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VA-11 Hall-A developer Sukeban Games has announced .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND, an “Active Time Action” game featuring a mix of real-time and turn-based combat. It will be available for PC via Steam. It will be playable for the first time at BitSummit Drift from July 19 to 21.
Here is an overview of the game, via Sukeban Games:
About
A new world and characters from the award-winning studio that brought you Cyberpunk Bartender Action: VA-11 Hall-A.
This is .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND.
Evade Attacks, Stop Time, and Kill ‘Em All
Featuring a mix of real-time and turn-based combat, .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND offers a captivating experience for players of all levels.
Getting Personal
Follow the raw tale of Reila Mikazuchi; a killing machine emerging from depression looking to rebuild her life doing what she knows best. A path well-traveled where the consequences are known, but is her biggest foe really in front of her gun?
Key Features
- Experience the tightly designed “Active Time Action” battle system, suitable for both newcomers and veterans.
- Explore seven meticulously crafted, atmospheric stages with hand-placed encounters, dialogues, and riddles.
- Enjoy detailed lo-fi visuals that enhance the texture of this rich cyberpunk world.
- Immerse yourself in a gripping storyline waiting to be uncovered.
And here are some additional details, via Sukeban Games’ Christopher Ortiz:
What is .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND?
An “Active Time Action” game, which sounds a little bit like nonsense but we like nonsense.
tl;dr, you move and dodge in real time while you wait for an Action bar to fill at a speed determined by character and weapon stats. Once that’s done you can then stop time and plan your offensive.
The genesis of the battle system can of course be traced back to a personal favorite of mine: Parasite Eve, but that’s about where comparisons end.
I’ll talk about this some other time.
The pitch: You play as Reila Mikazuchi; a washed out mercenary whose glory days are long gone. In a last attempt at grabbing life by the horns she decides to go back to the life, only to realize the real enemy isn’t in front of her gun.
—The game’s heroine Reila. Designed by me with help from Merengedoll.
The whole game plays out inside these highly atmospheric environments peppered with hand-placed encounters. You’ll be roaming around finding secrets hidden all over the game’s world, as well as talking to quite the unique cast of characters. Not to mention cool boss fights at the end of every level.
We’re currently aiming for seven chapters; five of which are currently playable from start to finish. Most of the features are already locked in, as well as the story. We highly doubt things will change much from this initial description though we never know… There’s always something we can get rid of to ship it within this lifetime.
Release When?
No idea. I don’t wanna give any time tables here as to not repeat a N1RV Ann-A situation (though we do have an internal one), but we hope it’s sooner rather than later. I was actually gonna wait until we had the entire game built before announcing it Officially, but selling games has become much harder. It’s not 2016 anymore, so if we want this game to have a chance we gotta start now and hoard those wishlists and shit.
In short: when it’s done.
Do expect monthly devlogs (I’ve been writing them for years now, though I’ve been behind for Very Good Reasons), and progress shots over at my Twitter account and Sukeban’s.
N1RV Ann-A?
No news in that front. Sorry. I know that’s the main event everyone wants to see, but .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND is significantly ahead in development, and I decided to dedicate my full attention to it for the foreseeable future. Once we ship it then the sky will be the limit.
Who’s Working on This?
That would be me as writer and director, with a friend who prefers to be anonymous as the programmer and co-creator (we came up with the story, gameplay and characters together maaany years ago). Merengedoll (of VA-11 Hall-A kids! fame), always the soldier, has been helping me out with character, enemy, boss and production design. Juneji (also from VA-11 Hall-A kids!) is doing the soundtrack and some 3D work; and for the first time ever we have someone managing our asses to move things forward at a nice pace.
If you’re familiar with my solo outing then you kinda know what to expect in terms of vibes and story; for better and for worse.
Stray Notes
For Those in Japan: Play It at Bitsummit Drift!
- Spanish, English and Japanese localizations are being planned for day one (hoping for more, but these three are the ones within our current bandwidth).
- No downloadable demo planned as maintaining a separate build will probably drive us crazy.
- After a couple reboots the current incarnation of the project has been under development for roughly two years, but if we wanna get cheeky, me and the programmer have been talking about doing something like this since high school. It really makes you think.
- VA-11 Hall-A, when it came to my contributions to its visuals and atmosphere, was very much a pastiche of inspirations both subtle and in-your-face. This time around I’ve been trying to isolate my brain from external influences as much as possible outside of the initial spark for the battle system and other mechanics. Games take a lot of work to make, so I’d like to deliver a uniquely “Sukeban” experience; whatever it may entail.
Lucky people in the Kyoto area can get a taste of the game’s first chapter at this year’s BitSummit Drift. July 19 (business day), 20, and 21.
Do come check it out!
We plan to exhibit the game at more events around the world in the coming future but we don’t have many details at the moment. Stay tuned.
For those who can’t attend, we’ll be releasing the game’s first trailer on [July 19]! This is our YouTube channel.
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