Keiichiro Toyama’s next disturbing project Slitterhead will reportedly be an action game, rather than a full-blown horror title like Silent Hill. The Japanese game director is most well-known for survival horror projects, but he also created the action-adventure franchise Gravity Rush. While Slitterhead will feature body horror like Silent Hill, it seems that the mysterious project will not be a direct successor.
While Slitterhead’s creator is mainly known for crafting terrifying gaming experiences, Keiichiro Toyama’s history in the gaming industry is quite varied. 1999’s Silent Hill, which Toyama wrote and directed, redefined the survival horror genre by placing an emphasis on psychology and atmosphere over combat and action. Toyama later went on to create the Siren trilogy, which maintained survival horror gameplay but combined it with distinct stealth mechanics. Transitioning out of the horror genre completely in 2021, Toyama’s PlayStation Vita title Gravity Rush saw players traverse an open-world environment using a suite of gravity-altering powers. In 2020 Keiichiro Toyama left Sony to create a new studio, Bokeh Game Studio, with Slitterhead serving as the team’s first project.
As reported by Siliconera, Keiichiro Toyama’s Slitterhead will mainly focus on action instead of horror. The information comes from a Bokeh Game Studio Q&A, posted to YouTube, which sees Toyama answer various questions alongside game director Junya Okura and producer Kazunobu Sato. While the title’s short trailer portrays it as a survival horror title, Toyama explains that Gravity Rush’s height-based encounters inspired Slitterhead’s combat system. Okura claims that action and entertainment will be the game’s central focus, though there will also be slow and terrify sequences throughout the experience.
While the upcoming title is said to place less emphasis on scares, it is impossible to deny Slitterhead’s connection to the Silent Hill series. As Keiichiro Toyama’s most famous creation, the beloved survival horror experience set itself apart from its rivals through a focus on psychology and body horror. While not much has been shown of Slitterhead, a glimpse at the game’s creature designs are certainly disturbing. One massive creature, which transforms from a normal human woman, is only seen as a shadow on a wall. Another shot at the end of the trailer sees a woman’s face split wide open, presumably by some ungodly creature, before it closes again to appear normal.
Despite its horrifying exterior, Slitterhead will apparently pull elements from Keiichiro Toyama’s entire career in the gaming industry. This means that the game will take action-adventure elements from Gravity Rush, though Silent Hill will still influence gameplay to some degree.Not much is currently known about Slitterhead, but the game’s short teaser trailer is enough to make any Toyama fan curious.
Sources: Siliconera, Bokeh Game Studio/YouTube
