You asked for him, and we heard you. This month, Red Kiss’ Art Director, Aïda, gave us another look behind the curtain at the history of Daddy’s favourite vampire: Sasha!
Sasha took roughly two years to design, because perfection takes time. We’re sure the fans will agree that he was worth the wait.
“I knew I wanted a punk character, and I wanted a ‘danger twink’ type of character. A twunk, if you will," Aïda explained.
Sasha was originally designed as a more melancholic character, but eventually, making him louder and more rebellious, with an edgier demeanor and outfit, was the ticket to creating the charming punk we all know today. He just had to go through a few different phases with his hair color first.
“I knew I wanted something red in his design, but making his hair red was not doing it for me. Then it finally clicked when I gave him his flamboyant red jacket, and now he’s one of my favorite designs.”
Sometimes creators have names that rattle around in their heads, saved for when the time is right. Sasha is one of those cases, as Aïda always liked its androgynous quality. It fit him naturally, and everything fell into place.
Sasha isn’t the only thing we have more info on, though! We’ve also got the first of three sets of inspirations that the team at Wispfire has shared with us throughout development.
Bart, the game’s narrative director, explained that the classic horror film Possession, starring the late Sam Neill, is a major inspiration for the game.
For starters, both are stories about monsters set in Berlin during the 80s, and both include spies, but it goes beyond the surface-level similarities.
Bart explained that its use of the political unrest and division erupting in Cold War Berlin as a symbolic background for the movie’s visceral depiction of a marriage’s collapse inspired the work of Red Kiss. The subject matters are different, but the ability to use history and division as a metaphor provided a compelling source of inspiration when writing the game’s plot.
We’ll have more fun behind-the-scenes details to share about the rest of Red Kiss’ alluring vampire crew in the coming months, plus more info on the art that inspired the game! And remember, if you have any questions for Daddy, he’s more than happy to oblige. Reply to our posts about Red Kiss on socials and Steam, and he just might answer back!
If you’d like to learn more about the work that inspired Red Kiss, check out this interview from Exalclaw! Plus, don’t forget to wishlist Red Kiss today on Steam!