REN: Celestial Tournament exclusive interview

REN: The Celestial Tournament is a recently released card game from french developer Morphee Interactive. It's a free MMO that tries to add a background story to the genre, while keeping the gameplay fresh and interesting. Free MMO Station spoke with Paul Milan, Community Manager, to know more about REN and what makes it different from other card games.

Can you introduce yourself and your role in the development of REN: The Celestial Tournament?

Sure. My name is Paul Milan and I am Community Manager in REN.

What is the story behind Morphee Interactive, and why the focus on free-to-play games?

Morphee Interactive was created by Charles Martini, a young chief executive officer. He gathered a dynamic and passionate team to create video games. Free-to-play games are a new way of seeing online video games. We like it because everyone can play and if the players really like the game, they can buy some extra content to enjoy it even more.

For your first self-produced game, you opted for an online multiplayer card game. Why this choice, and are you big fans of the genre?

Like I said before, our wish was that everyone could freely discover and enjoy the game, hence the choice of an online multiplayer game. Also, with a trading card game, we could create a simple but deep gameplay. And of course, there is the collection side which is always exciting.

How would you describe REN: The Celestial Tournament, and what sets it apart from other card games?

We want REN to be more than just another trading card game. We almost all like the Role Play Games genre (except for Croon), so one said: “Hey! How about a card game with some background history in it?” and since everyone was ok, we did it. We love that part because it adds a very rich gameplay and further possibilities. During the development of the game, the MMO parts just seemed natural since it was going to be an online one.

There are three races to choose from. Can you describe them, and tell us which one is your favorite and why?

You can play as one of the Nüva, which are the closest to the humans, burning with passion. The Yao are more of a savage, feline kind, brutal and all but pure strength. Finally, the Shen are the wisest ones. My preference go to that last little ones. I like the idea of my opponent thinking:”Uh? What is that gnome? I’m gonna beat it too easily!”… at the beginning of the game only, of course.

Can you explain how the guild system works in REN?

The guild system is called “clan” in REN. You can create a clan once you reached lvl 10. It will cost 5000 kobans (the money in REN). With a clan, you can play with your friends and have some bonuses like 5% off when you buy the cards of your clan members. You will also have access to a clan game mode: the Mizunoe Stem.

How often do you plan to improve on REN, and in what way? New outfits, backgrounds…?

We plan on improving REN every 2 weeks. It is a lot of work since we are adding new items, new game modes. I can’t tell you everything but REN is just at its beginning. With time, it surely will become a great game.

What is the Lottery, how does it work and what are the prices?

When you play, you earn tokens depending on your rank on each Stem (game mode) every week. With these tokens, you can gamble and try to get parts of the numerous outfits of the game.

What are the future plans for Morphee Interactive? You tease us with a MMORPG for 2011, any info you can give us on that?

I wish I could but unfortunately, it is a highly secret project. It is so secret that I don’t know anything about it myself. But count on me, I will let you know everything once I got some information!