This week I thought I’d touch on the story for Bleed 2, for anyone who’s interested!

Bleed 2 picks up about a week after the events of the first game. Wryn has ushered in a new age of heroes, and the ones she defeated are already a distant memory. However, since she defeated the greatest heroes of all time… she’s the only hero the world has left.

Far, far away, a young girl named Valentine has a dream of becoming the greatest villain of all time — and with a lone hero left defending the world, now is the perfect opportunity to strike. Rallying powerful villains and a horde of henchmen around her, she leads an assault on the world, and it’s up to Wryn to stop her!

 

Now, the story in the Bleed games is pretty lightweight. It’s mostly an excuse for a whole bunch of action — after all, action is the primary goal of the games. That said, I like knowing what’s going on with the world and the characters. I feel like it adds a sense of context and coheision to the game that makes it a little more satisfying to play if it’s internally consistent.

Further, I like having a little more going on behind the scenes than is apparent. For example: Bleed 1 was a game about being stylish and killing things and becoming the greatest hero of all time. But to me, it was also about Wryn accomplishing her dreams and learning her self-worth and becoming a little less self-centered. That aspect of the story is barely apparent but it is there! For example, on a fresh save file, when you get a game over Wryn tends to blame the player for mistakes and attributes success to herself. But once you’ve completed the game and Wryn has grown attached to you, the wording changes so that she shares more equally in the responsibility.

 

So yeah. I realize it’s incredibly artsy-fartsy and tutti-frutti and all that, but I like having that in there. Bleed 2 will also have little minor themes of it’s own, and I’d say they’re even better matched to the gameplay, and conveyed in a greater variety of ways!

And to anyone who’s gotten really worried by this blog post — don’t worry. I know I’m not Shakespeare, and I know 99% of people don’t go into Bleed for the story. There will be no long-winded cutscenes or voice acting or blah blah blah. That absolutely fits some games, but for Bleed 2 the story will be told largely through gameplay as well as small touches that can be picked up on or (more likely) ignored!