Interview: Legends Of Dionysos Does Not Restrict Players To Class-Specific Weapons

Max: Hi, I’m Max, an indie developer from Germany. A few years back, I decided to pursue my childhood dream of making games, so I quit my day job. I converted an old ambulance into my cozy living and workspace, which I fondly call “The Gaming Van.”

During the summers, I retreated into nature with it, developing my first commercial game, “Legends of Dionysos.” It’s been almost three years of hard work, and I’m excited to finally release the game

Max: Since I was a kid, I always dreamed of a game that blends RPG elements with fast-paced action. I grew up playing classics like Street Fighter, Double Dragon, Metal Slug, Sonic, and Super Mario—games set in pixelated worlds with intense combat and platforming. But I also had a soft spot for RPGs like Final Fantasy, Secret of Mana, and Diablo, where you explore, fight monsters, and level up your character.

Legends of Dionysos is my take on combining the best of both worlds. It’s got the speed and excitement of beat ’em ups, along with the depth of RPGs, complete with character progression and loot. Plus, it’s designed with hardcore gamers in mind and even includes a speedrun mode, because that’s what I enjoy playing.

Max: Unity UMA’s made it pretty easy for me to implement a character editor. I have two species, humans and cats. I chose them because I got the 3D models for them.

The player has the chance to make the character look a little wonky and crazy hair colors are supported.

Max: In “Legends of Dionysos,” there are no fixed classes as typically seen in RPGs. Instead, your skill set dynamically adjusts based on the weapon you wield. As you progress through the game, you acquire various weapons, each offering unique skills and spells with their own effects and cooldowns.

Combat entails fluidly switching between weapons to adapt to different situations. For instance, wielding a sword and shield may allow you to heal yourself by pressing Up + X. To effectively engage enemies, strategic weapon swapping is essential to manage cooldowns and employ crowd control and offensive or defensive spells.

This system was conceived to blend the gameplay styles of beat ’em ups/jump and runs with RPG elements. Think of it as akin to the mechanics of Smash Brothers but with the addition of spells featuring cooldowns reminiscent of World of Warcraft.

Max: I imagined the world and the places that could exist, then searched for fitting assets in the asset store. It was a lot of work gathering assets for all the different locations that also fit together somehow; this includes sounds, animations, and 3D models, and bringing them to life with code. But with good planning and a lot of creativity, I got it done.

Max: “Legends of Dionysos” has a keystone system like Diablo. Throughout the world, you will encounter arenas where you need to fight waves of enemies followed by a boss. When you survive the waves and the boss, you get a guaranteed weapon drop of varying quality. These arenas can be replayed on different difficulty levels.

By placing a Keystone of a certain level, you can activate the arena on that level, and the enemies and the boss will be of the corresponding level. So, for higher keystones, you get more difficult enemies and bosses, but also higher-level loot and more gold.

Max: The most fulfilling experience thus far has been witnessing the kids playing the game at Gamescom, where I exhibited the game. Their excitement mirrored my own childhood joy when playing games I loved; some even returned multiple times for another round. Additionally, an unexpected yet immensely rewarding aspect has been the connections and friendships forged within the indie dev community.

Despite encountering numerous challenges along the way, and undoubtedly more in the future, meeting individuals who share my passion has been the greatest source of motivation. The prospect of collaborating with like-minded individuals and forming friendships provides me with the strength and determination to face whatever lies ahead.

Max: I got a lot of valuable feedback from people who tested the game and implemented a lot of good suggestions. Now that the game is finished with gameplay and content I am primarily interested in feedback concerning balancing and game pacing.

Max: The game has been in development for 3 years, but I wasn’t constantly working on it, almost 1 year I worked on another game, and 1 year only part-time.

Max: If you want to follow my journey please consider joining my discord. This is just the beginning, I have many exciting projects lined up for the future.