Game Concept
Thesis: {Berserk: The Game} is a comprehensive, interactive retelling of the legendary manga & anime tale of blood and monsters and heroism and despair. Penned by the mangaka Kentaro Miura {RIP}, the world of Berserk is brutal and bombastic, beautiful and terrifying — and the game is meant to showcase all of it. Structured in chapters just like the story arcs of the manga, {Berserk: The Game} will be a dark and challenging action-adventure RPG where you wield Guts’ massive sword in a quest for revenge, redemption, and an understanding of what makes life worth living.
Guts, a former mercenary now known as the “Black Swordsman,” is out for revenge. After a tumultuous childhood, he finally finds someone he respects and believes he can trust, only to have everything fall apart when this person takes away everything important to Guts for the purpose of fulfilling his own desires. Now marked for death, Guts becomes condemned to a fate in which he is relentlessly pursued by demonic beings.
Setting out on a dreadful quest riddled with misfortune, Guts, armed with a massive sword and monstrous strength, will let nothing stop him, not even death itself, until he is finally able to take the head of the one who stripped him—and his loved one—of their humanity.
Setting: Berserk takes place in the gritty medieval fantasy kingdom of Midland, where peasants struggle to live and royalty rules with an iron fist, warring for control… and consorting with demons from other worlds.
There is a Physical World – the world of men, horses, castles, wars, etc. And then there is the Astral World – the deep unconscious realm underneath the physical one, where magic and monsters come from.
In the world of Berserk, human kingdoms war for dominion while demons, spirits, and strange creatures from the dark of the underworlds interfere in their own esoteric ways. From Koka to Falconia, Berserk is full of medieval castles waging for sovereignty throughout the land.
Characters & Story: The saga of Berserk follows the life of a traveling warrior with a transcendent story: Guts. Born in dire circumstances, raised by a band of mercenary soldiers {and hungry wolves} in a demoralizing world – Guts’ journey is a brutal affair. However, in a “Golden Age” of meaningful action and emotional revelation, the lone wanderer meets a pair of individuals who will change his life forever – Griffith, a brave warrior leader who wields gleaming armor and a charismatic charm, and Casca, a fearless lady swordsman with a heart of gold.
These complex relationships and the hopeful yet harrowing journey they take together throughout the land form the crux of the Berserk tale, with events before and after serving as background to set up this Golden era of high art action.
{Berserk: The Game} will follow each arc of the manga as an interactive section of the game, wherein you will control Guts as he wages his one-man war against rival kingdoms, evil demons, and the truths within his own heart – in a touching yet violent march through the history of Midland’s most consequential sword.
Gameplay:
Dark Souls‘ inspired 3rd-person action ~ {Berserk}’s core gameplay will be 3rd person action, with Guts’ cape and sword fluttering and flying through both human and demon enemies. The game’s look and feel will be most similar to – and inspired by – the Dark Souls series, which features satisfyingly reactive controls for fighting enemies large and small, all dangerous. Light attack x heavy attack + block + dodge + sprint make for the primary maneuvers throughout the world.
The game’s difficulty will mirror the Souls series as well, as a reflection of the brutality of Berserk’s world. Even for someone like Guts, it takes tremendous strength and skill to win against demons, or entire squadrons of human knights.
Manga-esque cinematic sketch art style ~ To help differentiate {Berserk} from the rest of the photorealistic next-gen action games, including Dark Souls, the game will feature an artistic style reminiscent of the manga panels from which the game is based.
Think of cel-shaded games like Okami or Viewtiful Joe, but done in the style of Kentaro Miura’s gorgeous artwork from the manga.
Story arc scenarios parallel the manga arcs + RPG elements ~ Berserk‘s story is a long, complex, emotional tale following the journey of Guts. And that is just what the player will be experiencing, beat by beat, just like the anime adaptation. Obviously, this game development cycle would be long – covering the major dialogues and full battles of the series. Thus, the game would be released over time, with each arc being a separate segment of the game.
Players will continue their journey in a persistent, personalized world each time – Guts will level up, acquire new skills and items over the course of his quest. The player will gain them through the progression. Overall, with all arcs included, the game will be over 80 hours of gameplay.
Black Swordsman Arc
Golden Age Arc
Conviction Arc
Millennium Falcon Arc
Fantasia Arc
Battles, duels, chase & exploration scenes, a semi-linear march over Guts’ harrowing life ~ {Berserk} will be a bloody, very mature action game with realistic violence physics upon men and beasts. In the spirit of the manga’s exquisite hyper-violence, you can dismember, behead, and generally cut apart the world around you, including trees and structures.
The core of the gameplay will be battles. Guts is a master swordsman – and depending on your stage in the story, will feature both additional weapons and superhuman abilities. Guts is fast too, and can move and dodge faster than most humans. He uses these skills to advance himself through an entire war of battles, and later, in bouts against great demons and monstrously powerful foes. Each map will be relatively open world – ala Dark Souls – with defined paths to encounters with allies and enemies, to unlock conversations, battles, and boss fights.
“Guts’ struggle is nothing short of sublime.” ~ Guts is one of the most important and interesting characters in the history of manga. There can be no argument otherwise.
In {Berserk: The Game}, play as this complex hero and enter his struggle with you swinging the sword, running across the battlefields of bloody labor and painstaking love – scream out his infamous words… Griffith. Griffith! GRIFFITH!!
Inspired by ~
Dark Souls
Berserk manga & anime
Endgame: {Berserk: The Game} is designed to capture the sublime struggle of the principal character of Guts. Alongside Casca and Griffith, fight with your sword and your heart over Midland, through the recurrence of blood and fated destiny, from Black Swordsmanship all the way to Fantasia.
Thresholds of Transformation 