Game Rant recently sat down to interview Walter Tischkewitz, co-founder of Semiwork. This developer just released its roguelite twin-stick shooter Voidigo in early access, and the game may be one of the most unique rogue-likes on Steam right now. Voidigo's art and design are perhaps the most eye-catching aspect of the game, but digging a bit deeper reveals some interesting gameplay choices that set it apart from others in the same class. Players tend to compare Voidigo to classic rogue-like Nuclear Throne, but also Monster Hunter, a very different type of game.
The comparison to Monster Hunter isn't just surface level. In Voidigo, each area is dominated by a boss monster, and players must complete various objectives to clear out the level, get stronger, track down the boss, and finally take it on. The gameplay is all centered around these dynamic bosses, which roam around to take unprepared players by surprise, flee when outmatched, and need to be tracked down and approached methodically. We wanted to know if the similarities to Monster Hunter were more than a coincidence, and what Tischkewitz thinks of the comparison.
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"We’re all big fans of Monster Hunter and other rogue-like shooters, rogue-likes in general. We wanted to find a middle ground between those two types of games. It evolved during the development. The game is so different from what we started with. We had some inspirations, and then the game itself and the play testers inspired us to what it is today.... I think those comparisons are inevitable because I am a huge fan of Nuclear Throne and Monster Hunter, and you can’t help but pour some of your love for other games into your game."
With the upcoming release of Monster Hunter Rise bringing up speculation on how much it will borrow from World and the older Mon-Hun games, we wanted to ask Tischkewitz which Monster Hunter games Semiwork was most inspired by. "I would say the games before Monster Hunter World. We have separate areas like the original Monster Hunters." However, it wasn't lost on him that Monster Hunter World may have helped popularize Mon-Hun-like mechanics for a larger audience. "I got really excited when Monster Hunter World became a huge thing in the West, because we need more like that."
It's not just dynamic, lengthy boss fights that makes Monster Hunter great, though. One of the best parts of exploring in a Monster Hunter game is the sensation of being in a living ecosystem filled with life and detail. Clearly, some of that energy is also present in Voidigo. When asked what his personal favorite part of the game is, Tischkewitz had this to say:
"The worlds. Making the worlds alive and seeing people interact with them. For example, we have a little beetle that just walks around and has a lot of behaviors. It doesn’t do that much, it’s not an enemy, it’s just something alive in the world. I love bringing that kind of living world to people."
Tischkewitz also expressed that the team is looking forward to bringing more character, more detail, and more content into Voidigo as early access continues. Whatever direction it goes, Voidigo certainly has a lot of potential, and may already be a standout in the rogue-like genre for this year.
Voidigo is in early access on PC.