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I (Robin Ek, TGG) have been rather busy as of lately with GDC 2017, video making, business and everything in-between. Even so, I couldn’t help myself from reaching out to Hucast Games for an interview about their bullet hell shoot-em-up game “Ghost Blade HD“. So without further ado, please enjoy my Ghost Blade HD interview =)

Robin TGG
Would you be so kind and give us a little introduction of yourself and your studio =)

René
Of course! Hucast was founded in 2012 in Germany. We developed several shmups for the Sega Dreamcast, and now ported Ghost Blade to current-generation consoles.

Robin TGG
How, when, where and why did “Ghost Blade HD” happen?

René
I was looking for a new programmer in early 2015 when my original programmer became occupied with other things (his country was in a war conflict). I set up a prompt on shmups.system11.org and found Daniel. He was actually the only programmer who contacted me but he had a great back calatog with Pier Solar and other games he worked on. I said yes in a heart beat.

“Ghost Blade HD” is out now for PS4, Xbox One, PC and Wii U.

Robin TGG
I´m curious to know how you guys came up with the name “Ghost Blade HD”?

René
Well, the game initial title was “The Ghost Blade” on Dreamcast and later changed to simply “Ghost Blade”, it’s a nod to Soldier Blade series. The HD suffix makes sense to us, since the game uses high-defined graphics now. Though we were told we should call it Ghost Blade – Directors Cut.

Robin TGG
Is there any chance that we might see an anime, manga or movie based on “Ghost Blade HD”?

René
Unlikely.

“Ghost Blade HD” is a really intense bullet-hell shoot-em-up game. So if you like shoot-em-up games like “Ikaruga”, “Radiant Silvergun” and “DoDonPachi”. Then this is the game for you.

Robin TGG
When did Hucast Games decide that they should make a Bullet-Hell top down shoot ’em up game? And why?

René
We all love the shmups genre. Personally, I play shmups since R-Type DX on Gameboy Color, it’s a real shmup experience. So yeah I started with the classic shmups, but when Mushihime-sama was released I converted a bit to Bullet-Hell. Oh well, it’s just a joy to dodge bullets by reflex and not by memorizing the stage.

Robin TGG
I would love to know who the person behind all the awesome artwork of the game is. Furthermore, will there be any “Ghost Blade HD” T-shirts and such?

René
The artworks are done by Genzoman, a well-known artist in the deviant art scene, he got a great following on Facebook as well. We worked with Genzo for several projects now, also including NG:DEV.TEAMs GunLord – he never disappoints. The title cover artwork is done by Henzo, he’s quite famous for his Zelda fan-art on Deviant art as well. About merchandise, we don’t have the capacities to produce them, but when we find a vendor it might happen.

This picture made me think about the bullet hell madness from “Mushihimesama”.

Robin TGG
Since Rafael Dyll (Söldner X-2, Rainbow Moon) is the composer of “Ghost Blade HD”, I have to ask if the game soundtrack will be released separately? (digitally and physically?). I would also like to ask if there will be any collector´s editions of “Ghost Blade HD”?

René
Digitally, yes. A Jewelcase OST is also planned but it heavily depends on demand.

Robin TGG
Which games, animes and movies have inspired “Ghost Blade HD”?

René
Well, Ghost in The Shell have been an inspiration for my work since a while, but I’m inspired by Halo 4 in terms of art design and general look.

This is the picture that I would like to have turned into a T-shirt :3

Robin TGG
Will there be any lewd content in the game? I´m asking since I found that wallpaper of Evil Shira (the sexy a.i/robot) to be rather lewd.

René
Nope. Ghost Blade HD is a serious sci-fi shmup, the “babes” in the game might have provocative outfits but there’s no sexual innuendoes in the game.

Robin TGG
The features list for “Ghost Blade HD” is rather impressing I have to say:

3 Player battle ships
5 Stages with HUGE Boss Enemies with 3 difficulty levels
37 Trophies and Achievements
2-player local co-op mode and online Leaderboards
Arcade-style gameplay and addictive scoring system
Beautiful and detailed HD Graphics

Even so, is there any other features (or secrets) that the players could expect to see on release?

René
Yes! We certainly didn’t reveal the Alternate Soundtrack available in the game yet. You can select it in the game options and play the game with a cool remix version of Ser Flash. Enjoy!

“Ghost Blade HD” offers some really impressive art pictures as well.

Robin TGG
Is it correct that “Ghost Blade HD” will be released for PS4, Xbox One and Wii U on the 28^th of February this year? And that there will be a Steam version on the 8^th of March? I would also like to know if you have any plans to release the game for the Switch?

René
That’s correct. Well, I’d love to bring the game to the Switch but it depends on the support for the Wii U game

Robin TGG
What´s your plans for 2017? And do you guys plan to visit any big game events this year? If so, which?

René
I’m usually at the Gamescom in Germany to present my games. Hopefully, we will see Ghost blade HD there.

Believe it or not, but there are no lewd content in “Ghost Blade HD”. So don’t expect and lewd scenes in this game (the post girl fooled me big time).

Robin TGG
Is there anything else that you would like to say to our readers?

René
Thanks for the support and the opportunity for this interview. You guys are great!

Press release:
Ghost Blade HD Out Now!

Muscatine, Iowa, USA. – February 28, 2017 – 2Dream’s Ghost Blade HD now available on PS4, Xbox One and Wii U. Today 2Dream announced that Ghost Blade HD, this year’s most frantic shoot-’em-up, is now available on PS4, Xbox One and Wii U formats. Following hot on its afterburners, a PC version will be released on Steam on March 8th 2017.