Igarashi Talks About Miriam, The Protagonist Of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night director Koji Igarashi has answered questions from the community, touching upon various aspects of the game. Read them below.

On why the protagonist of Bloodstained is female:

This actually stems from my old games. Fans often expressed interest in playing as a cool female character, so I’d tried it once before. Now that I’m creating a brand new world, I wanted a fresh start. That’s why I designed a female lead with a tough demeanour.

How Iga came up with the concept of Miriam’s stained glass skin:

The stained glass theme came about when I decided to include engineered humans. Crystals that harbour demonic powers are embedded into the characters’ skin. Each marking originates from a single crystal and over time, the curse spreads across the body. Those glyphs written around each mark are powerful magic that surpress the curse and prevent its spread. I pictured how the cursed crystals would compress, and it happened to resemble stained glass. When I showed it to the designer, he’s the one that pointed it out, so we ran with it. So that stained glass is basically composed of those cursed crystals embedded in their skin.

If one can expect many secrets and Easter Eggs in Bloodstained:

In game design, it’s easy to get hung up on all the rules. But you can’t forget that games are a form of entertainment. Those little hidden surprises are equally important for fans to enjoy your work. I plan on doing my best to hide some really cool surprises for you all in Bloodstained.

How Igarashi got involved with Inti Creates:

I’ve always wanted to work with Inti Creates. They’ve got an excellent reputation for side-scrollers. When I met with my agent to start planning, their name came up again. It was nice knowing they had a proven track record. It also helped to see how passionate they are about the 2D genre. When I saw how well they could build on my ideas, I had a great feeling about working together.

What aspect of Bloodstained Iga is most excited for:

I’m beyond thrilled just to be able to create games again for the first time in ages. The other thing is how excited I am that you’ve all given me the opportunity to relive my favourite work.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is planned for release in 2017 for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.