Castlevania Veteran Koji Igarashi Vows to Finish Making Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement to Honor Deceased Director Shutaro Ida's Vision

Shutaro Ida has passed distant aged 52 aft a one-and-a-half twelvemonth conflict against pancreatic cancer. The quality was announced by his household via a connection connected Ida’s authoritative X relationship connected February 15. Longtime workfellow Koji Igarashi has vowed to decorativeness the decorator and director’s upcoming metroidvania Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement, the sequel to 2019’s Castlevania-infused Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.

Shutaro Ida (sometimes romanized arsenic Shutaro Iida) worked astatine Konami from 1996 to 2015, chiefly arsenic a programmer. His biggest publication was to the Castlevania series. Starting with the GBA rubric Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and PS2 crippled Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, Ida played a cardinal relation successful bringing the gothic enactment games into the sixth and seventh console generations, adjacent directing Castlevania: Harmony of Despair connected Xbox 360 and PS3. He was besides a pb programmer connected Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain.

Upon the invitation of erstwhile Castlevania bid shaper Koji “Iga” Igarashi, Ida joined ArtPlay, the indie dev institution Igarashi co-founded. There, Ida designed and directed the crowdfunded crippled Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, with Igarashi arsenic producer. The crippled was well-received, and wide seen arsenic a spiritual successor to the Castlevania series. In our review, we gave it 8.8, noting it “plays and feels astir precisely similar the legendary Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.”

Reflecting upon 2 decades of making games with Ida, Igarashi noted successful his tribute: “I’ve been moving with him ever since Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. It’s not an exaggeration to accidental that galore games hailed arsenic masterpieces would not person succeeded without his contributions. His endowment was exceptional.”

“I consciousness that Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night’s occurrence was besides successful a ample portion down to his unthinkable support," Igarashi continued. "Looking back, he’s been supporting maine for implicit 20 years. He was the benignant of idiosyncratic who ever thought astir games, tackling crippled improvement similar helium was burning his beingness away. I anticipation helium tin remainder peacefully present arsenic helium was ever moving astatine afloat throttle.”

Ida’s last game, Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement is inactive successful improvement and is owed retired aboriginal this year. Igarashi described it arsenic an invaluable enactment that Ida poured himself into. “We volition instrumentality connected his aspirations for the crippled and spot that it is decently completed, truthful arsenic not to disappoint him.”

Ida past tweeted backmost connected January 30, saying that helium felt the extremity was adjacent arsenic helium was getting weaker each day. He finished with a elemental request: “Please emotion Bloodstained 2 and each the games I made.”

The connection from Ida’s household echoed this sentiment: “Shutaro’s adventures successful this satellite person travel to an end, but his creations remain. We would beryllium blessed if radical could proceed to bask the games helium made.”

Image credit: Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement YouTube channel.

Verity Townsend is simply a Japan-based freelance writer who antecedently served arsenic editor, contributor and translator for the crippled quality tract Automaton West. She has besides written astir Japanese civilization and movies for assorted publications.