IGN has managed to wring a bit more information from Bokeh Game Studio’s Keiichiro Toyama in regards to the upcoming Slitterhead. That being said, Toyama admittedly didn’t want to go into a lot of details “yet” regarding his return to Survival Horror. But at least we know more about just what the hell was going on with the trailer.
Right off the bat, Toyama states that Slitterhead will be “an action-oriented adventure game from a third-person perspective”, with “many new mechanics that have not been seen so far in other games”. In regards to the game’s location, the game will take place in “an original setting” that blends the aesthetics of “1980s and ’90s Hong Kong”.
As for the body horror, Toyama states that Slitterhead has you “battling mysterious creatures that can mimic humans” (a callback to Bokeh’s character designer Tatsuya Yoshikawa and his love of The Thing), and will require you to “smoke them out to make them reveal themselves”. The creatures are named Yakushi, which according to Toyama “have their roots in classical theatre.”
Toyama says that when it comes to the horror of Slitterhead, fans will be getting something a little different this time. “The game will explore life and death and the process of decay throughout everyday life, so inevitably some of the developments and visuals will be quite shocking. That said, we are not only focusing on the gore itself; we intend to portray horror in a way that deepens the sense of immersion for the player. Although it is a horror game, we aim to make a game that is entertaining on a wide range of levels, with a story filled with mystery and new types of action gameplay.”
Slitterhead is aiming for PC, but Toyama says that he wants to “reach as many players as possible while maintaining the essence of the game”, so expect that consoles will be included. As for a release date, the project is still ramping up production, and according to Toyama, they estimate that production will continue “until at least the end of 2022”.