Bokeh Game Studio co-founder and creative director Keiichiro Toyama on returning to horror by way of Chinese folklore, Hong Kong cinema and past games.
As the director behind the original Silent Hill and the Siren series, it's probably not surprising that Keiichiro Toyama's first game from Bokeh Game Studio is a return to horror. Developers striking out to make their own studios have repeatedly returned to genres they're already known for—sometimes because they were ideas they'd been noodling on before they left.
In an interview with Game Developer, Toyama explained he'd been thinking about the concept before his departure from Sony, which followed the closure of Japan Studio.
Yet this game about supernatural monsters taking over humans and hiding in plain sight until their grotesque forms burst out from the head to devour their victims' brains is not just a retread of the past. Although Slitterhead has you starting off weak and struggling to survive against its horrifying monsters, it quickly unleashes a diverse cast of characters that have the power to not just fight back but actively hunt them.
"My original inspiration wasn't to survive the threat of the Slitterheads, but to be able to overpower them with supernatural abilities and skill," Toyama explains. That's revealed early on in the game when, as a mysterious spirit, later referred to as Night Owl, you're able to possess and body-hop between different NPCs but eventually encounter "Rarities," humans who the spirit is able to create a unique bond with and grant their conscious host unique abilities.
Speaking of his unusual influences, Toyama mentions his affection for seinen manga, in particular Tokyo Ghoul, whose protagonist becomes a half-ghoul who then also must consume human flesh in order to survive. However, the book the concept had sprung from goes further back, Liaozhai Zhiyi's Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, a collection of short stories written between the early 1670s and early 1700s. One of these short stories introduces the Yegouzi, a supernatural creature with the body of a human and the head of a dog that eats human brains. "I had borrowed the idea and thought the contrast of having them disguised as humans in a crowded city would be a good setting for a horror-themed game."
That crowded city in question is Kowlong, a fictional version of Hong Kong, with Kowloon Walled City as its key inspiration. A densely populated urban setting is certainly unexpected given that horror tends to take place in more remote and isolated environments, but it makes sense for a game where players can jump between and control a multitude of hosts where the whole city is essentially able to fight back against the enemy hidden among them.
Demolished in the early 1990s, Kowloon Walled City has reached a mythical status over the years, depicted in Shenmue II and the inspiration behind the location in Stray. It has undoubtedly endured in Toyama's imagination even when he had visited Hong Kong for on-site research. "I had a sense of regret that I wasn't able to see the city as it once was, so the desire to bring this unique setting to life had always been there," he says.
If anything, it's Hong Kong cinema from the 1990s that served even more inspiration, and perhaps why Kowlong also takes its design from the still-present Kowloon City, iconic for its neon signs and high-rises that caused planes to fly over dangerously close during their descent to the old Kai Tak Airport.
Image via Bokeh Game Studio.
Exploring the perpetual night time of Kowlong's chaotic streets, dark alleyways, and seedy underbelly stacked on floors of cramped and rundown housing conjures images of Chungking Mansions depicted in Wong Kar Wai's 1994 film Chungking Express, while the introduction of rarity Alex riding on a motorcycle through a tunnel even feels like a callback to a scene in 1995's Fallen Angels.
Yet while one might expect Kowlong to be depicted as an open world city, the team was also getting to grips with learning the ins and outs of Unreal, having long been used to working with Sony's proprietary engines. Although many open world games are made with Unreal, a key issue had been with memory due to all the NPCs populated the city. "Due to memory load, we opted for a mission-based structure," says Toyama. "I believe this decision actually allowed us to have more control over the pacing of the game progression."
For all the bold choices Slitterhead opts for, from a diverse ensemble with equally diverse abilities and movesets, such as Tri, an Indian housemaid who fights with oven mitts, or Betty, an old lady evidently named after the late Queen of England, who fights with a cane, there is nonetheless much of the DNA from Toyama's past works the team was able to learn from.
The ensemble cast makes it something of a spiritual successor to Siren, including the first game's use of a time-looping structure as the story progresses. The ability to switch between character perspectives through possession is essentially an evolution of that series' sightjacking mechanic, which even has an explicit nod in certain moments when players can sightjack to see from a Slitterhead's point of view in order to track down their location.
Yet perhaps the most unusual inspiration isn't from horror at all. Toyama says, "The experience with Gravity Rush was valuable for this project, as we'd drawn on level design that utilizes verticality, as well as the experience of having numerous interactive NPCs." On reflection, the ability to possess and hop between NPCs in order to reach paths blocked by a fence or up to a rooftop isn't all too dissimilar and unusual as getting around by changing the directional pull of gravity.
Image via Bokeh Studio
This also marks Toyama's reunion with composer Akira Yamaoka since the two were employed by Konami when developing Silent Hill. "In both our youths, we went through the process of understanding one another's way of approaching the concept, so this time I had absolutely no concerns for Yamaoka-san, who I know has spent so much time playing through the game to make iterations and worked hard to convey the unique atmosphere of the game."
While there's some menacing sound design that will be familiar with Silent Hill's Otherworld, the score regularly shifts in direction, from the adrenaline of rock during exhilarating chase and combat sequences to dreamlike and noirish soundscapes in between missions. That there's also two original Cantopop songs adds to the feeling of being immersed in a Wong Kar Wai film.
Put together, Slitterhead is a radically different creation, showing that while Toyama may be returning to horror, he's not just content with doing what's expected.
Toyama reminds us that through his past works, he's always been consistent when it comes to having a desire and approach to create something unique and unfamiliar. He concludes, "While I do strongly hope that many people can have a chance to play Slitterhead, I hope that people familiar with my work will be able to resonate with that same, distinctive atmosphere we try to convey."
You May Also Like
