Hi there! My name is David León, and I’m the studio director of Lince Works. Today I would like to show you our new game: Aragami.

Aragami is a stealth game in which you play an undead assassin with the power to control the shadows. The darkness is your ally and the source of your strength, letting you teleport instantly to any other shadow, create new areas of darkness to stay invisible, materialize physical weapons and traps from thin air, or even summon a shadow dragon to decapitate your target.

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Your dark journey starts when you are brought to life by Yamiko, a mysterious girl that asks for your help in getting her out of the mountainous fortress of Kyuryu. Freeing her from her prison is the key to uncovering the secrets of your past life.

In Aragami, you strike under the cover of night, when Kaiho — an army of warriors with the power to control light — is most vulnerable. Even with your supernatural powers, your task won’t be easy. The warriors of Kaiho will use exploding traps, ethereal lights, and even supernatural sword techniques to try and stop you from reaching Yamiko. To be the perfect assassin, you will need to know how to blend with the environment, when to strike, and also when to avoid confrontation.

Here at Lince Works we’ve defined two types of players: Demons and Ghosts. The first type includes players who love to kill every enemy and clear the area before proceeding, while the ghosts are players who prefer to stay invisible and beat the level without being noticed. In Aragami you will unlock different abilities suited to each gameplay style. We want to reward both types of players, as a mark of a true assassin is completing your objective using any method available.

Aragami is a game heavily inspired by old-school stealth games like Tenchu and Metal Gear Solid, and more recent gems like Mark of the Ninja and Dishonored. We are huge fans of stealth games, as there is nothing else out there that can replicate that tension you feel when trying to be the perfect assassin.

But we feel that in the last few years, “stealth” in games has been diluted and doesn’t pose a real challenge; the tension of being detected by the enemy is gone. We want to fix that in Aragami, where you are outmatched, outnumbered, and alone. You have no guns, amazing fencing skills or regenerating health. Your main weapons are your cunning, your sword, and darkness.

The world of Aragami is set in a mystical Japan, with influences from other Asian cultures and mythos. We looked upon games like Okami and Journey to create a vivid cel shading art style to tell our story, our re-imagination of ninja tales, and stories of the battle between light and darkness.

So thank you for reading and letting us show you Aragami. It’s coming to PS4 this fall, and we will be showing you more footage as we get closer to the date. We are always looking for comments, feedback, questions, and ideas, so don’t be shy and let us know what you think!