Summary
One of the highlights of the 2020 action-adventure gameJourney to the Savage Planetwas its creatures - sometimes adorable and sometimes off-putting Dr. Seuss-esque beings with names like Barfer and Floopsnoot. The upcoming sequel,Revenge of the Savage Planet,will feature even more strange fauna for players to discover across four (or possibly more) different planets. The design of the creatures focuses on establishing an aesthetic that straddles the line between cute and gross, and ensuring that each critter is memorable and stands out from all the others.
The Raccoon Logic team described making the critters as one of their favorite parts of the design process. Their goal was to create beings that were “grounded but alien,” explained creative director Alex Hutchinson. The animals (and plants) inRevenge of the Savage Planetbear some recognizable similarities to creatures players might have encountered on Earth, but always had at least one twist to make them something new and unique. The team also wanted to make critters play a larger role in the game; this was accomplished by allowing players to capture creatures and interact with them in their Habitat.
Mushrooms, Monkeys, and More
One of the first creatures players will encounter inRevenge of the Savage Planetis the “brain-shroom,” a small, lightweight mushroom that can be thrown around like a ball. From this simple start, the planets' inhabitants get more and more bizarre. Some slimes divide when shot and can only be defeated with a judicious application of water. Hungry trees bar the way in places, and they will not let players through until they have been appropriately fed. Raccoon-like creatures - inspired by the studio’s name,Raccoon Logic- scamper through the undergrowth and respond to human interaction with a mix of terror and anger. Some creatures are peaceful, others are aggressive, but all are stunningly unique.
Perhaps the most triumphant creation of all inRevenge of the Savage Planetis the Babutt - “reverse baboons” with posteriors where their faces should be. They spew liquid out of said faces, but the liquid - perhaps thankfully - is not identified in-game. Hutchinson reminisced that the team was proud of the Babutt’s design, initially wanting to include it on the physical edition of the game’s cover, but theESRBrefused and forced them to redesign it.
“We got flagged for nudity. I told them it was a face, not a butt, but they didn’t care. We had to redo the cover.”
Revenge Features More Creature Interactivity
The Raccoon Logic team described bothSavage Planetgames as “collect-a-thons,” which encourage players to scan every bit of wildlife they come across to develop a thorough understanding of the planets they are exploring.Revenge of the Savage Planetimproves on this by adding the ability to capture creatures and store them at the Habitat. This provides a variety of rewards and upgrades, primarily based on the ranking of creatures collected. Additionally, scanning and interacting with creatures leads to more thoroughly filling out in-game encyclopedias, which may reward players with elements such asXCOM-inspired “gross, flayed-out pictures” of the various plants and animals.
Currently, Raccoon Logic has not revealed the final number of creatures that will be present inRevenge of the Savage Planet,but they have confirmed that there will be even more than the number featured inJourney.The game is planned to launch for multiple consoles in 2025, and they have not ruled out the possibility ofmerchandisefeaturing the planets' many adorable and bizarre inhabitants - so a Babutt plushie could very well be 2025’s hot new must-have toy.
