Talking to Quincy Pringle about his unique RPG that combines classic mechanics with sprinkles of Super Smash Bros. and Devil May Cry

About a year ago, I had the chance to talk with Quincy Pringle of Chimera Labs about his upcoming game, Other: Her Loving Embrace. At the time, we discussed the influences and development of Other as well as some other projects he’s worked on in the past.

Fast forward to today and Other is currently on the final stretch of its Kickstarter campaign, and the game has recently been announced for Switch as well. So with just a few days left of funding, we talked with Quincy Pringle again to discuss the continued development of Other: Her Loving Embrace.

Other‘s unique twist: make every battle fun

Nintendo Enthusiast: It’s been about a year since I last spoke with you about Other: Her Loving Embrace. For those that are maybe hearing about the game for the first time, can you give our readers a summary of what to expect?

Quincy Pringle: Hey! Great to chat again.

Other: Her Loving Embrace is a turn-based RPG with real-time action combat. That might sound a little confusing to newcomers, but I promise it’s pretty straightforward. During your turn, you attack the enemy directly in a 2D platforming arena, similar to something like the Super Smash Bros. games, but with more influence from action games like Devil May Cry or traditional fighting games. Dodging enemy attacks works the same way. There are spells and items to use, of course.

You also explore a huge world, filled with dungeons, puzzles, upgrades, secrets, all that good stuff. Any spell you discover can be used in both the overworld and in battle! Along your journey, you’ll investigate the mystery of a haunted village. You’ve been tasked with solving their supernatural woes in exchange for a large sum of cash, but you’ll soon learn that there’s more to the mystery than meets the eye.

NE: Quincy, I have to say I’m happy for you! Your Kickstarter has been a great success so far, the game is coming to Nintendo Switch, and your community is growing larger each day. How does it feel for Other to be taking off like this?

Pringle: It’s a little scary, to be honest! But it’s also very encouraging, and I appreciate the support immensely. It means so much that people care about the game. Everybody else on the team is really excited too. We’re looking forward to doing the best we can; hopefully we’re able to meet everyone’s expectations!

NE: I’ve played the demo myself and quickly became addicted to the action combat. How did you nail down the feeling of these segments?

Pringle: Lots of trial and error! I also do lots of “investigative research” playing other games, too. I like action games a lot, so it wasn’t too hard to adjust the game when it felt off to something that felt more natural. I just ended up doing a lot of adjusting. I also tried to give the player a fair chance when it came to enemy attack patterns and stage layouts. Nobody likes it when a game feels unfair, so I tried to give the player time to process what’s going on before attacks start coming out.

NE: Other’s characters are oozing with charm and humor. What are some of your biggest influences when writing comedy?

Pringle: Personal experience, I think. I really enjoy dry humor that doesn’t call attention to itself, and the bizarreness that makes life so special. I also particularly enjoy the company of my friends and family; some of our relationships and interactions have been the inspiration for funny moments in the game as well.

NE: The music I’ve heard from Other is incredible. Do you have any plans to make the soundtrack available on streaming services? I could easily see some of these tunes in a workout playlist.

Pringle: Thank you! It’s something I’m interested in and will certainly pursue in the future for the final game’s soundtrack. I don’t have concrete plans to put the demo soundtrack up for streaming, but I’ve been looking into it.

NE: Do you plan on utilizing any of the Switch’s unique features, such as HD rumble?

Pringle: Not sure yet! We’re looking into the system’s unique capabilities, but we don’t have anything to say about it currently. We probably won’t do things for their own sake, but if we’re able to add something that really adds to the game experience, we’d love to explore our options.

NE: Are there any unique development hurdles when working with the Switch version?

Pringle: Not particularly, at least regarding the hardware. Most of the headaches come from the hoops and guidelines you must follow in order to meet the console manufacturer’s standards, although that’s true for other consoles as well. It’s a new process for us, but one that we’re confident in tackling. Game Maker is thankfully very flexible with other platforms, and I wasn’t using a lot of platform-specific code in the first place.

NE: How far in development is Other? I’ve noticed the Kickstarter mentions it will be ready by the end of 2022. Is that more of a rough estimate or a deadline for yourself?

Pringle: More the latter than the former, I’d say. The game is significantly far into development; many of the difficult tasks were related to the underlying systems for the battle system, stats/equipment, that sort of thing. Luckily, all of that’s done now; the rest of the work is mostly creating content in the existing frameworks I’ve created (enemies, items, area layouts, etc). Late 2022 is a very, very rough estimate. I just wanted to account for any possible delay or difficulty that could arise. Barring extreme circumstances, I think it’s pretty safe to say the game will release before then.

?Weekly Challenge #5: FREE FOR ALL!? This is it! The final weekly challenge! You can enter anything you want as long as you created it, and it has to do with OTHER: Her Loving Embrace! Any medium or category! We'll pick THREE winners! pic.twitter.com/Vnq7ebmkA3 — OTHER – Live on Kickstarter! (@otherRPG) October 28, 2019

NE: I’ve been seeing the weekly art contests and your fans have been making some pretty great stuff. There’s also an official Discord for fans to gather together. Do you plan to keep up this level of interactivity all the way through release?

Pringle: Alas, after the Kickstarter ends we won’t be able to be quite as active. We’re a small team, so our current level of engagement with weekly contests and such would take precious time away from development. We’re going to do our best to stay engaged with our fans though, and we’ll definitely be in contact with our backers!

NE: Do you think you’ll get to make that vodka tortellini (for the highest Kickstarter pledge tier) for somebody? I’d totally contribute the $10,000 necessary, but I’d have to pop out a mountain of articles to even entertain the idea.

Pringle: Unfortunately, true art is rarely appreciated in its own time.

NE: As I said earlier, it’s been about a year since our first interview. So to close today’s interview, I would like to know — what’s the biggest thing you’ve learned about yourself or just the process of developing and Kickstarting Other in the last year?

Pringle: I learned a lot about balancing my work and personal life, as well as the importance of separation between the two. Little things like not working in your bedroom, making schedules for yourself, and taking breaks while not losing discipline are all very important and add up over time. It helps with productivity, and your sanity.

NE: Quincy, thank you so much for letting us interview you again. I’m looking forward to playing Other upon its full release.

Pringle: Thank you so much, always a pleasure! We’ll do our best!

Other: Her Loving Embrace has a few days left on Kickstarter. There’s also a PC demo available for download to get a feel for how the game feels.

[Disclosure: The author of this article backed Other: Her Loving Embrace on Kickstarter. Nintendo Enthusiast offers no formal endorsement of this game.]