Primary Inspiration
The primary inspiration for this work is 86--EIGHTY-SIX (2021)
86 is a Japanese an anime adaptation of Asato Asato's sci-fi light novel series published by ASCII Media Works. The series, produced by Aniplex and production led by A-1 Pictures, premiered on April 10, 2021
As a gross oversimplification: 86 tells the story of the poor fighting a rich people’s war
The Alba government forces the marginalized people of the 86th Sector to fight their war
The government does not recognize the “Eighty-Six” as human. Therefore, every report of combat casualties always totals 0
The series follows Major Vladilena "Lena" Milizé, an Alba noble and military officer in the Republic's Military who is assigned as a Handler of the Spearhead Squadron of the Eastern Front, an elite unit composed entirely of Eighty-Sixer veterans who have earned names led by their squad leader, Shinei "Undertaker" Nouzen. As Lena gets to know Shinei and the rest of the Spearhead Squadron, she becomes sympathetic to his people's plight and tries to help them. At same time, Lena and Shinei learn a dark secret: the Republic and the war with the Empire is not what it seems.
This work and its prevalent themes are the main inspiration for Project: Red War
First and foremost, the concept of this project was “what if we take 86 and adapt it into a game
86 does a great job with characters, setting, and tension
This is something I look to replicate in my work. I feel like I am at an advantage being in the medium of games, the sense of immediacy and agency contribute to that feeling of tension a lot more easily in the game’s medium
Secondary Influences
1984 (1949)
Blade Runner (1982)
Lycoris Recoil (2022)
There are several Orwellian influences on this work. I particularly explore some of the themes prevalent in 1984
There are a few threads of science fiction and dystopian futures that I pull from. Blade Runner is the most recognizable of the influences on my work
Lycoris Recoil is one of the biggest inspirations for my character design. Spider Lily and Rei are designed after Chisato and Takina (respectively) from Lycoris Recoil
I also explore some of the major themes prevalent in Lycoris Recoil, a work that itself was inspired in part by Orwell’s 1984
Lycoris Recoil, again as a gross oversimplification for the sake of punctuality, deals with the government operating in the shadows to maintain an illusion of peace and safety
This is something that I also explore in great detail in my work. The idea of “secret police” upholding a sense of peace and justice was very intriguing, especially when connecting it to a setting of brutal warfare and the exploitation of a marginalized people
Tertiary Influences
Red Dead Redemption (2010) and Red Dead Redemption II (2018) are landmark titles that prove the literary merit of video games
The complexity of its themes and characters rivals that of any novel
One of RDR2’s shortcomings is its length and diminishing variety as the game progresses
Arthur Morgan is one of the best anti-heroes ever written in a game
Dutch’s descent into delusion makes him one of the best antagonists I’ve ever witnessed. There is a visceral reaction when you find out that the people you’ve been with are starting to turn against you
Cyberpunk 2077 (2020), despite its awful launch, is one of my favorite RPGs of all time
One of the most intriguing and complex worlds I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing
A lot of the dystopian themes prevalent in Cyberpunk inspire my work
Very intriguing characters and character designs
Variety in gameplay is something to look up to as a game designer
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2012) is the pinnacle of Western RPGs and perhaps even RPGs in general
To say that there is a wide variety of gameplay and playstyles would be an understatement
Beautiful open world and environments
Engaging story and side quests
NieR:Automata (2017)
When I think of how I want my game to feel, NieR is the first place my mind goes
The game controls so smoothly and the feel of the characters is exactly what I envision Project: Red War to feel like
This game also serves as a bridge between Western RPGs and JRPGs
There is a nice balance between engaging gameplay and intriguing characters and storylines
Inside the Creative Process
I typically like to work in silence. About 98% of the work for this project has been done with nothing but the sounds of nature and maybe a fan to keep me company
On the rare occasions that I do have something to listen to, it is always ambient music such as the soundtrack from a game or television show
Recently I have loved listening to the work of Japanese composer Hiroyuki Sawano
His most famous works include the musical scores for Attack on Titan, The Seven Deadly Sins, Blue Exorcist, Guilty Crown, Kill la Kill, Seraph of the End, and Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn
The raw emotion that goes into Sawano’s work is truly inspiring
I know that sounds a tad bit pretentious, but I truly do feel moved by his work. The anger of the characters and feelings of grief and guilt come through very strongly in his compositions
My background as a writer is one of fiction, mostly science fiction
If I had to pin my greatest strength as a writer, I believe it is the level of detail I delve into when developing a character or set piece
Creating characters is easily my favorite part of the process. It’s not just about finding what makes them interesting to engage with. It’s about what makes them interesting as a human being.
At the time of writing this, I am currently watching the TV Anime series Re:Creators (2017)
The soundtrack is done by the aforementioned Hiroyuki Sawano
Without spoiling too much, the series explores what happens if the characters we as writers/creators make to inhabit a fictional world suddenly come to life and occupy space in our real world
It is a very interesting creative exercise to explore what it means for the characters you create to inhabit space in the real world. It is something I will incorporate in my creative process from now on
I typically write down my ideas on a sketchpad with a mechanical pencil. I feel that writing by hand is the best way to bring the ideas in my head into a tangible fruition in a way that typing the words on a screen just cannot
When the weather is cold enough, I love to have a cup of hot apple cider next to me when I am creating or iterating
I try to always have one show that I am watching while I am iterating on a project like this
For example, at the time of writing this, that show is Re:Creators
A couple of weeks ago, that show was Lycoris Recoil
I find it a very rewarding creative exercise to try and see if you can take an element from one show or game you are watching or playing and see if you can incorporate it into your own work
A few weeks ago, while on a cross country flight back to my home in California, I rewatched Lycoris Recoil on the plane because I was bored. The inspiration I got from that experience was invaluable and it changed the way I approached a lot of this project
Right now, I am exploring what it would look like if I gave my antagonist force in this project the ability to either manipulate reality or use the power of lies. In Re:Creators, one of the characters has the power to reverse the cause and effect of an action by making the person under her spell deny what she asks (she creates a lie of a lie)
For the sake of a better explanation and for my own research later: https://recreators.fandom.com/wiki/Magane_Chikujoin
In my mind, a great game is one that has intriguing and engaging gameplay mechanics with a great story to frame them
Characters are of the utmost importance to me when considering a game and its story
Although my background is in narrative and I would love nothing more than to see a game’s narrative take the spotlight it deserves, at the end of the day, we are in the game’s industry.
We make games that center around gameplay.
Narrative is the device to give context to or legitimizes gameplay; it does not work the other way around.
Narratives are the containers for gameplay.
Games do not exist to frame our stories.
While the prior points are true, I still would like to be part of a movement that places a bigger emphasis on storytelling in games
Most of what intrigues me about the Japanese Roleplaying Game (JRPG) genre is the fact that there is a greater emphasis on storytelling and characters
This seems to be inherent in a lot of Japanese media as a whole
Whereas a Western audience is more focused on action and plot, Japanese media tends to be more focused on characters and the plot shaping the characters and their development
Because I am mostly focused on characters, this is what makes Japanese media so important to my work
The future of the game’s medium is so exciting for writers. With the success of recent game-to-TV adaptations like Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (2022) and The Last of Us (2023), more people understand the storytelling potential of the medium