Many eyebrows were raised when the debut trailer for Project Windless revealed that the protagonist would be a 9-feet-tall rooster—known as a rekon in the game’s world—wielding a variety of weapons to take down its foes. Creative director Patrik Méthé has discussed this choice of protagonist in an interview with PCGamer, noting that the developers at Krafton Montreal got the reaction that they were looking for.
“We knew that the hero would create a shock, but I was surprised by the amount of people who were like ‘what the f—huh?’ but then were like ‘I’m in,’ before three quarters of the trailer had even played,” he said. “Cool, that’s what we wanted.”
Project Windless is slated to be an adaptation of popular South Korean fantasy series The Bird That Drinks Tears by author Lee Youngdo. Since the series has plenty of different races and species, Krafton Montreal was presented with quite a few options when it was time to decide on the game’s protagonist. Ultimately, the decision was made to go with the Hero King because, while he is noted to be an important figure in the fantasy setting’s history, few were alive who truly knew him. This gave the studio more freedom with the narrative.
“One of the reasons we felt the Hero King was the right choice is because he’s a mythical character,” Méthé explained. “He’s remembered, but no one is still alive who was there. It gives us a level of flexibility, because the worst thing for us would have been to try to emulate too closely what’s in the novel at the expense of the game.”
The fact that the Hero King—a rekon—also happens to offer a visually striking design is also a bonus. The fact that rekons have special skills and attributes that set them apart from humans provides gameplay benefits as well.
“This character visually stands out from the typical action adventure RPG, but it needs to be more than an eight-foot, 600-pound guy,” he said. “It’s not a guy in a suit. It’s a race, and the race has specific skills and attributes you don’t find in a human.”
These attributes can be further refined by players throughout their time with Project Windless. The Hero King can be shaped into any kind of protagonist that a player might want, be it a charismatic leader, or a character more inclined to get things done on his own. “It’s really up to each player to adapt their play based on what they’re more interested in,” said the creative director.
Méthé went on to tease other features of Project Windless, noting that it was “too soon to say” whether players will be able to grow their character’s facial hair. He also “wouldn’t confirm or deny; that being said, it’s the story of the rise of the Hero King in the context of war,” when asked about whether there will be any romantic entanglements for the protagonist. As for whether the Hero King is the eponymous bird that drinks tears, he noted that “It’s more of a metaphor for the responsibility of being a leader. The answer in that regard will be yes. You will drink tears.”
Project Windless doesn’t yet have a release date. However, Krafton has confirmed that generative AI is not being used in its development.
