Brigadiers, you’ve seen the animated release date trailer, but how does a hand-drawn cast of wizards and monsters actually come to life? We pulled back the curtain and asked the team at Alkimia Animation Studio to take us through it!
We wanted the chaos to hit instantly - 4 wizards on a mission, spells flying everywhere, teammates accidentally blasting each other into oblivion. Epic, but clumsy. Classic cartoon energy, but unmistakable The Spell Brigade. To nail that, the team at Alkimia drove straight into the game. They played Early Access, studied how characters moved, how attacks landed, and how the game’s energy felt:
“The only problem was that it became a bit addictive for us, so this research phase lasted longer than expected 😅 Naturally, playing it sparked many interesting creative ideas.”References-wise, there are subtle nods to Charlie Chaplin’s physical comedy baked into character acting - the little hesitations, weight shifts, expressive stumbles. And eagle-eyed JRPG fans might notice some Vivi from FFIX in there too. And Campanelli's opening moment was… let’s just say it has some Travolta energy. Worth a rewatch to spot all of these!
Imagine, one second of footage can take 4 to 5 days of work. The opening scene alone - four mages surrounded by a monster horde - took about three weeks to complete. And that’s just one scene with a cast of characters and a whole lot of claws. The full pipeline looked something like this: Storyboard & animatic - to nail the timing, rhythm, and feel of every beatCharacter design -to translate the 3D game characters into hand-drawn 2D styleFrame-by-frame animation - the painstaking partCleanup & coloring - to make it prettyBackground art - running in parallel with the rest Compositing - to bring it all togetherEffects, color correction, final polish - the finishing magic ✨
This was a particularly complex project given the sheer number of characters and monsters packed into every scene, but after roughly two months of production, here we are!
It was a hard pick deciding who exactly should be in the trailer (we'd really love to show ALL of our wizards), but in the end, here’s the ragtag crew that made the cut:📕 Reginald. Reginald is the Brigade's longest intern. While his enthusiasm seems to bless him with an endless streak of fortune, the rest of the Brigade are simply not having it. His accomplishments get shoved aside as "pure luck" - which is the main reason he still hasn't completed his apprenticeship. Nevertheless, he remains continuously eager to prove himself and one day become a true Brigadier.
🤡 Campanelli. When the Brigade is on the move, Campanelli leads from the front with style! He has consequently been branded ill-suited for stealth missions, but who cares when your entrance is this spectacular. Campanelli trained as an apprentice with some kind of "circus sorcerers" - but when he heard the Brigade's call, he left that life behind.
🌞 Sun Mage. One of the original Spell Brigade members. He supposedly got his powers as a child after an ill-advised staring contest with the sun. Notable abilities include supernatural agility and stamina, photosynthesis, and permanently burned-out retinas.
🌛 Moon Mage. Like Sun Mage, Moon Mage shares a long history with the Spell Brigade as one of their most experienced and learned wizards. His ever-present rivalry with Sun Mage has pushed both wizards to their limits, though a mutual respect lies underneath. His spells are precise - unless someone happens to stand in the way, of course. Once a month, he transforms into the feared Full Moon Mage.
Here are some more designs for some of the enemies, including the Flesh Crab, Crablodon, and The Long One himself.
Huge shoutout to the whole team at Alkimia for the craft, care, and hours they poured into every single frame. We couldn't be happier with how the trailer turned out, and we hope you feel the same 🙌
The Spell Brigade 1.0 will be out on Steam and PlayStation 5 on April 29!
BOLT BLASTER OUT