Even in our thought processes where we sat in a room, and combat almost, whenever it was in a conversation, it was almost like this side thing of us being keen, ‘Ah, we probably have to put combat in the game.’ And I think at some point, we’re just like, ‘Why do we have to?’ Who’s sitting there saying, like, ‘We have to do this.’ And I’ll say that Disney supports us doing that. “The platforming magic - those abilities - that’s where we were having fun. “And as soon as we started getting in the abilities, that’s what the game was to us,” he said. He also talked about how platforming was the truly fun part of the game and that Disney supported this break from tradition.

It didn’t really fit the vibe of the story it didn’t really fit the vibe of the characters for us.” I didn’t really want the characters to come in and just start jumping on people’s heads when all those people are doing is hanging out in their houses, basically. This is a world that exists about Mickey and friends. “We’ve got this brand-new world and these new characters, and what didn’t sit right was this isn’t like a big evil world. And at the same time – and this is a super fluffy, creative-director kind of answer for you – but Mickey and friends didn’t necessarily scream combat to me,” said Grand-Scrutton.

“From the start, the joy of movement was important to us. It’s a peculiar choice, but Grand-Scrutton explained that the game didn’t need it. I think it’s kind of just as much platform influence as the Metroidvania side of things.”Īnd while games like Metroid, Castlevania, and Guacamelee are filled with combat encounters, Disney Illusion Island doesn’t have any. I think that whilst some classic Metroidvania is an influence on us, I think we took a lot from the classic ’90s, Mickey games, and modern stuff like Rayman Legends, as well.

“So as strange as it sounds, what we’ve really created is like this big open-world platform experience, where it’s all about the joy of movement and mastering those mechanics. “So while Metroidvania influenced our structure, it’s much more influenced by a lot of traditional platforming,” said Grand-Scrutton.

Download disney illusion island game