The following information comes from an Ever Oasis dev blog, written by director and producer Koichi Ishii...
- Ishii is glad to receive many positive comments about the characters show during the latest Nintendo Direct
- people were mentioning things like Tethu and Esna looking cute as well as some wanting a Penkrow plushie
- characters are designed by famed illustrator Yoshinori Shizuma
- Ever Oasis is a story about important partners supporting each other
- Ishii doesn’t want characters that can do everything by themselves
- the protagonist has a special power to blow powerful wind, but his attack may be ineffective on some enemies
- there are many more gimmicks that require cooperation with partners
- the active skills for battles are more geared towards support skills that strengthen partners rather than offensive skills
- the protagonist is from the Seedmen race, and the idea came from plants
- the desert has no water, which makes it a harsh environment for plants
- Ishii is impressed that a seed would still grow to a plant, blooming flowers and giving smiles
- when he thought to personify those plants, the Seedmen were born
- when creating the protagonist Tethu, players can also set the gender, eye color and skin color
- Ishii likes to draw a correlation between spirits and the world; spirits are inseparable beings in his story-making
- Ever Oasis takes place in a desert world named Vistrada
- some people may wonder about having a water spirit in that world, but Ishii said that because it’s precisely a desert world
- water becomes a very important asset, and a place with lots of water would become a power spot
- the Water Spirit is larger than tiny fairies with faint light, and she can only be seen by certain people
- Isuna can be considered an additional protagonist that supports the main protagonist in the same standpoint
- the two will share happiness and sadness together
- she’s your partner for raising the oasis, and will celebrate together when you have accomplished your deeds
- Ishii put much attention on Esna so that she’s someone players can sympathize with
- Ishii hopes that Esna will become a good partner not only for the protagonist, but also for the players themselves
- Penkrow (Newt/Neut in English) is like a mascot of the game who temporarily visits the oasis to buy things at the Flower Shop
- his design is a mix of a penguin and owl.
- each time Ishii thinks about a mascot character, it always ends up looking like that
- when he told Shizuma to design that, he was given a rough sketch so perfect for him, so he instantly approved it
- Penkrows cannot speak, but they can communicate with each other
- they can either act alone like an owl, or move in a flock like penguins
- they are also very greedy and will buy things impulsively
- once the player can make a big oasis, plenty of Penkrows can be seen lining up for the Flower Shop
- Penkrows live in the desert, but nobody can locate their nests
- during lunar eclipses, they would surface from a hidden entrance and wander around to hide the existence of the nest
- there are rumors from travelers about a blessing from God
- this blessing takes them when they collapse in the desert and somehow wake up healthy the next morning
- it turns out it was the Penkrows who brought them to their nest for medical care and put them in a safe place to sleep
from GoNintendo
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