Mark Foster (Death’s Door programmer, writer and animator) and David Fenn (Death’s Door producer, designer, composer and sound designer) told IGN that with the success of Titan Souls they were able to make their dream game on Death’s Door.
“We are still a small team, but this is definitely the biggest and most ambitious game we’ve played,” said Fenn. “We did it all in a very wide and varied world, which we believe has its own distinctive vibe and atmosphere. It’s full of little hidden touches [and] great secrets. “
The souls collected from defeated enemies act as currency and, with enough, players can update the speed of their raven, weapons and other statistics in the central gray world called Hall of Doors, the kingdom that crows occupy. From there, players can enter the doors as they are unlocked to jump to specific areas in the open and colorful world, where they will fight against bosses for souls, encounter spirits from the forest or run and try to find the game’s collectible items, Shiny Things.
“If you go and explore after you have a new power, you can find these little trinkets in the game … You get this cool little model to look at that has tradition attached to it,” said Foster. “Some of them can give you clues that can be used elsewhere for other puzzles and things like that.”
Foster and Fenn said that game franchises like The Legend of Zelda and Dark Souls were inspirations in the design of Death’s Door, along with the aesthetic inspiration of the Studio Ghibli films. But, as in the case of Titan Souls, Foster and Fenn said they intended to design Death’s Door with tight, minimalist and fast-paced combat.
Death’s Door is coming to Xbox and PC consoles this summer. To learn more about the ID @ Xbox Twitch Gaming Showcase, be sure to read the IGN preview of Nobody Saves the World.
Miranda Sanchez is executive editor of IGN guides. You can talk to her about video games and fountain pens on Twitter.