Five years after a very friendly and noticed first opus, No Straight Roads Returns to the front of the stage with an ambitious suite, carried by a more experienced team, better surrounded, and still as passionate. In this interview, Idir Alexander, Head of Business at Metronomik and the producer of the game, is back behind the scenes of this long gestation: from the challenges linked to the covid to strategic collaboration with Shueisha Games, including the evolution of the video game landscape in Southeast Asia. The opportunity also to explore in depth the new features of Nsr2 – A larger game, richer, more musical than ever – and to measure how much Malaysia is no longer content to support the game industry: it now prints its signature.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLIQ8VQMT3O
Games: You have just announced a new game at Metronomik: No Straight Roads 2 – NSR2. It’s been five years since the first episode. Why such a long wait? What are the news? Do we continue history or are there major changes?
Idir Alexander : Thank you Max! Yes, no Straight Roads 2. We launched the first on August 25, 2020, in the middle of Covid… not the best memories, honestly. But the launch was great. A brilliant community has formed around the game. I will not talk about sales figures, but we have exceeded 100 million listening on streaming platforms. It is a game based on music, so seeing that he resonated as much with fans, it’s heart -warmed up.
And it’s been 5 years that you work on NSR 2, or is there something else?
We started to develop another game, Ondeh Ondeh. We will talk about it later in the year, it was a more discreet project at the start. But now, for four years, we work seriously. Two years ago, we signed with Shueisha Games, the publisher of Dragon Ball, Naruto, etc. They embarked on video games in 2022, with a very experienced team (former PlayStation, Kojima Productions …). So yeah, of “little indés without experience” what! (laughs)
So, Shueisha actively supports you?
Absolutely. It really corresponds to our DNA. We are based in Malaysia, and many of us have worked with Japanese studios. Personally, I was at Square Enix with Wan Hazmer, the co -founder of Metronomik, who was lead game designer on Final Fantasy XV. So there, we do it again, always with a VF too!
What has evolved in the game? Technically? Visually ? Gameplay? And above all: does music remain at the heart of the experience?
Of course ! In January 2023, Hi-Fi Rush came out, by surprise. No one expected, and it was a hit – especially thanks to Bethesda, now at Xbox. It gave light the musical games. We were already in pre-Prod of NSR2 when Hi-Fi Rush came out, so we were delighted. But we knew we wanted to go further: more prod time, more budget, more expertise. We left directly on Unreal Engine 5, from his beta. And since then, we update our build with each new version. We even received a big technical support from Epic Games.
In the trailer, we see Mayday and Zuke with a new look. More rock, more defined. Have you added other characters?
Yes, Mayday and Zuke are more dynamic, more refined. They were already appreciated in NSR1, but we crossed a milestone. We also tease a new heroine in the trailer, and there is a fourth character … So yes, four playable characters! Exclusivity Gamesactu! (smile)
It’s too much honor! Four characters, each with their own gameplay suddenly?
Exactly. Everyone will have their own mechanics, ways to move, resolve puzzles, and even fight. Some will climb on the walls, others will make rail-grinding, it is really varied.
The game is still going to Vinyl City?
Partly, yes. But we will also explore new places. We call it a “world tour” – literally, the group travels in van! So yeah, it’s much more open.
And the rhythmic gameplay remains central?
Yes, always a musical action-adventure game. But this time, we clarified the experience, especially on the combat system. In NSR1, the bosses were solid, but the standard fights lacked deep. Today, we are inspired by Hi-Fi Rush, Devil May Cry, God of War, even Dark Souls to enrich these clashes. And we also emphasized on exploration and interactions specific to each character.
So, it’s a bit hi-fi rush, jet set radio, brütal legend …?
Quite. These are games that we studied closely. We love Tim Schafer, moreover we met him at the Summer Game Fest, it’s a real inspiration for us.
One of the strengths of NSR1 was French dubbing. Are you coming back with that too?
Yes ! Kelly Marot returns to Mayday, Donald Reignoux in Zuke, and Julien Chièze too …
But his character is supposed to be dead … (laughs)
Because he is not dead in the 1, but I can confirm that Julien Chièze is in the casting. And we will also have legendary voices like Patrick Borg, Céline Monsarrat, and the late Éric Legrand. We hold this quality VF, especially for games of games and anime.
For the past few years, there has been a ramp -up of Asia in the video game industry. Black myth: Wukong – 25 million sales in just six months. It’s colossal. What about all this? It is a country that has been working in the shadows for a long time, often in subcontracting for large studios. Is she changing status? You are at the heart of this subject. How do we analyze this evolution?
Yes, Malaysia has long been active as a subcontractor, but it evolves quickly. To tell you, Metronomik was one of the first Malaysian studios that I heard about in 2019. And even at the time, they already had real international potential. Since then, a lot has happened. For example, Larian Studios, the creators of Baldur’s Gate, opened a studio there. There are already more than 70 people.
Playstation also opened a studio, right?
Yes, exactly. PlayStation has established a studio in Malaysia. Today, there are more than a hundred to work on First-Party titles. We therefore speak of two major structures: Larian Malaysia and PlayStation Malaysia.
But are we just talking about support studios, or do they do more than that?
It’s no longer subcontracting. It is co-development. These studios take care of complete gameplay sides, whole environments, and sometimes one or two complete levels, with total artistic responsibility. We are no longer in: “Make us a sword skin.” They actively participate in the creative process, and that’s what is really exciting.
So we can say that Malaysia now exports its know-how?
Absolutely. And I invite you, you Maxime, as well as all those who listen to us, to come back to explore Southeast Asia. There have been so many developments in a few years. And then there is another key subject: government support. Take the example of Germany. The government actively supports studios. They can obtain funding to the so -called vertical slice phase, which can represent between 3 and 5 million euros. This is a bit of which Canada offered 15–20 years ago, especially in Quebec. This is what attracted big names like Ubisoft.
With tax advantages, I imagine?
Exactly. Very low tax rates, logistical support … This kind of initiatives allows studios to structure themselves very early in their development. It also offers support for development, especially in the first phases. It is not negligible, because it makes it easier to attract publishers afterwards. But many studios also choose self-publishing, especially when they have no initial financial support. They participate in conferences, make themselves known, they dare.
Since its creation, Metronomik has never done co-development or external services. You are completely turned to your own original creations, it’s quite rare!
Yes, it may seem “surprising” seen from the outside, but for us, it’s quite natural. At Metronomik, our dream from the first day is to create original licenses. This is what we want to do, the final point. But this positioning requires real rigor. We grow cautiously, step by step. And that is essential for us. You should know that we were very impacted by the covid. For three years, from 2020 to 2023, there was no physical office. We worked entirely in remote, we didn’t even have premises, zero physical space. And for me, it confirmed one thing: when you are expanding the team, you have to take the time. We want to make sure that each person who joins us is not only talented, but also human, that they are well integrated into our vision, our culture.
I remember that at the time of No Straight Roads 1, you were about twenty in the team, how much are you today?
Yes, about 20 people at the time. Today, for NSR 2, we are more than 35 internally. We also work with a dozen freelancers, several of which have been accompanying us for over five years. And we collaborate with other studios for very specific needs. We work in particular with a Malaysian studio, based in Kuala Lumpur, which is called Dune in the Sky. They come at the origin of a small collective called Anime Passion, who had already helped us on NSR1. Today, they take care of kinematics, combat animations, and more complex tasks that we do not necessarily have time or internal skills to manage. It’s really a matter of expertise.
So you outsource certain things, but in a targeted way?
Exactly. Especially since our production pipeline does not always allow the whole team to work at the same time. Our projects are mainly funded via publishing contracts, with a very precise structure: number of developers, costs out of milestones, etc. Suddenly, we need flexibility, even if we try to stabilize our team as much as possible. We believe a lot in a solid and coherent production force.
Perfect. Thank you very much for answering all our questions about No Straight Roads. We can’t wait to discover the rest!
Thanks to you.
