Anito: Defend a Land Enraged Wrap Report

Audience Response Gabby Dizon: With Anito being an independent game, we haven't received as much press as the other RPGs currently in the market. But there have already been a few gaming websites that have reviewed our game. Except for one atrocious review, the game has been received fairly well. The interesting thing about our game reviews is that the numerical score that the sites give does not really reflect their level of enjoyment of the game itself. Because our game does not have the flashy graphics of today's RPGs, the scores tend to be a bit lower, but the reviewers who have played Anito enjoyed the story and the overall world that we presented to them.

As for the Anito players, they've been great. They have really enjoyed the game and its story, as well as the replayability factor in having two different stories out of the box. Of course, there have also been dissenters, but these are mostly people who think that Anito is a Diablo clone and should play like one. The one biggest misconception that we had to deal with during development was that Anito was going to be an action RPG or a Diablo clone. I guess having an isomteric viewpoint with and a big red sphere representing health had something to do with it. But Anito is not all about killing monsters and getting items; it's about exploring the world and its people, learning the conflict in your land, and setting out to solve it. Doing all these definitely involves defeating monsters and people who are after you, but there are many quests that have non-combat solutions.

Another area that some people have noted is the WASD configuration for movement. We implemented this so that players can feel very involved in the combat - they can do things like block, strafe, change weapons on the fly and cast their chakra skills while fighting. There are people though who have said that they preferred the traditional point and click for an isometric RPG, and that WASD movement should be for top down, third-person view or first-person games. There are other people though who don't mind or actually like the controls that we made for the game, so it's been a mixed bag.

Our game's nomination and selection as one of the finalists of the Independent Games Festival was the biggest recognition we could hope for. It was also a great boost of morale to us - and much more if we win. We were really happy that the industry is giving recognition to our efforts even as an independent company. It may also provide the significant amount of buzz that we need to sell our game.

Personal Thoughts Gabby Dizon: Game development is really a dream job, and the game industry is an exhilarating one to be in. One of the highest points in the middle of development was seeing our work (art, programming, and quest design) wholly integrated and running. We were telling ourselves, half-filled with wonder, "It actually looks like a game!" Then, seeing the final product, and an actual box on the shelves that other people buy is another real high. Of course, there are also low points along the way, like when you have to cut back some features in order to finish the game or some elements don't turn out to be as fun as you intended, but overall, it's been a blast. Now we're one game wiser, and we can't wait to unleash our next creation on the rest of the world.

Gabby Dizon Designer, Anito: Defend a Land Enraged Anino Entertainment

Niel Dagondon Producer and Programmer, Anito: Defend a Land Enraged Anino Entertainment

[Since introducing them in November of 2003 to offer post-release viewpoints from the respective teams, it has been our pleasure to publish Wrap Reports on a number of other titles. Lists of the previous ones on both RPG Vault and Action Vault may be found on the next page. - Ed.]