My Little Pony: A Zephyr Heights Mystery's Nazaret Guerrero Alonso on Developing the Game's Magical World
"We want players to discover Zephyr Heights and get to know all the characters there no matter their previous experience!"
Posted 6 months ago
The My Little Pony franchise has come a long way since the initial line of colorful pony toys was released in the early 1980s. Over the past 40+ years, the brand has grown to include multiple animated television series, a theatrical film, and even a few video games, including My Little Pony: A Zephyr Heights Mystery, the latest My Little Pony title from family-friendly publisher Outright Games.
In My Little Pony: A Zephyr Heights Mystery, players will help Sunny and her pony friends squash magical anomalies that have appeared throughout the cloud kingdom of Zephyr Heights.
To learn more about the game’s development, Restart talked with Nazaret Guerrero Alonso, producer at Outright Games, about what it's like creating a new adventure in such a beloved franchise.
Restart: How long has My Little Pony: A Zephyr Heights Mystery been in development?
Nazaret Guerrero Alonso: We’ve had a really robust development process working closely with Hasbro that has spanned multiple years. There are always lots of elements that factor into production, from story ideation and creating the animations to playtesting, that we’ve put a lot of thought into, and we hope fans will love it as much as we do.
Do players need to be existing fans of the wider My Little Pony universe (or the first My Little Pony game from Outright Games) to get the most out of this experience?
Existing fans will definitely appreciate details from the franchise, like locations and each character’s special abilities, but My Little Pony: A Zephyr Heights Mystery has a standalone story that will be a fantastic introduction to the My Little Pony universe for any new fans! We want players to discover Zephyr Heights and get to know all the characters there no matter their previous experience!
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Can you speak about the process or any challenges the team faced when it came to creating a new, yet familiar gameplay experience in such a popular, established franchise?
It’s a huge responsibility to create something new for a franchise loved by so many, and we’ve worked with Hasbro every step of the process to create a video game we think fans will resonate with.
We actually took inspiration from the My Little Pony: Tell Your Tale series to help build the story of A Zephyr Heights Mystery. In one episode, [the ponies’] dragon friend Sparky gets sick and turns everything into giant food, and we thought it would be really fun to see that concept further developed into a great adventure for fans to explore.
How did the team go about capturing the animation styles and behaviors of each pony character to make sure they match the existing characters players may be familiar with?
All of the Mane Six have distinct traits and personalities, and we wanted to reflect that in their special abilities. Zipp the pegasus can fly, and Hitch is a sheriff, so his detective ability comes in handy for solving the mystery!
We studied the animation style in My Little Pony: A New Generation, and with feedback from Hasbro, were able to recreate these characters as closely as possible for fans.
©Drakhar Studio / Restart
Did the team play the first My Little Pony title from Outright Games (developed by Melbot Studios)? If so, what kinds of learnings or ideas did you take from that experience and use during the development of this new game?
Fans will be really excited to see that we’ve featured Maretime Bay in My Little Pony: A Zephyr Heights Mystery as a direct callback to the first My Little Pony game.
Giving players the freedom to explore and customize their character is something we challenged ourselves to expand on. This time around, fans can play as each of the Mane Six ponies: Sunny, Hitch, Izzy, Pipp, Zipp, and Misty, explore Zephyr Heights, and experience a bunch of cool new stories in addition to the main storyline.
How much of a focus did the team place on accessibility to ensure the game can be enjoyed by as many players as possible?
It was important to us that younger players especially were able to engage with gameplay easily, so we implemented a butterfly guide mechanic that will help players find the next objective. The mini-games also have difficulty levels that can be adjusted for those who like a challenge or need a little support.
©Drakhar Studio / Restart
How long do you expect it to take for players to complete the game to 100%?
There are hours of activities and fun exploration for players to get stuck into. There are also a bunch of collectibles like stars and emojis, which will give players the chance to customize the Crystal Brighthouse and interact with new characters around Zephyr Heights.
For endless additional fun, mini-games can be accessed from the home screen at any time once they’re unlocked to be tried out with different ponies.
We want players to feel like they are able to explore at their own pace and discover all Zephyr Heights has to offer!
Our thanks to Nazaret Guerrero Alonso for speaking with us about the development of My Little Pony: A Zephyr Heights Mystery.
For more on My Little Pony: A Zephyr Heights Mystery, check out our full review.