editor/Writer

Author: Rob "NualphaJPN" B.

A passionate fan of gaming, writing, journalism, anime, and philosophy. I've lived in Japan for many years and consider this place to be my permanent home. I love to travel around Japan and learn about the history and culture! Leave a comment if you enjoy my articles and watch me play on twitch.tv/honeysgaming ! Take care!

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