Kyoto Wild announced as side project from Hyper Light Drifter developer

By Stephany Nunneley

Hyper Light Drifter developer Teddy Diefenbach has announced Kyoto Wild, two-to-four player isometric weapon brawler, as his new side-project.

Players will fight it out in single-screen arenas with the victor progressing to the next stage where the bested players reappear as enemies with different weapon sets. You can kill an opponent with a single hit.

“The main thing about Kyoto Wild is that you travel around the town mid-fight, and control new characters each time you die,” Diefenbach told Eurogamer. “And there are a big variety of weapons – I call it a ‘weapon brawler’ to that effect. Each character fights with what they’re using when you encounter them, whether that be a sword or something non-traditional like a rake. But you’ll also find other weapons in the environment.

“Each weapon controls differently, and characters largely control the same outside of that. You can carry a few weapons at a time. You can either attack with your main weapon or throw it as a projectile. When you throw a weapon, you equip the next weapon you’re carrying as a backup, so there’s sort of an economy of weapons to the game.”

Diefenbach said he plans on revealing more on the game as development progresses, and assured Eurogamer he is not leaving Heart Machine, as he’s spending 10-20 hours of his own time a week on Kyoto Wild.