TBRculture Talks: Brazen Blaze with producer Alberto Moreno

Our very own Ben T. got the chance to sit down and discuss one of MyDearest VR’s upcoming 2024 releases with their Head of Overseas Marketing and producer, Alberto Moreno.

Tokyo’s MyDearest already carries an acclaimed portfolio with titles such as Dyschonia, Altdeus, and Tokyo Chronos. However, there is a new addition on the horizon that is starting to generate a lot of buzz within the VR community. Brazen Blaze is a 3vs3 smack-and-shoot style arena brawler that promises to inject frantic combat and destruction into VR headsets worldwide. The premise of the game on its face is straightforward: Contestants from across the globe compete in combat across various locations to become the next President of the World. With the launch of the alpha testing access trailer last week, fans are starting to foam at the mouth about the prospect of flying through the air, destroying cityscapes, and laying the smackdown on friends and family. 

The team behind this title is a stacked squad of pedigreed developers and creative talents:

Game Design Consultant: Richard Khoo (League of Legends, Apex, Overwatch)

Creative Consultant: Warren Ellis (Iron Man Extremis, Netflix’s Castlevania)

VR Expertise Producer: Thrill Seeker (VR/AR Content Creator)

Multiplayer Producer: Taigo Kishi (Esports Caster)

During our discussion with MyDearest’s Head of Overseas Marketing and Producer for Brazen Blaze, Alberto Moreno, we had the chance to get a lot more detail concerning the release.

Ben:  Your studio has made a name for itself with narrative storytelling. After all, Tokyo Chronos was essentially a VR novel. Obviously with an arena-style brawler of this variety, it can be very easy to move directly past any sort of story. How would you describe the story involvement with this title?

Alberto:  Well the game is an onion. The first layer you can pick up and play without much thought to the story; this would be more for our suit and tie players. The second layer you can spend hours learning more about character backstories and the story behind the world itself. Then at the core you have a very deep story and lore that you may not get just from playing the game alone.

Ben: We’ve seen the recent announcements concerning character intros, namely the character Riot. Do you have any more characters that you’re willing to introduce and discuss here?

Alberto: Not at this time. We felt it was best to announce character bios and abilities as we get closer to launch. We felt during development that they are all main characters and we wanted to give each of them the space they deserve.

Ben: It’s a general feeling here in the US that VR gaming is still fighting for its market share in general. Part of that challenge is the upfront hardware cost. Do you see Brazen Blaze being the game that people will be going out to buy headsets to play?

Alberto: We certainly hope so! The VR community is only growing and the US is leading that in terms of sheer numbers. We’ve seen the community expand even beyond the hardcore PC-based VR headsets and with the introduction of Metaquest and PS VR 2 we feel that there is a good community that is growing behind VR gaming.

Ben: You Mentioned PS VR, Metaquest, and Oculus headsets… were there any challenges adapting your game across different and unique pieces of hardware?

Alberto: In the early stages of development yes, but that is now coming together for a good multiplayer experience. 

Ben: Should we expect cross-play across the different styles of headsets?

Alberto: 100% yes.

Ben: What else would you like to say about the game?

Alberto: Come join the Alpha!

Ben: How can our readers do that?

Alberto: You can enroll on Steam and on our discord until September 24th and then we’ll make our selections and start the alpha testing in October. 

https://discord.com/invite/jmJQZPk7Ut

Ben: Did you find the discord server useful during production

Alberto: Absolutely, we wanted community involvement from the start. That’s why we’re doing the alpha testing as opposed to a closed beta. Closed Betas happen further along in production where you may not necessarily be able to go back and apply all the feedback you receive. Also, the community has been essential from the start. From the first demo, we opened ourselves to that community feedback expecting lighter notes but the amount of detailed feedback we received from the community really gave us a lot of useful information to use going into development to make something our community can feel they were a part of.

Ben: So a game by the people for the people?

Alberto:  Absolutely.

Ben: We like to close out our interviews by asking…What are you playing right now?

Alberto: Baldur’s Gate 3, I’m playing a rogue and I feel like I’m going to be playing that for a very very long time. 

We’re looking forward to getting our hands on Brazen Blaze when it finally makes its way to release in 2024. Keep your eyes here for updates.