Source: https://www.pocketgamer.com/eversoul/cheol-hui-kim-interview/

Eversoul interview: Cheol Hui Kim, Chief Director of Eversoul at Nine Ark Inc., talks about the game’s characters, development process, and upcoming events to expect.

Eversoul is a stunning anime-themed mobile RPG featuring gorgeous animations and colourful characters players can collect and get to know. I recently had the privilege of interviewing Cheol Hui Kim, Chief Director of Eversoul at Nine Ark Inc., as he shares insights on Eversoul’s development process and what players can expect further down the road.

Q: Can you introduce yourself and your role at Nine Ark Inc.?

A: Hello, my name is Cheol Hui Kim and I am the Chief Director of Eversoul at Nine Ark Inc. You may have seen me in the special broadcast before launch of the game, and I am also the 15-year-old Vtuber Kim Mephi you see in the Roadmap videos. 

Q: Eversoul tasks the player with being the Savior in an isekai adventure. What do you think makes Eversoul stand out from other titles in this popular isekai genre?

A: The world of Eversoul is generally not a unique fantasy or martial arts world, but instead, a setting of “the future of the world we live in”. It is not a completely different world, but a world connected to the reality where the players live, so you can meet various Souls born out of artifacts, legends, and myths that are common and familiar to us in the game.

In addition, Eversoul narrates the story of mankind who fled Earth to escape the apocalypse, and returns to face the Souls who had been living on Earth. As the Savior is not the savior of humans, but the savior of the Souls, the main protagonist faces the dilemma of having to stand on the side of the Souls and confront mankind even though he himself is human. This will be explained in detail in Chapter 5 of the Main Story game mode which will be released soon.

Q: One of the things I love about the game is how gorgeous the character designs are. Can you talk about the thought process that went into designing these Souls?

A: As you may know, the Souls in Eversoul have artifacts that are their origin, and generally these artifacts reflect the aesthetics of their Soul owner. While trying to break away from the aesthetic of the artifacts, we tried to keep our designs related to some extent, and thanks to such efforts, Eversoul’s unique character designs were created.

Q: I absolutely love the Evertalk feature of the game. How difficult (or easy?) was it to handcraft unique personalities for every Soul so that players can interact with them and discover their stories on Evertalk?

A: With the bond point system which ranges from daily conversations and Outings, to Evertalk to Love Story, we ultimately wanted the players to have the feeling that they are in a relationship with the Souls. Especially as the Love Story requires more time and effort, we wanted players to engage in small talk with the ever-charming Souls and feel a sense of familiarity. We were hesitant to apply the feature at first due to the heavy workload, but the results were very satisfying and Evertalk seems to be serving effectively as the device for Souls to easily express their true feelings.

Q: What were the biggest challenges you faced during development, and how did you overcome them?

A: While introducing Town’s SNG (Social Network Gaming) system and the bond system into a character-collecting game, we put a lot of effort into making sure that these things do not harm the essence of the game, but instead, naturally blend in. It was not an easy task, but as a result, Eversoul’s unique game quality was born.

Q: There are so many interesting characters to collect, level up, and see in action during combat. Do you have a personal favourite among them?

A: I used to like the bright and cheerful Jiho the most, but after the Everschool seasonal event update, I switched over to Queen Yuria. Queen Yuria is not a playable character that you can summon at the moment, but we plan on revealing Queen Yuria with a new look in the future as a Soul you will be able to summon.

Q: What is your message to players who might be hesitant or intimidated to try out the game?

A: “Your Bride awaits in the world of Eversoul”

Q: What can players look forward to in terms of new characters, events, and story in the future?

A: First up we have the Tower of Origin which will be released soon, and Main Story Chapter 5: King of Humans update. The Tower of Origin is expected to be updated late May, and Chapter 5 is slated for early June.

In the Tower of Origin, you can learn stories from the days in which the Souls were still artifacts. Also, enemies in the Tower of Origin will have new attributes coming from Keepsakes, Artifacts, and Ultimate Skills which will bring about new strategies and present players with a new challenge.

From Chapter 5 in the Main Story, the true identity of the enemy and hidden secrets will be revealed one by one. The main storyline revealed so far was just an introduction to get players acquainted with the game’s worldview. The true story of Eversoul begins now.

Lastly, many users are currently enjoying Guild Raids. Through the Evil Soul Subjugation which is scheduled to be updated soon, not only will you be able to compete between guilds, you will be able to compete individually. We hope you look forward to it.

Q: Is there a particular milestone that the team is most proud of (for example, downloads reached, number of active players, the community etc.)?

A: Rather than calling it a milestone, we are proud of having listened well to the feedback of our players through various communities, and trying hard to reflect these suggestions as much as possible in the game.

We will continue to keep this stance as much as possible, and detailed information on the updates to come will be disclosed early via the roadmap videos created by the 15-year-old Vtuber Kim Mephi every quarter, and the periodic developer notes.