Interviews// Too Human's Denis Dyack

SPOnG: What was the original inspiration behind fusing Norse mythology with cyberpunk influences?

Denis Dyack: Okay, when we first conceived Too Human we wanted to create a game that commented on the effects of technology and its effects on society and culture. When we start looking at creating our games, we always look for a base of mythologies to build from. We looked at the Norse mythologies because none of the gods are immortal. They know that Ragnarök is coming and they meet this with a kind of grim determination. This really melded well with ideas we had about technology and culture – because technology has invaded culture to such an extent that we cannot escape it. We can only live with it now.

So, if we are going to make a game that comments on society and technology, what better metaphor to use than the Norse mythologies? The gods are not immortal, they know it’s really tough out there, but they are going to face all of the world that they can in the best way they can. We thought it was the perfect metaphor for mixing and matching!


SPOnG: The game is a marriage of RPG and action elements – can you detail how you think you’ve succeeded in bringing these genres together?

Denis Dyack: Too Human, in my opinion (and I’m biased, obviously!) is probably THE most successful blend of action and RPG. So successful in fact that it’s created something unique and something that you are not going to find on any other console. Add to this the automated camera system, combined with the dual-analogue control, and we’ve created this entirely new genre-bending experience that you cannot find on any other platform.

There are some games that are similar like, say, Diablo or World Of Warcraft – where you click on an ending, grind down through your loot and you beat it out through DPS (Damage Per Second); and there are actually games such as God of War, Devil May Cry and those kinds of things. But by fusing those both together, we have created this really unique, hybrid experience where we can use both sticks in a Geometry Wars (or almost Robotron) kind of way, but in a way that was not even possible before, since the camera is automated and you are looking in 3D space.

So, from that perspective, with Too Human you have to understand the depth of the action elements and you have to understand the depth of the RPG elements. Once those experiences are combined with the control systems, we really have created something that is a true blend of action and RPG, something entirely unique.


SPOnG: Some of the previews have suggested that the game takes a little too long to get into.

Denis Dyack: Well I think these are down to pre-conceived notions from things that they [previewers] have heard. I think everyone is different. As an example, I’ve had people write us to say that their four-year-old daughter got into the game within five minutes because they didn’t have any preconceived notions of trying to control the camera with the right stick. They just enjoyed the game right away.