5 Sep, 2011
Konami likes to be a little quirky, and that’s no different in their latest interview with Shinta Nojiri, the Producer and Games Designer for the upcoming NeverDead. Catching up at GamesCom, Nojiri talked about being immortal as the central theme of NeverDead‘s gameplay, and just how Bryce is possibly the ugliest demon hunter on the planet.
“I came up with the concept, an idea of NeverDead, to have an imperfect hero who wouldn’t die no matter how bad he is hurt,” said Nojiri. “He might not look cool or elegant, but he is so strong, and I wanted this to tie in with the gameplay. So even if he is in any sort of deadly situation, he continues to fight, and I wanted to make this into a game.”
Much like Enslaved, the power stops at only the main character. Bryce will be fighting alongside his partner Arcadia, who is very killable. Predictably, your job as the immortal protagonist is to protect your not-so-immortal sidekick.
“…this concept of immortality in NeverDead is not only for the story, but in gameplay as well,” said Nojiri. “Situations where you will die in other games is not the case for Bryce. He will use these situations to his advantage. So, fans of shooters games, and fans of action games, can use their experience from the past in this game, but also have a brand new experience as well.”
The story plays out simply enough. Bryce Boltzmann, who began his life (and career) 500 years ago, lost his wife to the Demon King of ye olde days. Since Bryce lost against this guy, he has also been cursed with immortality, and to live forever without his lifelong co-op buddy by his side. As you can imagine, this makes Bryce a very, very angry guy.
The game will be taking place largely in the present time, with the occasional flashback towards the past, said Nojiri. As it would happen, Bryce now works for an anti-demon agency and hunts small fries for pocket change. If there’s any potential for a Devil May Cry quip, now’s the time for it. And we can almost guarantee the bad fanfiction that’s about to happen. “There’s also an immortal demon on the enemy’s side who is kinda like Bryce’s rival, and his name is Sangria,” said Nojiri with a laugh.
With a name like “Sangria,” anyone would be laughing. It’s best to describe their rivalry on a first-name-only-nemesis level, as Nojiri revealed that Sangria was beaten by human Bryce over 500 years ago in a contest. Sangria hasn’t let that grudge go yet, and he’s chasing Bryce into the present day. A little over obsessive, perhaps?
Whether this quirky formula of exploding limbs, rolling heads, and continuous saving of a side character will become tiresome, we won’t know until the release of NeverDead. Get ready for some cheesy undead action this coming Winter on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Via Konami.
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