Think about the things you loved about gaming that are difficult to do today. Whether it’s playing something that’s truly original and distinctive, or just playing something that respects your skill and perseverance as a player; something truly challenging that doesn’t hold your hand.
But as video game technology becomes more advanced, the industry shifts away from craft and toward handholding every player as if they were a preschooler with an overactive bladder.
Brotherhood of the Wolf is our sword & sorcery series set in the 15th century Ottoman Empire. We’ve been telling that story through graphic novels and prose, and we’re exploring creating a high-skill, high-pressure 2D combat soulsbourne game because people consume worlds in different media. But I’m not interested in slapping Brotherhood of the Wolf characters onto a Castlevania remake. The point isn’t to retell an old game people liked with a different skin.
1.) We want to create something original. We won’t fall into the “normgroid friendly” trap and sand off what made the best arcade games distinctive. Our goal: preserve what was great about arcade style gaming AND do something new.
2.) We’re not making the game easy. A lot of games have become tutorials where puzzles are “guide bait”. Guide bait, if you don’t know, is deliberately obscure mechanics that force players to wikis. That’s not clever design. It’s cynical. We’re making the game sufficiently challenging, but the challenge comes from player skill, not player goodwill.
3.) We’re not being fake. We are gamers ourselves. We won’t make games in genres we don’t like because you don’t want people making decisions who don’t play games (duh). That’s how you get slop. I hate slop almost as much Pete Hegseth hates Alcholics Anonymous.
We’re in the prototype phase. In the meantime, immerse yourself in Brotherhood of the Wolf. Grab the graphic novels. The video game will be a continuation of that story, not a retelling.
Get ’em here: https://talesofkhayr.com/blood-tax/
-Wes