The maker of Phantom Blade 0 believes that unique cultural themes are notable for video games and should not be diluted for an international target audience.
Liang Qiwei (aka Soulframe), who is also the CEO of developer S-Recreation, discussed the topic with eastern website 4Gamer at today’s Tokyo Game Show (thanks Automaton).
The upcoming near-motion recreation has a “kung-fu punk” aesthetic, described as “using kung-fu and martial arts as the core and clothing them with popular culture.”
Additionally, Qiwei suggested that having a difficult-to-understand theme is part of the appeal to a global audience, comparing the game to Game Science’s Unlit Untruth: Wukong, which has achieved monumental success.
“If we look at recent titles, Black Myth: Wukong had to overcome a much bigger hurdle than our game in terms of culture, as it is completely based on a classic work of Chinese literature,” Qiwei said.
“So [Game Science] You may run into this problem of players not understanding the cultural background. But in my opinion, the quality and gameplay experience of a game is its core. If you can achieve a high-quality, entertaining gaming experience, I think a difficult theme can be an advantage, not a disadvantage. If your game is entertaining, players will perceive unfamiliar themes as something new.”
He persevered: “The reason we Chinese gamers learn about Western and Eastern culture is because we had very fun Western and Eastern games as an access point. Little by little we became familiar with them. I doubt Chinese language-hungry gamers knew a lot about oriental samurai at first, and I don’t think they were particularly in favor of them, but since there were so many good games about them, they are now identified mainly as a pop theme.
“So, again, if the game itself is interesting, the feeling that its themes are strange can be an advantage, rather than a barrier. I think it is a very strong advantage that attracts more players.”
It’s surely a lovely speed, considering one complaint about Unlit Untruth: Wukong was once its disjointed narrative that relied on the wisdom of the copy it’s based on. Likewise, this may have fueled renewed interest within copying, especially outside of China.
Phantom Blade 0 has been compared to From Device’s Cloudy Souls games, although Qiwei insisted that the game is not a soulslike despite some influence.
I was invited to play Phantom Blade 0 at Gamescom and loved its eerie stop-driven movement.
