No Straight Roads

No Straight Roads is an upcoming action-adventure video game developed by Malaysian independent studio Metronomik and published by Sold Out Ltd.[2] The focuses on an indie rock duo who battle an EDM empire to free Vinyl City from their control with the power of rock. The game combat involves listening to the music, knowing when enemies attack and when to strike. It is set to release in August 25, 2020 worldwide and August 27, 2020 in Japan for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Epic Games Store after three years of development[3] and several delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, originally slated for June 30 of the same year.[4][5]

No Straight Roads
Cover Art
Developer(s)Metronomik
Publisher(s)Sold Out
Director(s)
  • Wan Hazmer
  • Daim Dziauddin
Producer(s)Idir Braham
Designer(s)Lydia Ho
Dexter Tam
Programmer(s)Muhd Hanif
Artist(s)Ellie Yong[1]
Writer(s)Aidi G.V.
Composer(s)
  • Falk Au Yeong
  • Andy Tunstall
  • James Landino
  • Funk Fiction
  • Masahiro "Godspeed" Aoki
  • Clyde Rabatel-Zapata
  • Az Samad
  • One Eye Closed
EngineUnreal Engine 4
Platform(s)PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows
Release
  • WW: August 25, 2020
  • JP: August 27, 2020
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer
SoundGwen Guo

Gameplay

In No Straight Roads, the player takes control of either Mayday or Zuke, but they can switch between at anytime in single player. The game employs a rhythm based combat system, which the player can move freely with having to follow the beat, but still has to listen to the music to beware of audio cues to even enemies attack, doge the attacks, and strike back.[6] They are music notes to collect and use a projectiles. The game employs a skill tree based system to improve upon the player's abilities and upgrade the player further. Both playable characters, Mayday and Zuke attack differently due to their differing specializations, Mayday is able to swing her guitar as a physical weapon. Both can play music within a proximity to gain control of objects near them. The goal is to crash and hijack an NSR artist's concert, defeat them, and take over their district to move on to the next.

Story

Setting

The game takes place in the fictional high-tech metropolis of Vinyl City, which is stated to be the music capital of the world. The city is governed and controlled by No Straight Roads (NSR), a corrupt, oppressive EDM empire that wants to monopolize the music industry through promoting its EDM and artists who utilize the genre.[7] Vinyl City is separated into several districts and each district is run by an artist of NSR as a charter with establishments owned by them like places to perform their concerts at, and have advertisements all over the place. Each NSR artist is in possession of a Platinum Disc, which whoever possesses one becomes the charter of a specific district and has control of it. Vinyl City is gets its electricity from the energy source known as Qwasa owned by NSR, which is fed with music and provides power, but only those who are skilled enough are able power them up. Every year, NSR runs and hosts the Lights Up Auditions to find talented artists who can charge up the Qwasa and enlist them into the company.

Characters

The protagonists are the indie rock band Bunk Bed Junction consisting of Mayday (voiced by Su Ling Chan), the energetic, hotblooded guitarist, and Zuke (voiced by Steven Bones), the collected, relaxed drummer, who fight to bring back rock music and free Vinyl City from NSR, the titular main antagonists, by hijacking their artists' concerts,[8] defeating them, and taking over their districts in the city. NSR is led by CEO Tatiana (voiced by Priscilla Patrick), and has a roster of superstar artists who include: DJ Subatomic Supernova (voiced by Mohamad "Uncle" Ali Imran), a glob-spinning DJ with a space motif and has a huge ego, Sayu (voiced by Nikki Simmons), a bubbly digital idol who is personification of a mermaid and believes heavily in the power of love, Yinu (voiced by Damia Huda), a child piano-playing prodigy, 1010 (all voiced by Muhammad Zulhilmi), a very in-synced, well-coordinated robotic boy band, and Eve (voiced by Joanna Bessey), a soft-spoken transforming diva and illusionist. Other notable characters are Yinu's overprotective mother (voiced by Azah Boémia Anuarul), Neon J. (also voiced by Muhammad Zulhilmi), an ally to 1010, and DK West (voiced by Alfred Loh), a famous rapper. There is a colorful cast of NPCs who are found all over Vinyl City, and one of the most prominent is Kliff, self-proclaimed number 1 fan of Bunk Bed Junction who helps Mayday and Zuke come up with plans to take down NSR.

Plot

Bunk Bed Junction participates in the annual Lights Up Auditions to become artists under the label and bring rock back to relevance. The audition itself is judged by Tatiana, the CEO of NSR, and superstars from the record label as they witness Mayday and Zuke's performance to determine if they are worthy. After Bunk Bed Junction finished with their final chorus, the NSR judges dismissed them, and Tatiana told them that the age of rock is over and that EDM rules Vinyl City. Mayday, outraged, comes up to Tatiana before her and Zuke get kicked out.

One their way home, Mayday complains about NSR dismissing their performance while Zuke defends them until they watched themselves on the audition broadcast. The footage shows their performance powered the Qwasa almost to full capacity, despite them being rejected. Tatiana later announces on that rock is banned in future Lights Up Auditions, and suggest to the citizens to play EDM instead. And all of a sudden, power in Vinyl City went out, and is revealed that the backup energy is being used solely for the elites of NSR. Reaching their breaking point, the duo decide to fight back against the EDM empire's corrupt business practices and governing in the city, beginning their musical revolution. Their first plan in action in is to crash the concert of DJ Subatomic Supernova, NSR's superstar DJ and the charter of the Cash Tech district who was also one of the judges at the auditions and is supervising the launch of the label's satellite.

After defeating DJ Subatomic Supernova, gaining control of his district, and challenging Tatiana and NSR's rule over Vinyl City, Bunk Bed Junction meets their number 1 fan, Kliff, who offers to provide them with intel and guidance to take down the other NSR artists at their concerts and taking over their districts as well. Their next target is Sayu, the digital idol and charter of the Akusaka district, which is actually made by a quartet of teenagers.

Development

No Straight Roads is Metronomik's first game. The studio was set up by cousins Daim Dizauddin and Wan Hazmer, who have both previously worked on other video game projects in Japan, such as Street Fighter V and Final Fantasy XV.[9] No Straight Roads was developed as a game that could be viewed as proudly Malaysian.[10]

Hazmer was inspired by other rhythm games while developing No Straight Roads, he cited inspiration by games such as Gitaroo Man, Space Channel 5, and Jet Set Radio. In regards to the visual style of the game, the developers looked to American animation, such as Steven Universe, referring to the non-traditional skin colours of the cast. This was cited along with Japanese manga and anime like JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Hazmer noted Psychonauts' approach to game design as inspiration for the game's art direction.[11] Another one of the developer's inspirations was Scott Pilgrim.[12]

The musicians behind the game's soundtrack are Falk Au Yeong, Andy Tunstall, James Landino, and Pejman Roozbeh, also known as Funk Fiction. The four of them had worked together on the music of the 2013 fangame Sonic: After the Sequel, and later on the 2017 action-platformer Spark the Electric Jester. Falk, an employee of soundtRec, served as an audio engineer for games including Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII and Sonic Mania.

No Straight Roads also features guest artists in its soundtrack, such as Japanese rock band One Eye Closed, Manchester-based American singer Nikki Simmons, Malaysian guitarist Az Samad, and American producer RoboRob.

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References
  1. Twitter. No Straight Roads https://twitter.com/nostraightroads/status/1257989184742137857. Retrieved 9 July 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. Barton, Seth (20 August 2019). "No Straight Roads is Sold Out's biggest investment yet – while publisher welcomes pitches for its $500,000 Unreal Box Offer". MCV/DEVELOP. www.mcvuk.com. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  3. Wales, Matt (29 June 2020). "Final Fantasy 15 designer's music adventure No Straight Roads delayed to August". Eurogamer. eurogamer.net. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  4. Bashir, Dale (27 May 2020). "No Straight Roads Delayed to Late Summer 2020". IGN Southeast Asia. sea.ign.com. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  5. Romano, Sal (26 May 2020). "No Straight Roads delayed to later in the summer". Gematsu. gematsu.com. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  6. "No Straight Roads". Sold Out Games. soldout.uk.com. 14 November 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  7. Morton, Lauren (29 June 2020). "Rockin' action battler No Straight Roads launches in August". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  8. "Malaysia's 'No Straight Roads' team talks taste, talent, and world tours | The Star". www.thestar.com.my. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  9. "Find out what Final Fantasy XV's lead designer did next at EGX Rezzed 2019". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. www.rockpapershotgun.com. 13 February 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  10. Robinson, Martin. "NO STRAIGHT ROADS". BitSummit. bitsummit.org. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  11. Edwards, Dimitric (14 June 2019). "How Final Fantasy XV's Lead Game Designer is Making a Rhythm Game — An Interview With No Straight Roads Developer Metronomik - OnlySP". Only Single Player. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  12. Bashir, Dale (May 4, 2020). "Wan Hazmer: How Working On Final Fantasy XV Inspired No Straight Roads". IGN Southeast Asia. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
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