“KIA ORA!” | A Conversation With DESTRUCTION ALLSTARS Hana

I absolutely lost my cool upon discovering the character Hana in Destruction AllStars.

It may be small-island thinking, but I’m always so proud when I see Aotearoa presented in media. Especially so, if the medium is video games. So as I booted up Destruction AllStars when it went live for the PS5, and scrolled through its characters, you bet I was gonna lose it at Hana.

I’ll admit that at first I thought “Wait…is that Hana…OR HANA” (IYKYK). Then I saw the character bio. Then they spoke. And then the commentators said “Hana”, in the way only Te Reo can be said. And then I knew, that this character I was playing as, was Maori. I had truly packed it in by this point. My serotonin was through the roof. And the tweet reflected this.

So I had to reach out to some of the people who made this wahine toa come to life; The people who gave breath to Hana. And this is about when Acushla-Tara Kupe had discovered my tweet.

She lets out a lofty “KIA ORA!” as we descend into my admiration of Hana. Noting the sense of love and appreciation for the character and culture, I wondered if she picked up on this when she read for the role. “I did a little on the character, and her backstory really resonated with me—I thought that connection would come through, and it has!” I have to agree, as they come across as wholly Māori and Kiwi while they travel the map. “I knew I was stoked to be playing a Māori character in the gaming world, but I don’t think I fully realized how powerfully it would represent me—and just how much that would mean to so many others.”

It’s hard not to agree with the sentiment. The presentation of Hana felt flawless to me. This mix of sensibilities from rural New Zealand, and where we as a people could head in future, is exciting. I asked Acushla if this was the same for her. “Absolutely! She just feels really human you know? The writing team did such a good job at ensuring she was a fully formed character with an interesting and deep history, and her own motivations. Only thing I would’ve changed, is I wish I could’ve snuck more reo in there, haha!”

At this stage, I had to declare that I KNEW I had heard Hana say “e hoa” in-game! “That you did! And that’s actually a great representation of why this character is more than a caricature”. Caricature through cultural appropriation has been an on-going conversation in video games for some time. This in turn, makes Hana feel even more real, as the person represented the culture, rather than our oft lifted taonga. “The voice director on this is Kirsty Gillmore, who’s an absolute boss! She’s a New Zealander too. So in the booth she let me play around with a lot of little improvs including ‘e hoa’, knowing where it felt right for both the character AND culture.”

Capturing he tangata, instead of appropriating it, pays off in respect earned. And yes, touching on marketing, respect usually does pay off. But respect is easier said than done, yet Lucid Games is up to the the task. “A massive ups to Lucid Games for creating such a wonderful group of characters!” says Kupe. “The cast is so incredibly diverse, and wonderfully individual”.

And maybe because of how unique this cast is, it makes me think about how much fun it seems like Hana has in game. “I wish we’d recorded the booth!”. It’s great to see this fun reflected in how they captured Kupe’s voice for Hana. “There was a lot of laughing and ridiculousness that went on during the recording of Hana. At the end of each session, I felt like I’d done a workout!”

The intersection for Hana and Kupe potentially meets there, as Acushla was an absolute joy to converse with. If you’d like to support her, then keep your eyes open! She has a TV show coming, and the upcoming video game As Dusk Falls. You can also see more of her at her website, and on Twitter!

And remember to check out Destruction AllStars, free now for PlayStation Plus subscribers, on the PlayStation Store!