WHAT LESSONS DID YOU LEARN DURING DEVELOPMENT? WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY NOW, WITH THE EXPERIENCE UNDER YOUR BELT? That’s a good question! Ragebound was a first for the team in the sense of working with an external and such well established IP. This implies that a lot of things had to be learnt during the development but, fortunately, we had Dotemu as a partner which as a lot of experience working with well established IPs and guided us well throughout the whole process so that it went swiftly, making communication with Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja extremely easy and understanding. We also made some improvements to our animation pipeline during development. To iterate quickly on new mechanics, moves, or boss designs (which are very time- consuming and demanding to animate) we enhanced our workflow based on Flat Key Frames. In this approach, animators first deliver only the core poses of a movement, allowing designers to test them in-game, spot any issues early and request changes if needed, all before the final polish phase. This saved a lot of time and allowed for much more agile development.


DID YOU HAVE ANY BIG ISSUES DURING DEVELOPMENT? HOW DID YOU ADDRESS THEM? One of the biggest challenges we faced during development was adapting to the speed and agility required for Ragebound. Coming from the heavier combat of Blasphemous, which has a lot of weight and commitment to attacks, we had to rethink how to approach creating animations and adapting the character controller to match the very fast-paced action of NINJA GAIDEN. Attacks in Ragebound had to feel immediate, cancelable, and chainable, which meant both the animators and programmers had to go through several iterations to get the responsiveness and fluidity just right, all while keeping the visual clarity and style that define our work. It was a process that required a lot of different approaches on the animation pipeline, until we were satisfied with the result and could apply it to the rest of the characters in the game.


WHAT HAS THE REACTION TO RAGEBOUND BEEN LIKE OVERALL? ARE YOU PLEASED WITH THE RESPONSES? The game has received really good reviews, both from the press and players and honestly, we couldn’t be happier with the reaction! From the very beginning, we knew that handling such a legendary IP came with a big


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responsibility, so we worked very closely with Dotemu, Koei Tecmo, and Team Ninja to make sure that both the vision and the quality of the game met the expectations of the series’ fanbase.


That said, no matter how much passion and effort you pour into development, you never truly know how the final product will be received. So it was a huge relief, and also a real honor and source of joy for the team, to see Ragebound welcomed with such positive feedback after so many months of hard work.


“One of the biggest challenges we faced during development was adapting to the speed and agility required for Ragebound.”


WHY DO YOU THINK IT’S IMPORTANT FOR PEOPLE TO MAKE RETRO-STYLE GAMES?


Classic video games laid the foundation for everything we understand today as video games and, just like in other cultural entertainment industries like cinema, music, or literature, there are timeless titles that remain a joy to revisit decades later. And in the same way, these classics are a huge source of inspiration for present day developers who want to explore what made them so great in the first place. While advancements in technology and design have allowed us to create incredibly complex or realistic experiences, as developers we still have the choice to create something that captures the spirit of those classics and some of us decide to do so. The video game market has grown immensely in recent years and we think it’s wonderful that all kinds of players can find something that resonates with them, whether it’s a VR battle royale shooter or a straight forward pixel art arcade sidescroller.


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