Slitterhead developer Bokeh Game Studio, which is headed up by Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, has released a new dev diary detailing the user testing phase of its game's development. The upcoming horror project doesn't have a release date yet, but the diary provides some insight into what's going on behind the scenes, as well as new (albeit pre-alpha) footage.
Since Slitterhead was officially revealed during the 2001 Game Awards, Bokeh has gradually been drip-feeding information about the project, including talks between staffers, development diaries, and other tidbits. This latest dev diary is titled "User Tests" and is about the phase of development during which gamers test out a game and provide feedback.
In the video, project manager Takuro Konno provides a look behind the scenes at Bokeh. Konno says that getting "real opinions" from players helps to determine whether the project is aligned with the kind of responses developers expect. He says that although stress is often considered a negative result during user tests, he sees it differently; sometimes, stress can be an intended emotion, such as when a developer wants to evoke a feeling of achievement after a period of stress (or, indeed, for the development of a horror game like Slitterhead).
Throughout the dev diary, we also get to see snippets of Slitterhead gameplay footage, including brief combat sequences, some exploration, and some elements of the heads-up display. There's also a moment during which the player appears to be taking control of some kind of animal, although it's not clear how this fits into Slitterhead's overall design or gameplay systems.
It's well worth watching the new Bokeh Game Studio dev diary if you want some insight into the team's creative process on Slitterhead, which is shaping up to be a pretty terrifying experience. Considering Bokeh has been at work on this project since at least 2020, it's good to see that development appears to be continuing apace. Stay tuned for more info on this one.
