Developer Interview: Neon Abyss 2 - Veewo Games

Hello everyone, I’m Yop, the lead game designer of the Neon Abyss series and one of the founders of Veewo Games.

The core team members of Neon Abyss primarily come from the original game’s development team. We’ve been fortunate enough to welcome new members, which has allowed us to overcome the technical challenges of implementing online multiplayer features and significantly enhance the visuals and gameplay experience in Neon Abyss 2.

Lans is the Creative Director of NA2. He’s a workaholic with expertise across multiple fields — game design, art, animation, VFX, UI, and even customer service — all of which he tackles with enthusiasm.

Wawa is our go-to tester. Her passion, exceptional skills, and keen insight during NA1’s development led her from being a volunteer to becoming one of NA2’s core team members.

Additionally, our team includes a game designer who can drink endlessly without getting drunk and a programmer who is also a kart-racing drift master. It’s precisely because our team is filled with such unique and vibrant personalities that NA2 has become so lively and imaginative.

Fortunately, we didn’t encounter many issues during NA1’s development. The biggest historical challenge was the lack of funding, which forced us to prioritise efficiency over preparing a networking framework. As a result, we had to overhaul much of the underlying code to support multiplayer in NA2.

The most enjoyable part was interacting with our beta testers. They’re a passionate and fun group. Since game mechanics, items, and weapons were constantly changing during development, they often encountered bizarre content and bugs. A weapon they played with in the morning might have completely different functions by the evening. Watching them discover our tweaks and new bugs felt like handing a surprise box to a friend. We’re grateful for their patience and support, which made the development process much more enjoyable.

Initially, we only wanted to add multiplayer. But as development progressed, we kept striving to make the game better. After each beta test, we’d add or refine new features. Looking back, NA2 has diverged so much from NA1 that playing the original now feels almost jarring. At first, we just wanted to optimise the weapon system, but in the end, the wildly varied weapons became one of NA2’s defining features. The new Faith system was also unplanned, but when we added it, it felt like it belonged there naturally. We also have many more ideas, so we’re releasing an Early Access version first to gather player feedback and create even more surprises and fun.

I really wanted to address the homogenisation of late-game combat in NA1, and NA2’s weapon system is my answer to that. It elegantly balances weapon progression with resource accumulation while greatly expanding combat diversity. This system also introduces strategic resource coordination in multiplayer, perfectly aligning with the game’s style and offering huge potential for future updates.

As roguelike developers, we believe a satisfying roguelike should offer a strong sense of progression and be full of dramatic moments — where drama is a manifestation of emergent gameplay. In Neon Abyss, we focus heavily on rule-based interactions between systems, items, and objects. These tight interconnections create many gameplay possibilities beyond our original designs, which we feel is the heart of Neon Abyss’ appeal.

It mainly came from feedback from NA1 players, many of whom expressed a strong desire to play with friends. That was the initial impetus for NA2.

We always listen to player feedback, which is evident in NA2’s extensive customisation options to cater to diverse playstyles. However, for gameplay decisions, we relied more on internal team discussions and beta tester input. We constantly reflect and iterate — after all, a game must first satisfy us as developers before we release it to players.

I loved the Zelda series and many other Nintendo games. But for Neon Abyss, we drew more inspiration from well-known roguelikes like The Binding of Isaac, Enter the Gungeon, and Dead Cells.

The initial art style drew from Lans’ love for the movie Suicide Squad and the novel American Gods. Pixel art wasn’t the original plan, but after considering cost and visual impact, we pivoted to this style.

My favourite is Elise, whose weapon and abilities revolve around the new pet form: Hatchmon. Her sweet smile and the adorable Hatchmon system won me over. :D

All weapons have gone through extensive balancing, so any of them can become ridiculously powerful. But in terms of playstyle, I prefer Sunbloom — maybe because Hatchmon is just too cute!