New Famitsu interview just dropped!
🔴Here are the highlights:
• BLOOD RAIN is a direct sequel to Stellar Blade and takes place in the future of the original game's world 🌎
• The protagonist is Evie , not Eve, although Kim Hyung-tae confirmed the two are related!
• The main goal is on making Evie a more memorable character than Eve. And "surpass" Eve's charm 🍑
• Evie is a member of a special forces unit investigating a major terrorist attack and hunting a mysterious culprit
• Combat shifts to fast-paced hand-to-hand fighting. Swords and other weapons can be unlocked trough story progression⚔️
• Side activities will return, and SHIFT UP aims to make them more substantial than in the original game
• The game is being self-published by SHIFT UP , with the goal of reaching players worldwide Led by @Dadedd
• Development is still in its early stages - just 1 year so far!
• A NIKKE collaboration could be possible??
• Kim Hyung-tae teased "EVE 05" on his shirt, which could signify that Evie belongs to the 5th Airborne Squad 🛡️
source: https://t.co/Eyb9W61Vn8🔴🔴
—First of all, why “Stellar Blade: Bloodrain” instead of “Stellar Blade 2”?
Hyun-tae: It’s the studio’s philosophy. We didn’t want to just tack on a “2” and call it a day; we wanted to give it a proper title.
—Could you tell us about the backstory of the new protagonist, “Evie”? What does “CDDP” on Evie’s back mean?
Hyun-tae: Evie currently belongs to a special forces unit tracking a group responsible for major terrorist attacks in the city. As for CDDP, since it could be a spoiler for the story, I can’t discuss it at this time.
—Let’s be honest—there’s a connection between Eve and Evie, right?
Hyun-tae: There is. But the nature of that connection is a secret.
—In the previous game, Eve primarily used swords and guns, but Evie focuses on hand-to-hand combat. Why did the combat style change?
Hyun-tae: We felt that if she used a sword from the start, it would be difficult to show a significant change from the previous game. Therefore, to highlight the difference by having the smaller-framed Evie perform powerful melee attacks, we’ve chosen to focus on close-quarters combat this time.
Although it doesn’t appear in this trailer, there will be scenes where she uses a sword. As the story progresses, she’ll naturally be able to use more weapons and skills, but rather than just adding weapons indiscriminately, we plan to give each weapon a reason for existing as part of the story, making combat more engaging.
—There was a scene where Evie walks down the street, crosses a crosswalk, and chases after the main suspect. Can you explore that area? In the demo, it looked linear (a single path).
Hyun-tae: Yes, you can actually enter some of the shops on the side, but that area is definitely linear. However, I’d like to keep you in suspense regarding how the city is structured in future gameplay, so I’ll leave it at that for now. Please look forward to seeing just how captivating we can make the city.
—The graphics and evasion mechanics seem different, but the UI looks similar to the previous game. What has changed and what has remained the same in the game?
Hyun-tae: I don’t think there’s much that hasn’t changed. We also plan to modify the UI to make it easier for everyone to see. However, since we’ve only been in development for about a year, we can’t show you a fully polished UI yet, so we’re using the existing UI for now. We’ve carried over all the key gameplay elements from the previous title and plan to improve them significantly from there.
—There was a vending machine in the trailer. Will there be side content like can collecting and fishing again this time?
Hyun-tae: Of course there will be side content, and one of our goals is to make it even more robust than in the previous game.
—Along with developing this new title, you’ll be self-publishing for the first time and launching globally from Korea. Do you have a strategy for bringing this game to people around the world?
Hyun-tae: We don’t have any specific strategies to share at this point; we’re currently in the process of solidifying our foundation while seeking business partners. However, based on our experience with the previous title, we believe it’s important to integrate our publishing philosophy with our game development philosophy, which is why we decided to take on self-publishing. We want to reach as many players around the world as possible.
—If 100% completion were the benchmark, at what stage would you say the current development progress is?
Hyun-tae: It’s very difficult to answer that in terms of a percentage. While the art direction and background styling are pretty much finalized, there’s still a lot of work to be done on aspects like the latter half of the story and the depth of the combat.
Therefore, it’s difficult to give an exact progress estimate, but since we have even greater ambitions regarding the game’s scale and scope of expansion compared to the previous title, I’d say we’re still in the early stages of development overall.
--What platforms will this game be available on?
Hyun-tae: We haven’t finalized the platforms yet, but we plan to do our best to make it available to as many users as possible.
—The previous title was hugely popular in Japan. One reason was the game’s inherent fun, but the characters were also very sexy. ‘NIKKE’ is also very popular in Japan—is it a goal for ‘Stellar Blade: Bloodrain’ to surpass the sexiness of the previous title?
Hyun-tae: Our goal is to surpass Eve’s appeal. Of course, I really like Eve’s appearance as well, but we’re focusing on creating a character that players can truly love from the heart, rather than relying solely on physical appeal.
Using the lessons I learned from interacting with users through *NIKKE* and building relationships with characters, I’m working to make Evie a truly captivating character.
-- Is there any collaboration planned with *NIKKE*?
Hyun-tae: I’m not sure yet, but if the opportunity arises, I’d like to ask the *NIKKE* team about it (laughs).
That concluded the interview, and finally, it was time for a photo session with Hyun-tae. Up until that point, Hyun-tae had been wearing a jacket the whole time, but when he changed into a SHIFT UP T-shirt, he suddenly turned around and showed off his back...