‘Aurion’ Brings African Studio’s Game To The World

Welcome to Indie Spotlight!

Today we take a look at what I found to be the highlight of the Indie MegaBooth at PAX East 2016 — Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan!

Aurion is a fantasy action RPG, heavily inspired by JRPG elements like the “Tales of” series. It’s a 2.5D world (2D graphics with 3D movement — think Castle Crashers or old-school Ninja Gaiden) with vibrant colors and animation. Combat involves chaining skills and attacks to juggle and destroy opponents, as well as a system where you can swap between styles for completely different abilities.

Now, the familiar stuff is out of the way.

Aurion comes from Kiro’o Games, the first major African game developer. I could dive more into the details of Aurion, but I don’t have to! I had the pleasure of meeting CEO Olivier Madiba for a demo at PAX East, and I spoke with his colleague Sorelle Kamdom about Aurion and some of the history behind their journey:

Nerd Caliber: What is the story/premise behind Aurion?

Sorelle Kamdom: Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan is the story of a young royal couple Enzo and Erine. Enzo is a prince and he is going to become a King of Zama, his native city. Erine is his future wife and queen of Zama. During the wedding which is also the day of their coronation, they are victim of a coup organized by Ngarba Evou, Erine’s brother. After an intense combat, they are exiled from Zama. Therefore, starts their adventure. They will travel around Auriona, the world of the game, discover political issues they didn’t know about their world, fighting against many protagonists, solving some enigmas and existential quests, they will grow as persons and as a couple. All of it in order to gather their legacy, find allies and retrieve their lost throne. This is the abstract of the game.

NC: What do you think are some of the most appealing qualities of Aurion?

SK: Hum. There is a saying … “humility comes before the glory.” We are humble and it is not for us to qualify our game of great. But, according to what some players and journalists have said about Aurion, it is a game that shows an unknown universe and it is a breath of fresh air in video games. Aurion is inspired by African culture and because Africa is not often represented in video games, the game presents a great diversity. For example, when you look at clothes, physical aspects of characters, the first reference is Africa. We think Aurion can give some information about African culture because there are some values that we wanted to highlight in the game like the principle of ancestors’ legacy, the respect of elders, the feminine strength of women, etc.

NC: Kiro’o Games has spent more than a decade making Aurion a reality. What kind of challenges and hardships did the company face throughout development?

SK: Our very first challenge was fund raising. When we launched the Kiro’o project in the beginning of 2013, it was not easy to convince some potential investors here in Cameroon because they were considering the project as a scam. Thanks to the sponsoring of our Ministry of Culture and Arts, we gained a credibility which was helpful for us.

Secondly, because we are the pioneers in our area and that there is not yet a school where one can learn the game design in our country, it was a priority for us to train the team about the game design, how to draw with graphic tablets, use software, etc. And that before starting Aurion‘s development.

We also faced and we continue to face with power cuts and Internet connection issues here in Cameroon. You can imagine that in the gaming industry that can be quite braking.

NC: I can only imagine how excited your team must be to have made it this far. What’s next for Kiro’o Games?

SK: We have a lot of projects on the long term. After the success of Aurion (big we hope), we will go on with the saga of Aurion, as it is thought to be multiple games. Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan is the first of a saga with three games. We are also planning to expand our activities by creating mobile games.

NC: Is there anything else you’d like to add for your and our fans and followers?

SK: We thank all our fans, backers and followers who supported us since we start the project and we hope they will always be there and grow. We also thank all the journalists who assisted us through their publications/reviews and the Aurionics gamers who have already play the game on Steam. We invite them to spread the word as much as they can in order to make Aurion a global event and help other know and experience this new adventure.

Aurion is available now on Steam.