Asterix & Obelix XXL3: The Crystal Menhir - The ingredients of a magic formula!

22 Nov Asterix & Obelix XXL3: The Crystal Menhir – The ingredients of a magic formula!

Posted at 12:00h in Asterix & Obelix by Team Microids

By Toutatis!

It seems that among its many properties, the magic potion also offers eternal youth! Always dashing and celebrating this year his sixty years, Asterix the Gaul is back this fall in a new adventure, with a new comic strip but also in video games, with Asterix & Obelix XXL3: The Crystal Menhir. A year after the release of the remastered version of Asterix and Obelix XXL 2, the team is back for the creation of this third episode, as Mathieu Fremont, co-founder of OSome Studio

But above all, remember the basics: Obelix is just a little wrapped and the french studio OSome is pronounced “awesome” – literally “impressive”, “super” in the language of Jolitorax, the Britain cousin of Asterix. A word that could have been pronounced by the members of the Lyon team, when they were entrusted with the development of this third game of the series Asterix and Obelix XXL: “It turns out that two associates of OSome Studio worked at Etranges Libellules, the studio that made the first version of XXL2, thirteen years ago on PS2 and PC. We were positioned to revive this game, emblematic of an era for both players and us! To dive into this universe was a real pleasure that motivated us to keep the project deadlines. And There you go ! The game is found in store shelves, on all consoles of the current generation … What an honor! “. In order to return to modernity, the Armorican villagers of -50 BC were able to count on an experienced team: “In 2013, with three friends, after fifteen years in big companies of video game, we wanted to try to make a studio by ourselves. Our first project, White Night, was published by Activision. Then the road continued until we met Microids. ”

Developing a game “Asterix” is undoubtedly a privilege, given the richness and popularity of the universe invented by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. But if the small development team relies on a formula they already know at their fingertips, it is necessary to bring new features, such as the game in cooperation for example, but also … a scenario! Indeed, that of the Menhir of Crystal, like those of the previous games of the series, is original. Then two ingredients are essentials in order to carry out the “XXL3” project, namely the collaboration with the rights holders and the expertise of OSome Studio: “We were able to exchange with Les Éditions Albert- René on history, graphics and even music. It has been very rewarding for us! Working on the albums of the two Gauls greatly motivated the team from the start and until the last details of the game, references, small winks to the comics. For Asterix & Obelix XXL3, our constraints were to be able to offer mulitplayer and to make a game for the all family. The story is part of a clean sheet and the storytelling was a real challenge because you have to stay in the universe of Asterix and Obelix, but also think of the gameplay, dialogues, voices … While we use the material of the license, we chose to differentiate ourselves from XXL2, especially thanks to a closer camera. Now the fight against dozens of Romans, as in comics, becomes a reality. The wider view makes it possible to observe the entire battlefield! We also added a puzzles / reflection part which was a little less present in the previous games. In the end, we are satisfied with the result, which is totally in the spirit of the universe of our two favorite Gauls! ”

Mixed preparation carefully, bringing together both the spirit of comics, scrupulously respected, and novelties for – as in Asterix and Obelix XXL2 – innovate at the level of the game or jokes, with the presence of Getafix, Vitalstatistix, these characters that we know since always, but also newcomers, who will be discovered during the adventure.

But by the way, if OSome Studio, video druid’s word-of-mouth druid, made its own magic potion, what power would it offer to the person who drinks it? : “A potion that would read the future! Carrots, two berries of mistletoe, three drops of water from Normandy, a snowflake from Islandie, a grain of salt from Thule, a Cretan olive, powder of auroch horn, a branch of cypress Rome and finally, a secret ingredient … jealously guarded by OSome Studio! “.