In December 2020, Keiichiro Toyama introduced the institution of Bokeh Game Studio, a brand new improvement firm he based along with choose cohorts from his days at Sony’s now defunct Japan Studio. With Toyama’s resume together with beloved titles like the unique Silent Hill, Siren and Gravity Rush, many followers had been wanting ahead to seeing his subsequent creation.
Now, 4 years later, Slitterhead is able to launch this November as Bokeh Game Studio’s debut title. I used to be lucky sufficient to truly play the horror motion journey sport, and you may learn my impressions in our unique preview article. Following my session with the sport, I interviewed Toyama in addition to producer Kazunobu Sato and sport director Junya Okura.
Many followers have been eagerly awaiting a brand new horror expertise from you. After enjoying the demo, I believed it was uncommon for a sport that leans so closely on horror parts to have a melee fight system. May you inform us the rationale behind this?
Keiichiro Toyama, Founder, Bokeh Game Studio: We wished gamers who get pleasure from trendy motion video games to have the ability to get pleasure from Slitterhead, so we aimed for a sport that’s straightforward to familiarise your self in case you are used to enjoying current video games.
Possessing and controlling a number of completely different characters capabilities as Slitterhead’s key mechanic. How did you give you this concept?
Toyama: With Slitterhead, we wished to reinterpret the idea we initially had for Siren. Through the years, Siren has grow to be considerably of a cult traditional, and I’m at all times honored once I hear folks say they wish to see it get revived. In Siren, you can dive contained in the mind of different characters by way of a characteristic we referred to as sightjacking. We wished to evolve this concept by making it attainable to own and freely transfer round as different characters. This grew to become the core of Slitterhead’s sport design.
It’s distinctive and fascinating from a gameplay perspective, however if you’re constantly possessing completely different characters, doesn’t it grow to be tough for the participant to know what or who they’re? How did you method this concept from a story standpoint?
Toyama: That’s one thing we’ve grow to be fairly good at by way of our earlier video games. Whereas there are parts that confuse the participant, I’m assured that gamers will get pleasure from Slitterhead’s story. At first you may not make sure of what you might be, however as you advance by way of the sport there’s an fascinating narrative and relatable characters.
While you’re reinterpreting Siren’s sport design in a contemporary means, the setting of Slitterhead is kind of completely different from Siren’s Japanese village.
Toyama: That’s proper. Slitterhead is ready in a fictional Asian metropolis in the course of the early Nineteen Nineties. Nostalgia for a world lengthy gone is one of the primary themes we had for town. For instance, many of the neon signal boards that was once so frequent in Asian cities are getting eliminated nowadays. In case you take a metropolis like Hong Kong, you may see how a lot has modified. The first time I visited Hong Kong was within the 2000s. If I had gone earlier, I may have seen airplanes fly proper above town to succeed in Kai Tak Airport, which was positioned within the center of town. Drawing inspiration from locations we’d have preferred to see or go is one thing we did lots in Slitterhead.
Wasn’t it tough to recreate sights and places that now not exist?
Toyama: It was positively difficult as there wasn’t at all times lots of documentation to work from. That stated, our environmental artists had been extraordinarily enthusiastic about recreating the scenes they had been impressed by. Some members even utilized to work with us as a result of they wished to design a metropolis like this. Some of them had been so devoted that they put actual-world particulars into the sport that I’m not even aware of!
Have been you additionally impressed by Hong Kong films from the ’90s?
Toyama: Positively. Once I was a pupil, Wong Kar-wai’s films grew to become fashionable. His films modified the way in which I checked out Hong Kong cinema. Once I was a child, Jackie Chan films had been the very first thing you’d take into consideration. I used to be captivated by the modernness and sweetness of Wong Kar-wai’s films.
I used to be impressed by the NPCs strolling the streets. They had been actually detailed and their trend and hairstyles completely matched town’s ambiance. I used to be much more stunned to truly have the ability to possess and stroll round as them.
Toyama: That’s nice to listen to. I feel there will not be many video games that will let you management this many characters. Within the authentic proposal, I wrote that each particular person within the metropolis needs to be a playable character. For sport design causes, we needed to restrict the quantity of characters you may possess, nevertheless it’s nonetheless lots. The movement differs relying on the character, so I hope gamers will get pleasure from feeling the distinction.
It’s a pleasant contact that the character you might be possessing at that second additionally seems throughout cutscenes.
Toyama: Sure, we tried to try this as a lot as attainable. There have been lots of difficulties upon doing this. For instance, bizarre stuff would occur for characters with completely different heights.
I received to play the start of the sport which had me discover town, and later the insides of a condominium constructing. Is Slitterhead an open world sport, or does it take a stage-based mostly construction?
Toyama: It’s stage based mostly. All the pieces takes place inside the metropolis, however relying on the stage you get to see completely different conditions and may expertise town from completely different angles.
How lengthy does the typical stage take, and the way lengthy does it take to beat all the sport?
Toyama: Levels are about half-hour lengthy. It ought to take gamers round 15 hours to see the credit roll. After that, you may benefit from the remaining challenges.
The levels I received to play had been each in the course of the nighttime. Are there any levels that play out in the course of the day?
Toyama: We narrowed the conditions right down to nighttime. It matches the ambiance of town higher, and if we had been to alter the time of the day we’d even have to alter the ambiance of characters, which might be lots of work. Additionally, daytime conditions are more difficult to slot in a horror sport.
Kazunobu Sato, Producer: Within the authentic proposal we did have some daytime conditions, however to make the expertise extra centered we determined to chop them.
Toyama: I feel we had about two or thrice the quantity of conditions within the authentic proposal.
Slitterhead has spectacular metropolis environments, horror parts, is narrowed right down to nighttime, and you may attain the highest of buildings. All this jogged my memory of Tango Gameworks’ Ghostwire: Tokyo. Did you discover the identical similarities when that sport was launched in 2022?
Toyama: Sure. Each (Shinji) Mikami and producer (Masato) Kimura are good associates of ours. Once I heard that they went by way of twists and turns to give you the sport they did, it was straightforward for me to know. I used to be shocked how properly Ghostwire: Tokyo’s Shibuya was crafted although… It’s type of scary to suppose that folks count on one thing of that high quality these days.
I personally thought that Slitterhead’s metropolis had an analogous quantity of element to it.
Sato: That’s nice to listen to. When Ghostwire: Tokyo launched, we had been within the midst of growing Slitterhead. Their remaining product was one thing that felt fairly near what we had been doing. Ghostwire: Tokyo is a primary-particular person shooter that takes place in Tokyo, whereas Slitterhead has melee fight in a culturally Chinese language setting, so that they’re clearly very completely different video games. That being stated, as a product there’s positively a similarity which I feel works to our profit. Throughout displays and so on, mentioning how Ghostwire: Tokyo turned out was a handy means for us to convey the picture of Slitterhead.
The monsters in Slitterhead are based mostly on Yegouzi, a supernatural being in Chinese language folklore. How did you give you this?
Toyama: I used to be impressed by monsters that seem in Japanese comics. Monsters that eat people seem very often, however that alone wouldn’t differentiate us sufficient. After wanting into it, I discovered about Yegouzi, a Chinese language monster that eats human brains, so I made a decision to flesh out that concept.
Did the thought of Yegouzi come first, or did you have already got the thought of an Asian metropolis earlier than that?
Toyama: The metropolis got here first. I wished to make a sport about an Asian metropolis by which a mysterious incident happens. When looking for an enemy that matches this setting, I discovered about Yegouzi.
Is there a big selection of enemy varieties within the sport’s completely different levels?
Toyama: We developed a really wealthy and sophisticated design for Yegouzi. We’re utilizing this design as the bottom for all enemy varieties, however we created lots of variation by giving it completely different appears, talents and so forth. Reasonably than creating a large variation of enemy’s from scratch, we’re utilizing one properly-developed design in several methods. Slitterhead is Bokeh Game Studio’s first sport, so this method was extra practical for us.
The metropolis of Slitterhead may be very detailed and properly designed. Why did you determine to have an motion-centered expertise slightly than focusing extra on journey and exploration?
Toyama: With video games like FromSoftware titles, many avid gamers at the moment are used to enjoying difficult and hardcore video games. With that in thoughts, I believed that so long as we make the motion really feel good there can be the potential for extra gamers to be concerned about our sport. Since I’m referred to as the creator of Silent Hill, I’m conscious of the truth that many individuals are hoping for one thing nearer to a horror journey sport. That makes me very honored, however the issue is that horror journey video games are type of much like extraordinarily spicy meals. Folks which might be into it adore it, however different folks don’t actually trouble to strive it out.
That’s why we determined to maintain the essence of horror video games whereas making a sport that feels good to play. After all we may have made a horror journey sport, however since many of our group members labored on the Gravity Rush collection, we already had a group that is aware of the best way to develop good motion gameplay. You will need to know what type of sport you wish to make, however eager about the potential and strengths of your group is vital as properly. With the group we at present have at Bokeh Game Studio, making a sport centered on motion simply appeared like the precise selection.
Whereas Slitterhead is especially centered on motion, I did get to get pleasure from some exploration parts throughout my playtime as properly. The sport began with a piece by which I needed to observe a visualized path of scent as a stray canine, and later I needed to roam town to search out misplaced recollections of the spirit that I used to be controlling. What different varieties of exploration can gamers count on?
Sato: Whereas certainly motion is the sport’s foremost component, there may be some exploration as properly. For instance, there’s a component by which Yegouzi is hiding in human type, and it’s a must to discover out which human physique it’s hiding in.
Junya Okura, Director: Because you don’t know what human physique Yegouzi is hiding in, it’s a must to go about and discover out by speaking to folks and discovering traces that result in it. It’s type of like an investigation half.
Does the sport have any aspect quests?
Toyama: With the restricted funds we’ve got, we determined to deal with the primary expertise slightly than increasing the expertise with non-obligatory content material.
Throughout fight, you may assault, block, dodge and deflect, masking all the usual bases for a contemporary motion sport. What’s it that makes Slitterhead’s fight distinctive?
Toyama: The proven fact that the character you’re controlling always adjustments. The foremost idea was my concept, however Okura – who was additionally the lead designer for Gravity Rush – created the sport system based mostly on that idea.
Okura: Toyama stated that he wished me to make the most of the possession mechanic as a lot as attainable. It made me suppose of what would occur in a sport in which you’ll be able to freely possess completely different characters in a metropolis. What type of gameplay may we create based mostly on that concept? Truly, we’ve got a number of foremost characters as properly, and I got here up with a system by which you turn between them. These foremost characters all have completely different traits and may use completely different abilities.
I received to play as a feminine character with claws in addition to a personality that makes use of Chinese language martial arts. It was enjoyable to have the ability to get pleasure from completely different movesets.
Toyama: Thanks. We gave every of these characters their very own background. For instance, one is a homeless man who was once knowledgeable boxer. The movement of their assaults match their backgrounds, so I hope that gamers can get pleasure from that selection. Additionally, within the sport’s proposal I wrote that the human physique is weak and needs to be disposed of as you struggle. That is one thing that Okura applied within the sport very properly.
Okura: The sport expects you to dispose of the our bodies that you’ve got managed. It really works in your benefit to sacrifice them as you play.
Toyama: We observed that many of the check gamers discovered this tough to get used to.
You get hooked up to the previous woman you’re controlling, proper?
Okura: Sure, you get hooked up to them and attempt to hold them alive. However really, sacrificing them works to your benefit.
Sato: When enjoying with the identical mindset as in different video games, you are inclined to attempt to defeat the enemy utilizing the identical character. That’s why we make it clear in the course of the tutorial that it’s OK to sacrifice our bodies. It’s fascinating to see gamers attempting to guard the lives of the characters they management at first, and the way they begin to care much less and fewer as they get used to the sport.
I performed the sport on Straightforward mode and had no actual difficulties defeating the sport’s enemies. How completely different are the Regular, Laborious and Nightmare problem modes?
Okura: Relying on the problem mode, the frequency and harm of enemy assaults change. That signifies that fight turns into more difficult, however journey elements keep the identical. Regular is the problem that we predict will swimsuit the typical participant finest, whereas Laborious is the problem we initially wished to go for. Nightmare is for individuals who need an actual problem. Truly, I’m making that one for myself! However it nonetheless isn’t so tough that gamers received’t have the ability to beat the sport.
Sato: Are you positive about that? For me it’s too tough!
Okura: Effectively, I do die a number of occasions myself (when enjoying on Nightmare mode)…
What had been some of the primary inspiration sources for Slitterhead?
Toyama: There’s lots, however I used to be particularly impressed by manga like Gantz, Parasyte and Tokyo Ghoul. Loads of folks die and the essence of horror is there, however on the similar time these manga are centered on battle motion, which I feel makes them extra accessible. Horror is kind of a hardcore style, so I checked out how these manga made horror extra approachable for a wider viewers. They’ve horror-like conditions by which you’re fearful {that a} sure character may die quickly, however on the similar time the battle motion element makes it extra entertaining for an informal viewers. That is an method distinctive to Japanese manga that I haven’t actually seen abroad, so I wished to convey that essence to online game format.
You’re collaborating with Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka for the primary in a very long time. How did this come to be?
Toyama: We had been saying to one another that we wished to do one thing collectively once more for a very long time, and with Slitterhead we lastly received the prospect. Working along with him once more made me understand simply how a lot of a genius he’s. I infrequently needed to direct him into the precise path. Each music he composed was an ideal match. For Slitterhead, he didn’t simply compose music however was in cost of the sport’s sound as a complete. The Cantonese pop music you hear in the course of the opening of the sport was composed by him as properly. I actually like that music. Yamaoka is likely to be finest recognized for dry rock music, however he’s really actually good at composing extra ethereal songs as properly. I feel the latter is properly represented in Slitterhead.
Slitterhead is ready to launch for not simply present gen consoles and PC, but in addition PS4. Are there any variations between the PS4 model and different platforms?
Toyama: Slitterhead might be loved in 4K with 60 fps on the opposite platforms, nevertheless it’s 1080p and 30 fps for the PS4 model. We didn’t need Slitterhead to be solely playable on excessive-finish PCs, but in addition on the center finish, which made it attainable to make it appropriate with PS4 as properly. Since Slitterhead shouldn’t be a AAA title, growing it as a sport that will solely be playable on the PS5 would have made it too costly. We determined to develop it on a practical scale and end the sport on time.
I feel it’s fairly uncommon to truly have a sport launched inside three or 4 years after opening a brand new studio nowadays.
Sato: I’m glad to listen to that. However certainly, if we had made one thing that solely runs on PS5, we most likely would have nonetheless been engaged on it proper now.
Toyama: I feel that the truth that we didn’t attempt to make a sport that may solely be performed on the latest {hardware} performed an enormous function. It was the very best factor to do given the scale of our studio and it made the sport accessible for extra gamers on the similar time.
Slitterhead is ready to launch on PS5PS4Xbox Collection X|S/PC (Steam/Epic Video games) on November 8, 2024.
Blogroll picture credit score: Esra Krabbe / IGN Japan.
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