Inti Creates, the developers behind renowned game series such as Mega Man Zero and Azure Striker Gunvolt have announced their next project. The game is going to be called Grim Guardians: Demon Purge. It looks to be another 2D action game in Inti Creates tradition but this time in the vein of Castlevania. I have to pause here and try to calm down. I mean just look at it.
Grim Guardians: Demon Purge stars two sisters, Shinobu and Maya Kamizono. They are exploring—and kicking ass in, clearly—a castle owned by a demon in order to rid their land of a curse brought on by said demon. The two sisters appear to have different weapons and abilities with the player able to swap between them. I imagine there are ways to strategically use each of their different abilities to navigate the castle, solve puzzles, and fight enemies in tandem.
Grim Guardians centers around two demon hunters who return to their school after a mission only to find a demonic castle where it once stood. Players control both of the demon hunting sisters in this 2D side-scrolling action game. Players must master each of the sisters’ unique abilities and attributes to overcome the challenging stages with bosses awaiting their arrival. They’ll also be able to find new routes through each stage using the 2 characters’ abilities, keeping play throughs fresh.
-Press Release
Shinobu’s main attack is a submachine gun for long range attacks. And Maya appears to use magical origami to create weapons for close range attacks. Origami weapons. Sorry, just had to say that again. The juxtaposition of the two characters also opens up multiplayer possibilities here.
Inti Creates have announced Grim Guardians: Demon Purge ahead of Bitsummit in Kyoto. They plan to show a demo of the game at the event. The game is currently in development with no projected timeframe for release. Inti Creats have put up an official website for the game that you might want to keep an eye on.
This is not Inti Creates’ first foray into Castlevania-like territory of course. The company developed and published Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon in 2018 and its sequel in 2020. Both of which were critically acclaimed companion games to Koji Igarashi’s Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night game. They were 8-bit style spinoffs of sorts (and were amazing).
While we don’t have a release date yet, rest assured though that as both a huge Inti Creates and Castlevania fan I will make it my personal mission to keep up with this game. Featuring Inti Creates’ gorgeous sprite art but with a gothic style reminiscent of Castlevania, this ticks so many boxes for me. It ticks them, and then ticks them again.
