Metal Max Xeno: Reborn's dev team talks enhanced features, opening the game up, and other tweaks

4Gamer recently had the chance to interview Metal Max series creator Hiroshi Miyaoka, Metal Max Xeno Reborn producer Juntaro Kouno, and director Yuusuke Tomono. You can see a summary of the info from that interview below.

- the game's delay was due to an expansion in scope for the remake
- the team wanted to not only refresh Metal Max Xeno, but also the entire Metal Max series as a whole
- this was partially because of the reactions from fans during the series anniversary event
- as development continued, the team sensed that there was a new possibility via the new action-based tank battle system
- members felt that the game could become something even greater than a simple remake a
- the team was too focused on creating a regular JRPG during the original game, and were dragged down by a more linear feel
- the development team decided to delay the game, go wild, and create something more fun
- when the game was announced, it was revealed that the experience would be more free-roaming
- the game is much more open than before, so as long as you complete your main story objective
- the skill system has been changed to involve a skill tree
- the team developed this title with the image of what Metal Max would have been like if it was a 3D game from the beginning
- more on-foot sections have been added and skill ranges are more defined and strict
- overworld movement speed been adjusted
- there will be no limits to where you can go, no matter how low-leveled you are
- riding in the right vehicle could mean evading unnecessary fights
- character design change is a result of and due to the changed UI, which is much more grounded and subdued
- Po-M is playable in Metal Max Xeno Reborn
- while she doesn’t gain skill points even when leveling up, she has her own android-based growth tree
- she’s voiced by Mizuki Tosaka
- her skills are an amalgam of other skills from other characters, representing growth from a robot into something more human
- she can even use Steal on enemies