It doesn’t take long to realize that ReCore stands out a bit amongst the other games in Microsoft’s big 2016 line-up. Starring a young girl named Joule, ReCore is a 3D platformer, featuring puzzle-like combat elements and a cast of adorable robots. Made through the collaboration of Texas-based Armature Studio and the Japanese developer Comcept, the game looks to blend the influences of both.
Speaking with EGM, Keiji Inafune the founder of Comcept and producer of ReCore, explains the combination of ideas saying, “This is an oversimplification, but largely, in Japan we draw a lot of inspiration from anime and manga culture, which is very prevalent. As young children we grow up with that, so that definitely seeps into the gaming culture as well.
“So things like the world setting or design elements are taking cues from anime… [but the American] approach is definitely more from movies and more realistic cinematography and a more realistic way of narrative storytelling… I think that what we were able to achieve is taking the best of those and fusing them.”
In a similar way, Game Director Mark Pacini says that when coming up with the game concepts, “a lot of our decisions aren’t direct, but subconscious inspirations… [We] try to make games that we’re inspired about, and the kind of games that you don’t see a lot.”
ReCore comes to Xbox One and Windows 10 September 13.