DokeV is perceived as a pokemon-like and has captured the attention of players with its colors, stunning graphics and almost epic battles. Players see great similarities to Pokémon in it, but are Dokebi (the monsters in the world) really that similar to Pokémon?
Monsters from Korean folklore
In Pokémon, the monsters are not really all taken from Japanese folklore, even if there are some (we think in particular of Feunard which has similarities to the Kistune, Ramoloss which looks like the Sazae, Fantominus to the priest Sogen and many others). Right here, Sangyoung Kim claims that the monsters of DokeV, named Dokebi are entities inspired by legendary creatures from Korean mythology and folklore.
To create these monsters, Changkee Nam, one of the developers, told us that he referred to many Korean folk tales to design the Dokebi. You saw a Dokebi that looks like a pink anteater in the video, but it’s not really an anteater. It is based on the concept of “Bulgasari”, an imaginative bear-like creature that eats iron.
The large bird flying in the sky is also based on the concept of “Eoduksini”, which represents darkness in folk tales.
In Dokkaebi folklore there is an interesting hat called “Dokkaebi Gamtu (hat)”. The Dokkaebi Gamtu has the effect of making the user’s body transparent, which has been reinterpreted as your body becomes transparent when you fly in the sky with an umbrella, making it invisible to other people.
But what are the Dokkaebi?
The Dokebi in DokeV are actually spiritual creatures found in Korean folklore. We are quite far from the Pokémon monsters which currently tend not to have too much connection with mystical creatures as of yesteryear (we think of Sorbébé, Monorpale, Sinistrail and many others). However, for Pokémon, you might think that this is inspiration from several tales from around the world, while the dokebi are imaginary beings straight from the land of the tiger.
In the game, these monsters feed on people’s dreams and live next to them. Many are the people who cannot see them. Conversely, in the Pokémon universe, anyone can see them, but training them is another matter.
Do we really collect monsters on DokeV?
Unlike Pokémon, our goal is not to catch all monsters. In DokeV, our goal will be to free the dokebi who are under the yoke of a company that uses AI. These androids will “capture” the dokebi to use them without their knowledge. Therefore, our goal will not be to collect dokebi, but to come to their aid.
The fights take the form of a single story where our goal will be to find clues in the world of DokeV to determine which monster needs help, to neutralize the android robot and stabilize the dokebi inside using a vacuum cleaner. Some dokebi are relatively easy to obtain, while others require special conditions. So it will be fun to meet and learn about the history of each Dokebi.
Because of this, there is still a nice difference between Pokémon and DokeV when it comes to monsters. Although it might seem like a Pokémon-like, it really isn’t.
As part of an interview with the Pearl Abyss team, in charge of DoveV development, we had the chance to learn a little more about the world of DokeV, especially the ubiquitous Korean culture in the game.
DokeV is Pearl Abyss’ next game and the kids this time around are set to save the world in a way. Why such a choice ? The developers answer us on this subject.