AI LIMIT Interview

AI LIMIT is the debut action RPG from Chinese developer Sense Games. Originally announced as part of Sony’s PlayStation China Hero Project, the game is set to arrive later this year for PC and PlayStation 5, published by CE-Asia. Set in a distant future, long after the fall of civilisation, AI LIMIT puts players in control of protagonist Arrisa as she explores the world’s ruins while seeking answers to the truth behind civilisation’s end. RPGamer was able to put some questions to the game’s producer Yang Bin about some of the inspirations and ideas behind the game.

RPGamer: What are the main ideas and themes behind AI LIMIT?

Yang Bin, Sense Games: Let me start with the title: AI LIMIT. As a huge science fiction fan, the concept of powerful AI replacing human beings has always fascinated me. The real shock, however, came from the Go world championship in 2016, where Google DeepMind’s AlphaGo defeated Lee Sedol. At that moment, this idea felt closer to reality than ever before. That is the name AI LIMIT inspired by.

RPGamer: Can you give a quick overview of the game’s setting? Are there any particular inspirations behind it?

Yang Bin: It is set hundreds of years after an environmental disaster happened on Earth, no greens, no functional authorities, no civilization. All we know about human societies is gone. A strange substance known as the Mud spread everywhere, and monsters emerged. The main stage is Havenswell, the last city of humanity, a place that is only a former shell of itself. It consists of layers of ruins and a complex yet dangerous sewer system. But legend says there is an Elysium hiding somewhere in the city.

It is hard to point out one game as the main inspiration. However, I drew a lot of inspiration from classic Japanese works such as Ghost in the Shell, Blame!, and Akira. Additionally, I incorporated some interesting designs into the game.

RPGamer: The heroine Arrisa has some interesting ideas behind her, can you talk about her story motivations and some of the design decisions behind her?

Yang Bin: The protagonist Arrisa originally had long, bright pink hair in the early designs. As we delved deeper into the game’s world and developed more details, we realized that as a Blader who has spent years crawling and fighting, her appearance should reflect her athleticism more. Therefore, Arrisa now sports cool, short, light pink hair (not white!). Her attire has also evolved from exquisite tailoring to a more post-apocalyptic mix-and-match style, reflecting the limited fashion choices in the barren wasteland.

RPGamer: The variety of weapons and skills looks to play an important role; can you explain how players can link together their arsenal?

Yang Bin: The variety of weapons provides different combat styles and pacing, making combat experiences more diverse. Additionally, Arrisa’s left hand can use special Blader’s abilities, such as spells and skills. Spells, skills and weapons combined will bring countless fighting styles for players to try.

RPGamer: How is the general combat flow of AI LIMIT? Will players need to wait for openings or can they try and get the opponent onto the back foot?

Yang Bin: On combat pacing, Arrisa is more agile compared to your average cursed undead in Dark Souls, yet more grounded compared to fast-paced action games. It’s roughly positioned between Dark Souls III and Bloodborne, although individual experiences may vary. Overall, the action performance is quite agile, and the cancellation of recovery animations and aimed stop have been adjusted to a more lenient degree. We hope that players will not feel overwhelmed by enemies in terms of basic attributes, and that the confrontations with enemies will return to a test of skill and mentality.

RPGamer: Can you talk a bit about the exploration aspects, are there many secrets and hidden rewards for players to find?

Yang Bin: We admire the highly interconnected design in the Dark Souls, where all areas built around the Firelink Shrine within a space of several hundred meters. However, for a post-apocalyptic city that pursues a realistic scale and has a radius of over ten kilometers, this is difficult to achieve. Due to the size of the levels and technical limitations, we did not present this world in a seamless form.

The level-based design is what we are doing: naturally it has advantages: to highlight stronger thematic elements and to focus more on exploration. During actual gameplay, to eliminate the psychological gap between the size of the playable area and the actual size of the city, the player’s journey will interweave between various environments on the surface and underground of the city. Through a “scene-changing-as-you-move” approach, players will cross the city without realizing it. Such an arrangement also showcases the richness of the city’s scenery. Players are not just constantly shuttling back and forth through the streets of ruins; instead, they experience a variety of wonders on a more three-dimensional, gigantic urban structure.

About hidden rewards, yes, we put a lot of hidden secrets and loot in the game. They are in the complex sewer systems and city ruins. Both risks and rewards are waiting for you to discover.

RPGamer: How has being part of the Sony China Hero Project aided the game’s development?

Yang Bin: SIE offers project management advice and opportunities for market exposure and brand promotion, which are very important to us. SIE also provides middleware, QA, and sound support, plus consulting from PlayStation Studios, all for free. I deeply appreciate it.

RPGamer: How has publisher CE-Asia helped you and the game?

Yang Bin: As the publisher, CE-Asia has provided us with extensive support, including financial backing, marketing, quality assurance, and improvement advice. They are currently managing the global distribution for both console and PC versions of the game, ensuring it gets rated worldwide. Additionally, they are showcasing our game at gaming exhibitions in different regions. Thanks to their assistance, my team can focus on game development.

I would also like to extend special thanks to Mr. Wu, the CEO of CE-Asia. With over twenty years of experience in the gaming industry, he has a wealth of knowledge. During our collaboration, he has identified many issues we hadn’t considered, helping our team avoid numerous pitfalls and ensuring the smooth progress of our development work.

Yang Bin, Sense Games

RPGamer: How have you found the development process overall? Were there any unexpected challenges you and the team found during it?

Yang Bin: Despite some troubles, the overall development is going well.

But, for a first-time developer, the complexity of the entire project exceeded our expectations. The further we progressed; the more technical issues arose. At certain points in development, iterating on technology caused challenges with maintenance and management. Looking back, that many issues stemmed from our lack of experience as first-timers.

All the issues are in the past. We believe the game will soon be ready to see the world.

RPGamer: Do you have any final messages for our readers or those looking forward to the game?

Yang Bin: Thank you all for your love for AI LIMIT!

As an original work, AI LIMIT still needs to prove itself. We aim to provide players with excellent combat and smooth controls. Furthermore, we have created a unique battle system and intriguing RPG elements. The game also features many distinctive characters and exciting stories for you to explore. The journey with Arrisa to Havenswell awaits. I hope you will enjoy this game. Stay tuned!

RPGamer would like to extend our thanks to Yang Bin for taking the time to answer our questions, as well as to Michael Sun from CE-Asia for facilitating the interview. AI LIMIT is planned to release later this year for PC and PlayStation 5. It is currently available to wishlist on Steam, with updates on the game available from CE-Asia’s X.com account.