Interview with the Executive Producer of No Straight Roads 2

It’s that time of year again! The Six One Indie Showcase is in full swing and that means loads of amazing indies being shown off and, of course, we’ve got more developer interviews for you. We sent some questions over to the team at No Straight Roads and Executive Producer Idir Alexander Ould Braham was kind enough to answer them.

A huge thank you to Idir and the team at No Straight Roads 2 for being a part of our September showcase and allowing us to show off an awesome trailer for the game.

• Can you tell me a little bit about the team behind No Straight Roads 2?

  Hi Harry, thanks for having us in the September Showcase. I am Idir Alexander Ould Braham, Executive Producer of No Straight Roads 2 at Metronomik. I joined in 2018, helped build the first NSR demo for TGS that year, then presented it at Paris Games Week. I work hand in hand with Wan Hazmer, our CEO and Game Director, to align the vision, protect the quality bar, and keep the train on time. As Executive Producer, I steer budget and cash flow, shape the roadmap and milestones, review builds and manage risk, recruit and coordinate partners, negotiate with publishers and platform holders, guide marketing and PR, and oversee localization in French and Spanish. I also jump into the booth as a voice actor when needed.

  Metronomik is a Malaysia based studio where music is design, not wallpaper. We keep a tight core and bring in specialists when it truly raises quality. Dune in the Sky supports our cinematics and combat animation, and we collaborate with trusted partners for assets and audio while keeping creative direction in house. We build in Kuala Lumpur, drink a lot of kopi, and believe Malaysia boleh is not just a slogan.

  After we finished the free No Straight Roads Christmas Edition, we began development on Ondeh Ondeh in parallel. That project sharpened our pipeline and our musical instincts for NSR2.

• How did the idea for a sequel come about? Were there any notable sources of inspiration that helped the decision making?

  The spark was June 2022. A few days after our Final Fantasy Nine x NSR concert in Lyon, we were driving back to Paris. In the car were Wan Hazmer, Rie Matsuura, our friend Samir Cherraben from Capcom France, and me. We looked at each other and said, we should do NSR2. I told Hazmer, give me five days and we will have a proposal for Fireshine.

  We took it first to our original publisher Fireshine Games, previously Sold Out, since they had first right of refusal. They passed, so we stayed quiet. In January 2023 I met Darin Ito, who was scouting for Shueisha Games. After meeting their team, we agreed to start a prototype for GDC 2023 and to aim for a vertical slice in July 2024. That is how the runway began.

  Creatively, NSR2 is our second album moment. Same soul, higher craft, better pacing and readability, deeper combat, more variety. A little Tokyo discipline, a lot of Kuala Lumpur heart. Merci, arigatou, and terima kasih to the community that keeps us honest.

• No Straight Roads 2 shows a slew of fantastic guest artists. How did you pick and invite them?

  We begin with the moment we want the player to feel. Character, location, confrontation. Then we brief the music to serve gameplay. James Landino and Falk Au Yeong lead curation and outreach. They speak both languages, music and game design, so artists understand the mission. We are not asking for a track. We are asking for a scene to be expressed through music.

  So for now we have James Landino, Falk Au Yeong, Garrett Williamson, and Midas Klare (Inverted Silence), with more to reveal. The goal is a coherent, genre diverse soundtrack that moves the experience, not decorates it.

• How is customization within the game balanced with the adventure you want to showcase to players?

  Player expression grows with the story. You can switch characters in real time to solve puzzles, open unique routes, and chain combat. Your tour van acts as an upgradeable base that evolves as the band grows. We pace unlocks so your choices feel earned and the authored adventure stays clear, readable, and punchy. The roster includes four playable characters. Mayday and Zuke return, Casey joins on keyboards, and one more member remains a mystery for now. Comme il faut, a little tease never hurts.

• What does indie mean to you?

  Indie is a promise and it is hard mode. You build the budget, plan A, plan B, plan C, and you ship in an ocean of great games where attention is the rarest resource. You navigate politics that can help or hurt. Store features, showcase slots, certification timing, regional ratings, partner priorities. Sometimes doors open, sometimes you wait in the corridor with your croissant and your patience.

  The market is more digital with fewer physical runs, which changes cash flow and marketing beats for most of publishers… But we are old style, so we want to keep it like in the 2010’s. Platform deals are tools, not dogma. An Epic Games Store exclusivity can fund runway and was essential to the success of NSR1. Xbox Game Pass or PS Plus can supercharge awareness and word of mouth, but timing, content cadence, and messaging must be right.

  So for us, indie means stay lean, choose constraints, keep optionality until a deal truly serves the game and the team. Bring in specialists when it raises quality, keep the vision unified, and stay accountable to players. If something sings, we own it. If something misses, we own that too. We are aiming higher, we are learning, and we are very alive to the conversation with players.

No Straight Roads 2 is available to wishlist on Steam now.