Straight from the Source: Studio Saizensen (Blade Strangers)

Blade Strangers was very popular at BitSummit and everyone wanted to play it. We got the chance to talk with Studio Saizensen about their inspiration for the game, the characters and the future of Blade Strangers.

The interview was conducted by PushDustin!
Big thanks to Brando for help with the transcription and for checking the translation!

PushDustIn: Hello, I’m here with the developers of Blade Strangers, Studio Saizensen. Could you briefly introduce yourself?
Kondo: My name is Toshinobu Kondo and I’m the executive director at Studio Saizensen.

PushDustIn: Today we played Blade Strangers. Can you tell us how you came up with the project plan for this title?
Kondo: Before this game, we made a fighting game called Blade Arcus, but after finishing it we wanted to make a fighting game that more people would play. We wanted to make a fighting game that was accessible while still being an actual fighting game.

PushDustIn: What games did you take inspiration from?
Kondo: Hmm, well of course old school fighting games like Street Fighter II and Samurai Spirits, but we also looked at newer fighting game titles and mixed those two styles.

PushDustIn: Ahh I see. So in Blade Strangers there are a lot of interesting characters. How was the roster decided?
Kondo: So at first, we only had Studio Saizensen characters in it. So originally we only had characters from games like Code of Princess and Umihara Kawase in it, but in the middle of development we started working with Nicalis Inc., so we added characters from their games like Cave Story and little by little the number of characters increased.

PushDustIn: How many characters are there currently in Blade Strangers?
Kondo: There are 14 fighters.

PushDustIn: Are you planning on downloadable content?
Kondo: I can’t say one way or the other right now, but I think it’d be great if we can increase the number of characters after the game releases.

PushDustIn: What do you think is the most interesting part of Blade Strangers?

Kondo: The most interesting part for me is that it looks like an action game with simple controls. However, usually fighting games like that tend not to be an actual fighting game but a variant of the genre, however Blade Strangers is a fighting game with simple controls.

PushDustIn: When do you plan on releasing Blade Strangers?
Kondo: We are planning on releasing this summer.

PushDustIn: How about for the West?
Kondo: It’ll release around the same time.

PushDustIn: I see there’s a story mode in the game. Can you briefly talk about that?
Kondo: There are a lot of characters who come from various games, and they have their own worlds and their own stories. The characters will come together in a very strange world.

PushDustIn: I’m looking forward to it! Thank you very much.