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ESGS 2016: Koji Igarashi talks about 'Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night'


This year’s Electronic Sports and Gaming Summit (ESGS) was a bundle of pleasant surprises. And if you consider yourself a “Castlevania” nut, you were probably overjoyed to hear that Koji Igarashi, one of gaming’s most esteemed personalities, was going to be a special guest at the event.

 


Well, Igarashi did come to ESGS 2016, and for three days, he hung around at the ArtPlay booth to promote his new game, “Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.” The line at said booth was often long; many were eager to play the “Bloodstained” demo, which looked and felt every bit the spiritual successor to “Castlevania: Symphony of the Night” – the game Igarashi helped create, therefore launching his name into the gaming stratosphere.

As busy as Igarashi was, he was kind enough to spare some time to answer this writer’s questions about “Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.”

 

A confluence of oldschool and modern

“Bloodstained” is a curious confluence of the old and the new. It features beautiful 3D graphics, like many of today’s games, but plays like a classic, side-scrolling “Metroidvania.”

Igarashi is confident that “Bloodstained’s” oldschool design is one of its greatest strengths.

“Through Kickstarter I asked people what they wanted me to make,” he said. “We got more than $5 million in funding for ‘Bloodstained.’ That was the answer I got. There are still so many fans looking forward to this oldschool 2D-style platformer game. So this type of game is still relevant in the gaming scene.”

Yes, “Bloodstained” began life as a humble Kickstarter campaign. In its first day alone, however, it managed to accumulate over $1 million in funding. Thanks to around 65,000 backers, it eventually grossed over $5.5 million, and went on to become one of Kickstarter’s most funded games.

Igarashi chose the Kickstarter route because most Japanese game companies are currently too obsessed with the mobile game market to fund a project like “Bloodstained.” Igarashi didn’t want to make a mobile game, so he sought funding elsewhere.

Once the Kickstarter campaign was underway, Igarashi and his team listened closely to all fan input on “Bloodstained.” This way, they were able to tailor the product to meet the expectations of the gamers.

The result is a game very much like “Castlevania,” but unique enough to stand on its own.

For starters, like the “Castlevania” series, “Bloodstained” is inspired by Western Gothic horror. It’s steeped in the occult, and is set in an enormous castle brimming with horrific monsters and deadly traps.

“What’s different is that while ‘Castlevania’ has a world revolving around vampires and mainly Dracula, ‘Bloodstained’ revolves around alchemy, crystals, and shards,” he explained.

So why this focus on alchemists?

“I thought about alchemists and the era in which they existed – the Industrial Revolution. Then I asked myself who’d feel the most negative about the Industrial Revolution, and I realized it’s the alchemists. When I thought about the Industrial Revolution and its effect on the people who rely on magic, the occult, and the supernatural, it inspired me to create a game about the relationship between the two.”

When creating the game’s main villain, Igarashi decided to take a wholly different approach.

“In ‘Castlevania,’ Dracula is the main enemy,” he said. “But in ‘Bloodstained,’ I wanted to make the main enemy similar to the main character. So the main enemy in ‘Bloodstained’ is Gebel, and he’s a human made from alchemy, a human-made person. I wanted to make the main villain similar to the main character, in that they are both afflicted with the same curse.”

Gebel will be voiced by David Hayter, who voiced “Metal Gear Solid’s” Solid Snake for over a decade.

 


“Bloodstained” also features an interesting mechanic that ties in neatly with the story.

“The main character, Miriam, is slowly turning into crystal. The crystals are called ‘shards,’ which are actually a form of demon power that she accumulates. Using these shards, she can cast magic, and use special abilities in battle.” 

The Shards system allows players to customize their playstyle. Miriam gains shards from defeated enemies, and can then use those shards to empower her chosen weapons and magic.

Miriam may not have the iconic “Castlevania” whip, but she’ll have an arsenal of cool weapons at her disposal.

 


“Multiple kinds of weapons and armor will be available for Miriam to equip,” explained Igarashi. “Each weapon will have its own merits and demerits. Each will have the ability to do certain powerful things, but it’ll also have a weakness.”

Miriam also levels up with experience, helping her grow stronger.

In summary, while “Bloodstained” is like “Castlevania,” it boasts a new setting and a roster of unique characters, as well as a host of new features that will introduce depth and complexity to a tried-and-true system. So while familiar to “Castlevania” fans, it comes with enough fresh ideas to make it feel like the long-awaited evolution of a beloved franchise.

“Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night” doesn’t have a release date yet, but Igarashi hopes for it to be out within the first six months of 2018. It’ll be available for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One, Wii U, and PC.

“(‘Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night’) is a game that was inspired by a series I worked on for years,” stated Igarashi. “I want to bring this experience to fans, and I hope everyone will enjoy it.”

An industry legend

Igarashi was the assistant director of “Castlevania: Symphony of the Night,” which is often considered the best “Castlevania” game, and one of the greatest games ever made. Between 2001 and 2010, Igarashi also produced over a dozen “Castlevania” titles, a number of which were lauded as some of the best entries in the series. Examples of these games are 2002’s “Harmony of Dissonance”; 2003’s “Aria of Sorrow”; 2005’s “Dawn of Sorrow”; 2006’s “Portrait of Ruin”; and 2008’s “Order of Ecclesia.”

Igarashi left Konami in 2014. He is now working with Inti Creates to develop “Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.” The game will be published by 505 Games.

ESGS 2016, which is one of Southeast Asia’s biggest gaming celebrations, was Igarashi’s first convention in the Philippines. — TJD, GMA News

Tags: esgs, esgs2016
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