How Bujingai Was Made & The Cancelled Sequel
Hong Kong-inspired Hack and Slash Game Done Right
Do you remember the last time a hack and slash piqued your interest? For most, it has to be Devil May Cry 5 or Nier Automata; two fantastic specimens of the genre that stood out in the market.
What about the past? Specifically, the PS2 where you witnessed all sorts of hack and slash games. The era enjoyed titles like Devil May Cry 3, Shinobi, and of course, God of War. But amidst the offerings of the genre, there were a number of games that didn’t enjoy the attention they deserved. One such game is Bujingai. This is the story of how this game was made.
Origins: Red Entertainment Approaches Taito
The tale of how Bujingai was made is as interesting as the game itself. Everything happened out of the blue, which gave birth to a peerless and unique game that aimed to pay homage to Hong Kong cinema.
According to the Wikipedia page, Bujingai was the result of Red Entertainment and Taito joining forces, but how did that happen in the first place? what led one company to another? I spent a few weeks searching for the answer, and lucky for you I have it.
Oji Hiroi, the creator of the popular Sakura Wars series, recalled the events that led to the making of Bujingai during his talk at the game’s announcement at Taito’s 50th anniversary which was held on August 28, 2003.
“About a year ago (2001), there was a post on Red’s official BBS that said, ‘Why don’t we work together with Taito? ” Oji Hiroi said.
At first, the team at Red Entertainment thought that it was merely a prank, but they quickly realized that the person behind the original post was serious about seeing Red Entertainment and Taito working on a game together. Shortly after, Red Entertainment contacted Taito about the matter.
The beginning of this relationship wasn’t a walk in the park merely because of the professional barrier between Red Entertainment, a small independent developer, and Taito on the other hand a giant corporation with a legacy under its belt.
In a Q&A article with IGN, producer Keisaku Okumura explained how hard it was to make this collaboration become true. But despite the rough start, both companies got through the initial obstacles pretty quickly, and the making of Bujingai began in 2001.
The game took about two years in the making with the first six months dedicated to pre-production, which encompassed planning, assembling the team, and signing deals with artists and other talents in the industry. At the helm of the project field, Hiroshi Aoki was positioned as the director and designer. On the left side, Yosuke Kuroda, known for his contributions to various anime shows acted as the main writer. On the right side, Toshihiro Kawamoto, co-founder of Bones Studio and former character designer of Cowboy Bebop, was employed as the main artist. But one name shouldn’t go uncredited, the Zuntata band who contributed to the game’s magnificent music.
Bujingai amassed a striking group of talents whose past experiences speak for them. But despite possessing such a powerful cast of talents, the team struggled with how they could make a Hong Kong-inspired game fun to play. Or how they could emulate the magic of Wuxia-style into a game. This is explored in one of the few interviews from Bujingai’s official website.
The first part was when Harumi Kasuga, Junya Ota (known as Zun) and Hitoshi Kozuka were asked about the difficulties they faced when starting this project. And since the developer hasn’t worked on a game as ambitious as Bujingai before, the developers struggled quite a bit.
In the beginning, I had a lot of doubts about whether I would be able to express the martial spirit.
He continued
That’s why, the challenges were how to express the ``wuxia-like’’ feel and ``how to make it into a wuxia game?
Harumi Kasuga said
Where certain developers expressed their doubts, others demonstrated their excitement to go far and beyond.
“I mainly worked on effects, so I’d like to talk about that, but recent martial arts movies have some incredible effects. So, of course, I thought the game needed to be more interesting (visually). At first, I thought I wanted to create an effect that seemed impossible. If you think about it normally, it would be a ``beautiful effect,’’ but I wanted to create an effect that was even more impressive.”
Junya Ota said
Still, Junya Ota couldn’t do everything he wanted until a later period in the project. Harumi Kasuga, who acted as the programmer, once doubted if the project would even come to life at the pace the developers were going at. Kasuga struggled with the programming, and Junya Ota faced issues with how to make the game movement feel smooth and stylish. And other key members were unsure if such a project was even possible.
“We started with the hit-checking area, but since there was no one in the company with experience in this area, we were really groping our way through the process. For the first three months, I couldn’t see any results at all, and every day I asked myself, “Can we really do this? I asked myself every day, “Can we really do this?”
Hitoshi Kozuka said
After a few months of development, most of the fog that has been looming in the face of developers has cleared out. The game’s development progressed smoothly until the end.
In August 2003, Famitsu revealed in one of their issues that Bujingai was almost complete, with one of the biggest surprises of all time being the main character of the game being modelled after J-Pop Star, Gackt.
Taito knew what they were doing; casting the likeness of Gackt onto the main character would bring the game into the spotlight, and give his fans an incentive to buy the game. At least, that’s what Taito planned.
After Famitsu’s coverage of Bujingai, GameSpot was quick on its feet at summarising the news. At the time of writing Bujingai was almost complete, and was slated for a winter release, on December 25, 2003, to commemorate Taito’s 50th Anniversary release. Everything went smoothly at this point, with Gackt enjoying more fame, and the game getting enough spotlight thanks to his performance at the conference back then. But what about the game’s story, what’s it about? We explore this in Chapter 2.
Story
Bujingai’s story wasn’t for everyone. Those who grew up with compelling stories were quick to point out the lacking plot of Bujingai, but those who came for the action stayed for the action and found the story to be a perfect match with the game’s atmosphere.
Set in the 23rd century, humanity has been devastated by an energy bomb, leaving only 30% of the population alive. Those who survived gained special abilities from the earth’s energy, which they honed by mastering martial arts to combat the roaming demons from the underworld.
That’s where your part comes into play. As Lau Wong, it’s your mission to stop the madness and thwart the evil schemes of your possessed former friend.
Armed with two swords, hair that could rival a shampoo commercial, and martial arts moves that even Chuck Norris would envy, you’re not just kicking demon butt — you’re doing it with flair and finesse that would make even the devil jealous. As you slice and dice through the underworld, demons quake in fear at the sight of your stylish onslaught.
Inspirations & Gameplay
Bujingai wasn’t simply going to walk in the footsteps of high-profile Hong Kong Wuxia films, it aimed to surpass them and to make a pretty unforgettable experience that will stand tall face-to-face with other incredible hack and slash games.
“From the beginning, we discussed with Taito about creating a game that would surpass Hong Kong action movies.
Therefore, we were more conscious of movies than of other action games.
(Pause) He continued
We asked ourselves this question.
What’s necessary in order to experience excitement that will exceed Hong Kong Cinema? With that in mind, we came up with astonishing concepts, such as “gliding” and “Clashing and “Counter-Attacking”
Keisaku Okomura said
At the time, Hack and Slash and 3D beat’em ups were rapidly seeing contributions from several developers. Capcom graced the world with Devil May Cry and Onimusha. Sega made Shinobi and Kunoichi . Acclaim came up with Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance, and even Tecmo joined the race with a PS2 release of Rygar which is now a relic of the past.
It made sense that a company with such a history as Taito would want to show off its muscles, and this is where Bujingai was born.
Bujingai boasted an impressive gameplay complimented by an engaging hacking and slashing system that was easy to digest. Coupled with over-the-top wuxia techniques that seem to have leapt straight out of a blockbuster wuxia film, the game rocked. Similar in vibe to movies like Swordsman III: The East is Red, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain and other Asian action movies, Bujingai was just as operatically compelling as it is vigorous.
Everything about Bujingai screamed with quality. From the exaggerated animations, the compelling atmosphere complimented by the great music by Zuntata, and of course the great gameplay that holds up pretty well against several modern hack and slash games. Bujingai was a gem that didn’t shine outside of Japan. And why is that? What led to the game flopping in the USA and Europe? Find that out in the next chapter.
Marketing & Gackt & Release
Taito’s marketing for Bujingai in Japan was stellar, with Gackt serving as the game’s prominent face. Posters featuring Gackt were available for fans to purchase, along with various promotional merchandise. Including an official guidebook published by Enterbrain, an art book published by Shinkigenshaa, and a soundtrack CD released by Zuntata Records.
Taito went as far as making an incredible TV Commercial staring Gackt again swinging his sword and juggling in the air with style.
Other forms of merchandise included a manga that was serialized in Monthly Magazine Z a month before the game’s release in Japan, on November 24, 2004.
The manga wasn’t just a quick cash-in adaptation of the game. As it turns out, it was more of a sequel that, while describing the events experienced in the game — expanded on the story department and introduced several new characters not available in the game. And while this is fascinating and all, the unfortunate part of all this is that the manga is obscure. Meaning that there is no English translation available. Even on well-known piracy sites, there is none to be seen.
Other parts of marketing included Gackt himself attending the conference, where he could be seen playing the game. Plus, several print ads were made for the game as well, so it’s suffice to say Taito’s demonstration of the game was fantastic.
Bujingai was officially released on December 25, 2003, in Japan to positive reviews. It ranked 19th out of the 50 released games at the time and sold 43,116 copies during its debut week. By the end of 2004, it had sold an additional 51,549 copies.
The performance in Japan was impressive, but unfortunately, it wasn’t replicated in the USA or Europe. According to an old blog post on Gamespot, BAM! Entertainment announced that it would be responsible for publishing Bujingai in North America under the title Bujingai: The Forsaken City in May, which was later pushed to July 2004.
Now, if you’re not familiar with the company, BAM! Entertainment has a history of publishing games that didn’t perform well in the market, both commercially and critically. However, Taito had a different opinion about BAM!, stating, “We feel that BAM! is the ideal publisher to bring Bujingai to the US market,” said Hironori Ishii, general manager of overseas releases at Taito. “BAM!’s knowledge of the North American market made them the right choice to get this great game in front of an even greater audience of PlayStation 2 fans.”
Unfortunately, shortly after, the company shut down. BAM! Entertainment failed to market Bujingai effectively compared to Taito. There were no TV commercials, print ads, or any imported merchandise from the Japanese market. Even their presentation at E3 2004, which was reported by the German-based multi-media outlet Power Unlimited, was subpar. Barely anyone was interested in the game because it wasn’t marketed effectively.
The same situation unfolded in Europe. According to an old blog post on gamesindustry.biz, Bujingai was originally intended to be released by Atari, but for unknown reasons, 505 Games ended up publishing the game under the title “Bujingai: Swordmaster”. Similarly to the North American release, Bujingai failed to stand out among the crowd. There was barely any marketing for the game at all, with only one promotional poster found in the France-based magazine, Consoles+.
Bujingai was also released in South Korea and Taiwan under the Japanese title, Bujingai. Trying to uncover how the game performed commercially in those territories is challenging. However, after reading through several video game reviews on South Korean websites, one obvious thing was the fact that South Koreans didn’t appreciate the game.
Upon reflection, it seems that Taito may not have believed that a game like Bujingai would sell well outside Japan, so they gave the publishing rights to whatever company showed up on their doorstep. It’s a shame because Bujingai only gained recognition years after its original launch. By that time, it was too late.
Reception & Cancelled Sequel
With the reception Bujingai received and the abysmal sales outside Japan, were there any plans for a sequel in the first place? Yes, there were.
In an old archived interview conducted at Gamasutra.com, Hiroshi Aoki shared his feelings about how he wanted to continue with Bujingai, but Taito didn’t want to for unknown reasons.
“Well, the company wanted to go in certain directions… (laughs) I did want to make more, but anyway, it didn’t really happen.”
Hiroshi Aoki said
However, the story takes an interesting turn. After reading ‘The Untold History of Japanese Developers’ by John Sczepaniak, it was revealed that there were plans for a Bujingai sequel, and actual development had begun on the game before Taito ultimately cancelled it. Sczepaniak, who interviewed Junya Ota (also known by his alias Zun), attempted to obtain information about Bujingai, but Ota was cautious about sharing any details that could get him into trouble.
“There are a lot of things I can’t tell you. For various reasons. <nervous laughter> Bujingai 2 was in development and looked really good, but never got released. <nervous laughter> So that game existed”
Zun said
Like every curious gamer about cancelled games, John Sczepaniak tried his luck with another attempt at asking Zun about Bujingai 2 to which the interviewee replied:
“I think the people who were working on the game, were really enthusiastic about it. They were making it sillier and more tongue-in-cheek than the original”
Zun said
This is as far as we can learn from Bujingai 2. And only time will tell if the prototype build of the sequel will ever get leaked one day.
The Current State of the IP
On March 31, 2006, South Korean film distributor SidusHQ announced its acquisition of the rights to develop a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on Bujingai, in collaboration with developer Besttoday. Despite initial optimism, the project failed to materialize, despite CEO Jeon Jun Woo’s announcement at ChinaJoy in July of the same year, stating that the game was in full development with plans for release in the third quarter of 2007. Unfortunately, these plans never came to fruition.
As for the ownership of Bujingai’s intellectual property (IP), it likely belongs to Square Enix. When Square Enix acquired Taito in late 2005, they obtained the rights to all of Taito’s games, including Bujingai. Whether Square Enix has any plans for the IP or intends to sell it to another party remains uncertain.
In the meantime, all we can do is replay Bujingai and reminisce about a time when Taito made a great game. Where everybody was Wuxia fighting.