Hey there, Unbroken Ones!
In today’s devlog, we want to share some insights about our inspiration for the game. We hope you will get more in-depth information with this devlog. Let’s jump right in!
The idea for a walking beat 'em up in a neo-noir gothic/victorian realm with a mix of cyberpunk styled neons came out many years ago. After completing Neckbreak, I wanted to make a spiritual successor in the style of “different but the same” like From Software classics Bloodorne-Sekiro-DarkSouls, introducing new mechanics, a larger, more open world free to discover almost from the start of the game, with a great amount of freedom to achieve one of the multiple endgames. I also greatly appreciate games with minimal handholding, especially if a game is robust with secrets and hidden/unexpected features, so players can get the most out of the experience and hopefully be pleasantly surprised.
Bloodborne was a large inspiration, as well as grindhouse cinema (i.e., Hobo with a Shotgun) and Tarantino (i.e., Inglorious Basterds, Django) and Winding-Refn (i.e., Only God Forgives, Drive) movies. A mix of moody buildup with short, extreme bursts of intense over-the-top violence. Also, classic games like Strife, which was much more than a Doom clone, and introduced nonlinear gameplay with multiple outcomes.
I was aiming for the look of classic games that we remember in our minds' eye. Usually, when we replay classics, they don’t look as good as we remember. Hence, I aimed for a retro sprite aesthetic updated with modern effects like ragdolls, volumetric effects, PBR materials, real-time lighting, and way more.
Music-wise, there was no specific inspiration besides the game itself. Once I had a scene and was happy with the mood, I prepared a track that would be fitting given the theme of the game: so we have a mix of classic instruments, jazz and funk style breakbeats, distorted rock guitars, trip hop beats. My main general musical influences are: David Axelrod, DJ Shadow, Sick of it all, Slayer, Hotline Miami OST, and many more. If fitting, I also used some tunes from the Unity asset store for certain encounters and contributions from other musicians.
A rough draft came up way back in the day, long before I was even considering working in gamedev, when I was still at University and bored during some lecture and made notes for a game I would possibly make one day. And luck had it, I went full-time into game development many years later, and now I'm bringing those old ideas to fruition. The original idea was a bit different, but the core of the lore: ascending a classist realm with a vertically built city, stayed intact.
I was aiming for a puppet-esque, low-key, creepy style. Thanks to the hybrid 2D-3D method, this was easier to achieve in this hybrid style rather than in full 3D, as well as general combat impact. As for the design, we got a lot of variations, ranging from malevolent beings, through various vagrant thugs and bandits, to snobbish highborn citizens and towering knights. Going from Neckbreak, which had a way more crusty pixel style, I wanted enemies in UtA to be more defined, while retaining the retro aesthetic.
Fun fact: the Township of Westfall is inspired by real-world locations, like central Amsterdam's architecture, canal belt, and museum district, Utrecht, Bad Gastein's fairy tale-like backdrop against a Waterfall and buildings built along the curving slope, Gdańsk's old town, Gorlice, and Edinburgh.