The latest RPG from Netmarble, Tower of God: New World embodies the world of Tower of God, and has opened to decent reviews. The story mode has been a great mode for webtoon lovers, while the Adventure mode allows players to test their abilities in combat. Curious about the behind-the-scenes elements of the game, we at GamingonPhone sat with Jeong Eon-San, the Project Director, and Kim Yong-Won, the Art Director, of Tower of God: New World for an interview which helped us get more insights into the initial concept of the game, gameplay, and future plans.
What was the initial idea behind Tower of God: New World?
Jeong: As a big fan of the original webcomic Tower of God, I considered it a personal dream project to work on this IP and suggested to the company to develop it as a game.
There are many characters that appear in the Tower of God franchise over the course of its 13-year history. Rather than focus on a specific number of characters to include in the game, we fixated on the individuals’ unique characteristics and how to translate those into a fun, interactive digital experience. We felt our game content can be based on the franchise’s concept of clearing the Tower since there are many stories stemming from that that can be incorporated into a game.
Netmarble is a developer and publisher that has worked on many diverse IPs over the years. With the global popularity of Tower of God, we believe our game will resonate with fans who followed the original story as well as newcomers to the IP.
For a beginner approaching this game, what can they expect different from New World from the generic Idle RPGs? What was your approach to implementing idle combat mechanisms?
Jeong: There are idle elements, but it’s not an entirely idle game, more so a collectible RPG game. We partly provide idle functions only for convenience. We offer players a break to ease the burden of repeatedly farming in certain stages, allowing them to focus on attacking the stage itself.
New World is set in a portrait mode style of play, any particular reason behind this?
Kim: We adopted a portrait mode primarily for two reasons – to make battles more dynamic while boosting convenience.
The basis of all content in Tower of God: New World is battles, which is the key differentiator from other RPG games. We included a portrait mode and a total of 10 characters that fight 5 vs. 5 in real-time. Characters will seem more realistic as we realize them into 7 or 8-head figures. This adds more excitement for players when playing the game.
We also considered convenience; players should be able to play the game whenever, wherever they wish. Considering that most people use their smartphones in portrait mode, we thought this mode to be more comfortable for most players.
For fans of the manhwa, does the game stay true to the original?
Kim: We focused toon staying true to the original webcomic. Our game follows most of the main stories from the original work, and even when developing authentic stories to include in the game, we tried to tie them all back to the original concepts.
We had to reinterpret characters since they were created 13 years ago, however, our designs do not diverge from the unique characteristics of each character; rather, we tried to reimagine each character’s aesthetic and features in a modern way, staying as true to the original as possible.
For someone who hasn’t followed the original Tower of God webtoon, is the story mode a continuation of the webtoon where it left off or the narration is from the beginning?
Jeong: Season one of the original webcomic will be included at the time of launch. Most of the main events will be featured as story, conversation cutscenes, and more. Rather than the volume of the stories, we thought it was more important to focus on the quality. Instead of catching up with the story in a hurry, we plan to introduce new episodes through continuous updates.
The system allows players to select their picks/teammates to get their rates up. How frequently will these work?
Jeong: We understand that some players may only enjoy the game if they get the character they want, and we thought about ways to provide this experience in a reasonable manner. Other games provide a pickup system that increases the probability of acquiring the desired character, which is designed by the developers when designating a specific character. In contrast, we gave players the opportunity to select up to five characters they aspire to possess in the rate-up list. However, some might feel a high desire of wanting to grow one specific character as opposed to all five.
To address this, we made the first slot special to increase the probability. The character listed in the first slot comes out with a very high probability. Also, after a certain number of pickups, players can acquire the character in SSR grade and SSR+ grade. We developed this system clearly enabling players to have some fun while making their own deck with their desired character relatively quickly.
The coming soon block in the control center is left empty and is pretty exciting. Any plans for that yet?
Jeong: It will be continuously updated in accordance with the update plan moving forward. More info on this will be coming soon!
In the adventure path, we have noticed it is not necessarily needed to have higher combat power than the opponent to beat. Is this because of Elements or something else?
Jeong: Elemental Leverage is one of the key attributes of Tower of God: New World. There are a total of five elements – Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, and Purple, as well as a team Buff Effect that will be given when three or more players of the same Elements are formed. It is important to create a strategic deck with these Elements in mind.
What can we expect from the PvP modes after launch?
Jeong: There are three types of PvP modes. Normal Arena is where players can match with others who are in similar stages; it is the most basic PvP mode in which competition is available. Ranker Arena is for more proficient players, allowing them to compete for ranking using three decks. High Ranker Arena is where only the top rankers can compete for total ranking among all the players.
There is a free-roam element in the story mode but there isn’t much freedom to interact apart from carrying on with the usual storyline. Is it going to remain the same moving forward?
Jeong: We believe it is important to have interaction in the collectible genre. As this game is based on the original webcomic, we plan to adopt more interactions between characters within upcoming scenarios.
Are there any plans to expand the expedition content, where we have four currently available?
Jeong: We plan to continuously update the expedition content but do not have many details to share at the moment. Stay tuned for more info!
How do you intend to keep the game fresh and engaging for long-term players?
Jeong: It’s always important to maintain player satisfaction by actively communicating the latest news and updates for the game following the grand launch. In terms of operation, we are planning to have interactive communication on a regular basis, including sharing a monthly roadmap for updates directly with our community.
That’s all for our Tower of God: New World interview! Did you feel we missed out on any query in this Tower of God: New World Interview? Let us know in the comment section below!
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