Age of Irata is getting an extra dimension...

TLDR: after significant time contemplating, I have decided to convert Age of Irata from a 2D pixel art to a 3D Metroidvania!

There were many motivating factors in making this decision, but if I were to sum it up in a few lines… it would go something like this:

I believe I have something special and unique with Age of Irata and I want it to be enjoyed by as many as possible. When I would make updates directly to my target market, one of the most common comments I heard back was that I needed to improve the art style. Specifically, the art needed to go from an NES era of graphics, to (at minimum) a late super Nintendo era. Now, I am not one to bow to every criticism (I would never get anything done if I did…), but to some degree, I agreed with these statements.

I was also running into minor constraints regarding some ideas I wanted to implement due to the nature of a 2D world. So, at the beginning of June, I entered the world of blender (a 3D modeling software) to see if this was something that I thought I could accomplish, and to make a very long story short… it was!

Lastly, there aren't too many examples of Metroidvania's in 3D environments (I'm looking at you Metroid Prime 4...).

I figured this could be an extra way for AoI to stand out in! A post in the Metroidvania subreddit regarding the lack of 3D games in the genre was actually what set me down this path.

At the end of the day, I understand that I have a lot of work to do to get Age of Irata back to where it was in the development cycle (and to do so in a quality fashion), but this is an adventure I am genuinely excited to embark on and I hope you all join me along the way!

Until the next update,

-Ryley