MIO: Memories in Orbit Interview – Art Direction Inspirations, Storytelling, Progression, and More

The Metroidvania game MIO: Memories in Orbit immediately catches your eye with its beautiful visuals. We recently spoke with the game’s executive producer, Sarah Hourcade, to learn more about the inspiration behind the art style and what players can expect in terms of character progression.

MIO: Memories in Orbit has a very distinctive visual style. Could you talk about the main inspirations behind it, and how you brought them together to create the game’s overall look?

Initially, we drew a lot of inspiration from European comics and artists like Marc-Antoine Mathieu, Christophe Chabouté, Alberto Varanda, and Milo Manara, as well as animated films such as Ernest & Célestine. We then explored what our rendering technology could actually achieve. The final look and feel is a balance between what’s technically possible and our own artistic preferences.

“The use of pastel tones lends a more serene and antique feel to the overall scene.”

We then used several tools and strategies to reach the mood and art direction of the game.

Using a small range of colors, like one main color with a couple of supporting shades, helps keep the image clear and avoids overwhelming the viewer. As things recede into the distance, they also tend to become more muted and consistent in color. Soft, pale colors create a calm and vintage atmosphere.

The film creates a feeling of immense scale by often switching between tight, enclosed spaces and wide-open areas. Sometimes, the camera pulls back to emphasize how small Mio feels compared to her surroundings.

Will the game tell its story through typical methods like cutscenes and dialogue, or will it be more like the Souls series, revealing the narrative through hidden lore and letting players piece things together themselves?

The game’s story is presented in a way similar to the Souls series – through fragmented lore and player interpretation. We began by creating a rich and detailed backstory and world, and your character’s journey is mainly a way to uncover that history. Ultimately, the game only explicitly reveals a small portion of the extensive world-building we did, but it heavily influenced the art, level design, and animations, creating a distinct atmosphere.

“It’s definitely something closer to Souls-style storytelling with lore pieces and interpretation.”

How important was environmental storytelling in shaping the world and level layout?

It was very important for us and had huge impacts on level design and art.

We’re a little disappointed we couldn’t include more of those details in the game. We especially love the moments where the environment itself tells a story.

Players can expect a variety of extra content to discover, including side quests, secret bosses, optional areas to explore, items to collect, tough challenge rooms, and engaging stories involving non-player characters.

Nearly one-third of the game world is made up of optional content. This includes tough challenges, secret areas, side quests, extra bosses, and figuring out how to access certain parts of the ship – it’s a bit of a puzzle!

On average, how long does it take to beat the game for the first time, and how much longer would it take to fully complete everything?

That’s a tricky question to answer precisely. Based on our playtesting, most players will likely spend around 20 hours to complete the main story, and about 30 hours to reach the second ending. However, playtime can really vary depending on each player’s style and approach.

“Reaching the second ending should take around 30 hours. “

How customizable is MIO’s combat moveset through tools and upgrades?

The game features a trinket system that lets you customize your combat approach, but your core fighting style revolves around a consistent three-hit combo. While the trinkets add depth, the design aimed for a system that’s easy to pick up but offers a lot of room for skillful play.

Will players be able to choose different weapons and customize their gear in ways that drastically alter the combat experience – things like changing how far you can fight from enemies, the speed of battles, or even how you approach fighting?

No, there are not.

Besides simply unlocking new abilities to open up new areas, what other ways will players progress in the game? Will there be crafting, skill trees, gear improvements, or perhaps a progression system tied to the story?

You will have upgrades and narrative driven progression systems.

As a game developer, what are your opinions on the PS5 Pro? Specifically, how does the upgraded graphics processing unit (GPU) in the Pro version benefit game development compared to the original PS5?

We’re happy to announce the game now runs beautifully on the standard PlayStation 5, with maximum graphics settings, in 4K resolution, and at a smooth 60 frames per second.

“There is a trinket system that allows you to change some elements of your combat strategy”

What are your thoughts on PSSR? What kind of opportunities will this open for the game?

We weren’t quite ready to use it in this game, but I’m really hoping they’ll consider it for the next one! It would be amazing to see it implemented then.

What resolutions and frame rates are expected for the game on the Nintendo Switch 2 (both when played while docked and undocked), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, and the potential PlayStation 5 Pro?

PS5 & PS5 Pro: 60fps, 4k
Xbox Series X : 60fps, 4k
Xbox Series S: 60fps, 1080p
Switch 1: 30fps (720p handheld, 920p docked)
Switch 2: 60fps (1080p handheld, 1440p docked)

On Switch 1 & 2, the graphics quality is equivalent to the ‘medium’ preset on PC.

2026-01-26 21:16

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