The Kickstarter campaign for Koji Igarashi’s new game, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, is now live.
Bloodstained is a 2.5D exploration action platformer built on Unreal Engine 4 for PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox One and PS4, developed with the cooperation of Inti Creates (Mega Man 9, Mighty No. 9, Azure Striker Gunvolt). Composer Michiru Yamane is also on board.
Backstory
At the end of the eighteenth century, rapid scientific progress dismissed magic as superstition and the world turned material. The Alchemist Guild, which had built its standing on research fusing science and magic, feared losing its privileges and spread the word that abandoning the spiritual world would summon demons.
Science did not stop, and the alchemists went too far. They gathered orphans, fused them with magic to create Shardbinders, and sacrificed them to summon hell to earth. The experiment succeeded, and a year later the guild was suddenly destroyed. Ten years on, a monstrous castle appeared on the ruins, wreathed in immense magic.
Shards
Shards are alchemically refined crystals that absorb magic, fused into human bodies by secret rites. As a side effect, the crystal slowly consumes the flesh. Because shards of the same color bind together, they come to resemble roses.
Characters
Miriam (player): 18. Taken in by alchemists and subjected to their rites as a child, she slept in a coma for ten years and so escaped the summoning ritual. Quiet, strong-willed and sharp, she is pained that her fellow Shardbinders are bringing misery to the world.
Gebel (antagonist): 30. The sole survivor of the summoning sacrifice, he destroyed the guild in revenge, then, realizing he was no longer human, called a castle up from hell to make a place for himself. Half of his body has crystallized with demonic power.
Johannes (support): 30. An alchemist of the fallen guild and Gebel’s closest friend, the only one who opposed summoning hell. He continues his research out of remorse and a desire to stop Gebel, and his formula is what holds Miriam’s crystallization at bay.
The shard crafting system
Refine the magic dropped by enemies into crystals and turn it into your own abilities. Defeated enemies drop materials; rarely, a glowing one appears, and crafting it grants that enemy’s own attack magic. Every enemy has a unique spell.
The campaign runs until June 12 with a goal of $500,000. The game already has partial funding; Kickstarter money goes toward the production budget and, for the first time as a Kickstarter reward, physical Xbox One and PS4 discs for backers.
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