The time has come for you to discover more about how the colorful and mesmerizing worlds of Batora: Lost Haven have come to life!
In this first entry, we’ll focus on the main features and early steps in the design of the first planet: Gryja.
The starting point for world-building in the game lies in the constant effort to give each of the planets Avril visits its own intriguing and distinctive identity.
As she travels across the universe to develop and acquire the necessary physical and mental powers to save the Earth, Avril will move around 4 different planets with the most diverse environments. She will have to survive under multiple, sometimes even extreme, conditions!
First of all, the uniqueness of each planet stems from the elemental force that it guards.
The four elements of earth, air, water, and fire are the foundations of life in Batora: Lost Haven and the main principles that allow for cosmic balance: the planet of Gryja represents earth, Huav water, Mahdzam air, and Lume fire.
Second, but no less important, the different creatures that inhabit these four worlds are inspired by real human cultures.
This does not just influence their appearance but also how the place they live in is depicted: coming across architectural and cultural elements from all over the world, past and present, is a constant in the game.
It’s not a secret that a core concept underlying the game is the sense of union, harmony, and sharing between different populations and cultures as an essential condition to save the Earth from near doom.
Last but not least, following the logic of classic RPGs, they are composed of separate explorable regions, with completely different environments from one another.
With this in mind, let’s see how we shaped the world of Gryja!
GRYJA
The planet of the Earth Element
Gryja is a rocky and desert planet, forged by recurrent earthquakes, defined as Gryjaquakes, which harbors forms of life generated from the earth’s elemental essence.
When we came to design this first world, we started by taking inspiration from existing planets. In this case, from Mercury, a rocky, terrestrial planet with a solid, cratered surface.
Much like we wanted Gryja to be!
In particular, as we aimed at emphasizing the widely varying geology within it, we built the color palette on the images obtained by the MESSENGER spacecraft in 2008.
Source: NASA/ Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/ Carnegie Institution of Washington
These colors were not what Mercury would look like to the human eye but rather enhanced the chemical, mineralogical, and physical differences between the rocks that make up its surface.
This explains why, despite Gryja’s settings being mainly dry and desertic, its predominant colors are acidic!
For their design of its inhabitants, which also influences the settings, we draw inspiration from the indigenous populations of Himba of Namibia and the “Mudmen” of Papua New Guinea’s Asaro tribe.
Strong and brave, the creatures that live in Gryja range from nearly sentient to superior beings and are all made of the same material that envelops the entire planet. They worship nature, both as a creator and a destroyer.
That’s all for now. Keep following us to discover many other exciting details on the Universe of Batora: Lost Haven!