Over the summer, I drew this samurai guy and started thinking of gameplay and making something out of the aesthetic. It wasn't the best way to start since I didn't start with gameplay however the aesthetic was broad enough to be able to apply it to anything.
Gameplay came next. Since this was my first, I wanted to keep things simple. I looked at other games I liked and copied them. Games like hyper light drifter, nuclear throne and radio the universe. By looking at other game mechanics I could focus on learning how to implement them properly rather than focus on designing something crazy that I had no idea how to do.
I then expanded on the aesthetic. There were a lot of eastern and particularly Japanese influences. I started looking at Japanese mythology and folklore. I liked the idea that there would be these demons that would taunt you while you were playing. That's what those heads are above. It was at this point that I started getting serious about pixel art.
The yellow also plays a big part. I wanted a big eye catching colour that allows the sprites to stand out. The game is also a bit bloody and I think the yellow compliments the red nicely. Strangely enough it reminds me of the opening titles to some of Quentin Tarantino's movies.
Maybe I was thinking about the way he directs his action sequences subconsciously. For example, Kill Bill has a lot of Japanese influences and a bright yellow protagonist. It's also extremely bloody.
It was also at this point I gave myself some basic rules I had to follow. There actually has to be game mechanics and they have to work. The focus should be on game design. The player should always be considering or doing something. The player should experience something different, he is in a fantastical world doing strange things. There will be a variety of enemy types.
So I had rules, gameplay and aesthetic but no story. It doesn't have to make sense however some context is nice. The story was the most difficult part since it had to explain the world, why you were there, why these things were taunting you and a variety of other things. I wanted modern elements coming through in the environment and characters as well as the folklore and elements from the past.
The story follows. You play as a bad man who has died and has been sentenced to clearing the bad spirits that reside in people's homes. This explains everything while adding some themes I didn't think of. I'll get into that later since this blog post is getting long.
Anyway this is where I am currently, well done if you read it all :D
