[Interview] Shattering the Steam and Switching things up – Talking Thea with Mila from MuHa games

With the Nintendo Switch being the runaway success that it is, during my recent visit to EGX Rezzed, I spoke with the lovely Mila Yuuki about the possibility of seeing Thea 2: The Shattering grace everybody’s favourite hybrid console. Here’s everything we discussed:

Nintendad: Hi Mila thanks for taking the time to chat with us today, how are you enjoying EGX so far?

Mila Yuuki: Thank you. It’s cold in here, right? We paid for a premium spot and what we got was a cold dark corner in the dungeon.

Nintendad: A metaphor for life if ever I heard one! Can you tell us what you do at MuHa games, please?

Mila Yuuki: I’m the writer and quest designer, so everything story wise and anything with a text description is done by me.

We’re going to need a bigger boat:

Nintendad: What new features have been added to Thea 2: The Shattering? Did feedback from fans play a part in that?

Mila Yuuki: There are a load of New Features:

Co-op is available from the start, before it became available as the game went on.

The game world is split into islands. Each island is progressively more difficult meaning the player can move to the next one once they’ve progressed as much as they can and the challenge has become too easy.

Children are no longer items, which is nice.

This is something that we’ve really worked on, in Thea 2 the seasons and weather effects are more adverse, meaning that harvesting crops during the winter for example, is particular difficult. It also makes everything look a lot more varied throughout the game

Also, there are boats now. Well you’re not going to swim from island to island, are you!!

We have an incredibly vocal fan base, mainly through the discord server, which is always very active. It’s really nice to get honest feedback, even if it can be sometimes constructively negative. It all helps to build a better game though. Also, Early Access on Steam really helps us make a better experience, having the game live and being able to make changes, however small, based on feedback is a really fantastic thing.

The 100 year sequel:

Nintendad: Do the events of Thea 2: The shattering take place directly after The Awakening?

Mila Yuuki: Thea 2 takes place after the end of the first title, but it’s not an immediate follow-up, a long time has passed since the conclusion of Awakening, 100’s of years and as such the world is different. Some of the immortals, the gods remain but there are also new gods in this world. Some characters from the first game are referenced to through various points in the game.

From the tobacco docks, to a future port:

Nintendad: In regards to seeing Thea 2 on Nintendo Switch, what will that take? Does it come down to technical performance or do sales and figures have a deciding factor?

Mila Yuuki: Sure, numbers are important but we’re thrilled with how well Thea: The Awakening sold on Nintendo Switch, with over 4,300 units sold to date. These are great numbers for a small studio like ours. The main issue we have bringing Thea 2 to Nintendo Switch is the actual task of porting it. We’re a very small team of only five people so outsourcing for the port is crucial for us. Monster Couch handled bringing Awakening to Switch but right now they’re busy trying to implement co-op mode for Thea on Nintendo Switch. After that, we’ll have to see what can be done, but the fanbase has been great to us on Switch and we’d love to have Thea 2 on the Switch, even if it’s not too soon.

Nintendad: It was great to chat with you Mila, thank you for your time today. Is there anything else you would like to add?

Mila Yuuki: Thank you too, it’s been a pleasure. Thea: The Awakening only just launched on the eShop so while Thea 2 might still be some way off, there is something at least to keep you busy for now. We’re incredibly proud of how this game performs on the Switch so, please, check it out.