Meet the people who have brought Pyrene to life in these short interviews!
Next up is Marion, who handled all the narration and settled the lore.
How much did you know about the Basque and Pyrenean mythology before diving into Pyrene?
In the Pyrenees, legends are everywhere, even if we don’t always pay attention to them. When I lived there for a few years, I noticed the mountain trails, street names and restaurants were often connected to local legends. But people get used to them, and the knowledge slowly fades away. Years later, as I was thinking about the world that would become Pyrene’s, I remembered these legends that had once piqued my curiosity. I started looking into them… and I realized there was so much more to them.
There’s such diversity and depth in these cultures — cultures so different from what we’re used to in video games, like the Greek, Nordic, or even Gallic and Celtic ones when we think of France. With Pyrene, we hope to introduce our players to the richness of Pyrenean and Basque mythologies, with their pantheons of gods, powerful imagery, and incredibly unique creatures.
The myths Pyrene is based on left few traces. How challenging was it to build up a solid narrative?
Quite challenging indeed! Like with most mythologies, even the well-documented ones, there are often many versions of the same event. We decided to do our own take on the myth of Pyrene and the creation of the Pyrenees, drawing from different sources and giving it a meaning that felt right to us. We also took some liberties, like combining creatures from different mythologies (Basque and Pyrenean cultures have some similarities but are based on different people and languages) or reimagining those with little to no historical information. What was really important to us was to represent and honor as many stories, legends, and creatures as we could. In a game that isn’t heavily focused on narration, our main goal was to create a consistent universe for players to explore, and maybe even inspire them to learn more about these cultures.
How challenging was it to make the narration and the gameplay mechanics coexist?
It was tough but very rewarding! In a small team like ours, creation is a collaborative process. We talk a lot with Christophe to make sure the game design and narrative design are consistent and complement each other. We talk about a character's personality and background, like Mathilda, and then found a mechanic that fit her strength (and stubbornness). Other times, it was the opposite: we had an idea for a character mechanic inspired by a werewolf (I won’t say more to keep some element of surprise and make you want to play the game, hehe), and we thought about which character would “wear” it best, building the coherence and substance of that character around it. Being able to work on all of this as a team (and I love how our team works together) lets us bounce around ideas, making the work richer and definitely more fun!
Which character or creature do you find the coolest and why?
Oh boy... All of them! I have to admit, I have a soft spot for the really unique creatures from Basque legends, like the Came-cruse or Idittu — two of Pyrene’s creatures that I’d love to have as plushies, even if they would clearly keep me up at night.
As for the characters, I remember the first time Jeanne sent us her sketches: after spending hours imagining their relationships, their mechanics, how they’d talk, seeing them come to life, each with their own expressions, poses, colors… it was pretty incredible. So I’m going to cheat and not choose just one because what I really love is how they all come together. The first idea of the game was to show a small group of regular people, not warriors, who go through extraordinary events and have to support each other to get through it. I really love the little community we’ve created, with characters that are so different, both visually and in their personalities and relationships. It makes the village feel more real and authentic, and I hope players will feel that too.
Pyrene will launch on September 13th, be ready to spread the word on our socials! Feel free to wishlist the game and join our Discord to share your excitement with us!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2468100/Pyrene/