Mayu: Last of the Yaksha Interview – A Mythological Zelda and Pokemon Hybrid

When I was 13 I learned how to code in python and realized that I could now make actual video games! It was a hobby of mine on and off until I left school, after which I realized that this might be a career I’d really enjoy.

Fast-forwarding, a did an advanced diploma in Game Design and dev from a college in my city, met a lot of great people, and made a few games over the last 3 years. My last published game was a puzzle platformer for mobile called Conform – Mayu will be my first debut on PC.

BLG: What led to the formation of Mayu? SN: I've always wanted to produce games about my culture. I'd imagine, "What if Red Dead Redemption or GTA were set in India?" The fact that most devs are from the U.S. or Europe creates a resemblance in game settings, yet it's always seemed foreign.

Level 3

AN INDIAN EPIC IS BORN

Rahul and Muskan (lead artist) created Mayu. The game's goal was to take the nostalgia of Zelda or Pokemon and put it in a context that was sentimental to us — our grandparents' bedtime stories and mythology.

A lot of the setting and mechanics also comes from my own experiences hiking in the Western Ghats of southern India. The lush forests, the wildlife, tracking, all come from there. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to live in a forest and be as much as part of it as the animals there are.

Blue Rings
Multiple Blue Rings

Gaining the friendship of every species in the forest is a challenge, and you’ll need to explore the deepest hidden parts of the map for that. It’s a bit like completing a Pokedex. you have to earn their trust first by helping them out

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE

Tracking is basically Mayu’s superpower – you’ll be able to notice the tiniest of details and make deductions based on those as to what animal/person/mythical being is present in the area, which direction they went in, and what their mood is like now.

The game's setting and many of the important background characters, such as Hiranyakashipu, the Yakshas, and others, are taken from mythology. Mayu's storyline is original, focusing on characters on the edges of mythology and how bigger events affect them.

Blue Rings
Multiple Blue Rings

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