Hey everybody, I'm Alican. 3D artist of the team. And this is the story of how started making Rogue Samurai. This is devlog 0. So I will start from the beginning.
I had never read any manga before in my life. I hadn't watched much anime either. But a friend from work kept talking to me about this anime, Berserk. So, I decided to read the manga first and then watch the anime. I fell in love with this series and started searching for more content similar to it. That's when I stumbled upon Vagabond, and everything changed for me. The character, driven by a burning desire for power but maturing over time, deeply resonated with me. I read and finished Vagabond's manga with great pleasure. Then, I fell into a deep sense of longing. I wanted more. Despite the manga's popularity, there haven't been any anime adaptations or games made about it. The main character, Musashi, was not only significant for popular culture but also for Japanese history. I was surprised by the lack of works produced about Musashi. Because of this, my partners and I decided to create a game focused on Musashi.
But before we start discussing the game, let me tell you a bit about ourselves. I've always wanted to make video games since I was a kid. When I finished high school, I started learning 3D modeling. Then, towards the end of the pandemic, I started working as a 3D artist at a mobile game company. I mostly worked on hyper casual games there. To be honest, it wasn't very satisfying for me because I wanted to make the kind of computer games I played in my childhood. Then, my current partner Enes offered me to start our game studio. By the way, he was the one who recommended me to read Berserk. Since our visions matched, I accepted his offer, and together we founded CO's Entertainment. After that, Berk joined us, and we started developing various projects.
Our first attempts weren't very successful. The scope of our projects was too large. So, we decided to dial things down and started working on a simpler game. We decided to make a rogue-lite action game. It's a game where you die, start over, and come back stronger each time, facing enemies and learning new things. Initially, we used a different theme, but it didn't satisfy us. Then, Musashi came to our minds again. His story was very fitting for this theme. To keep trying, getting stronger, and striving to be the best by battling the strongest samurais. That's why we decided to make Rogue Samurai based on Musashi's life.
Rogue Samurai is a samurai-themed game where you face waves of enemies. It's played from a top-down perspective. There are various passive and active abilities you can use in the game. Currently, you can only use the Katana, but we'll be adding new weapons in the future. Unlike other games in this genre, we've aimed to make Rogue Samurai's boss battles more engaging. During boss fights, the camera angle changes to a third-person perspective, providing a more immersive battle experience against the bosses. We've designed environment and character art to fit the feudal Japanese theme artistically. Currently, the game features our first map and the village where you respawn when you die. In this village, you can train, acquire different weapons, and upgrade your abilities. We've also added a small graveyard where a tombstone appears each time you die. Right now, the game doesn't have a story mode. We've all quit our jobs and invested all our money into this project. Due to budget constraints, we won't be adding a story mode initially, but it could be added post-release depending on your support. To support the game, you can add it to your wishlist. Your help would mean a lot to us.
While developing this game, we were influenced by works like Vagabond, the Samurai Trilogy, Kurosawa movies, and The Book of Five Rings. As we've discussed our plans, we'd love to hear your ideas about the game as well. If you're interested in the project, you can follow us on our other social media accounts as well. I will put all related links below. Until next time, see you...
Steam Page: Steam
Discord: Discord
Twitter: Twitter
Instagram: Instagram
Tiktok: Tiktok
Youtube: YouTube