Balzac, like a lot of good things, was a happy accident.
Boss Saga needed a physical cursor to use during battles to select actions. For instance, the Final Fantasy games famously use a white glove (inspired by Crackout) as the selection cursor. Many other games might just use a generic arrow shape. On a whim, I drew up a quick, simple 16×16-pixel devil character to be the selection cursor. He turned out surprisingly cute, especially with his quasi-heart-shaped head that wasn’t even drawn that way intentionally. So basically, I’d lucked my way into a marketable mascot.
Balzac is literally iconic.
Who Is Balzac?
In short, in addition to being the in-game selection cursor, Balzac will also serve double duty as your guide throughout the whole story of Boss Saga. He will talk to you directly as the player and collect your thoughts on various subjects, which we’ll discuss in more depth in another post.
Balzac is a jolly fellow, but he’s intensely opinionated and is not an impartial observer. As you play the game, you will learn more about him. For now, he’ll remain an enigma.
Why Is His Name Balzac?
Some of you may know that Honoré de Balzac was a renowned French author known for, among other things, his complex characters. I could claim that our mascot is a nod to that author and a reflection of the narrative complexity we intend to deliver. Indeed, we do intend to deliver memorable narratives with characters who have complex motivations. But — nah, we don’t know anything about that author. He has nothing to do with our game!
Rather, Balzac is just named after my favorite band: a Japanese horror punk band.
There are bigger Balzac (the band) fans than me, but I have probably spent a few thousand dollars on them. I’m also a card-carrying member of their international fan club and own one of the masks used in one of their music videos. So, ya know, I’m a fairly big fan.
Balzac is often described in brief as “the Japanese version of the Misfits,” and that comparison isn’t completely misplaced; after all, Misfits Records itself has published American versions of Balzac albums in the past. Jerry Only’s version of the Misfits even did a split single with Balzac, where each band covered the other’s songs.
However, the Balzac discography is often more introspective with its horror — there’s still plenty of killing implied by the (often English) lyrics, but it comes marinated in themes of isolation, sorrow, and regret. There’s also more variety in the music, owing to the simple fact that Balzac has pumped out more than a dozen albums and is still going strong (in addition to maintaining an international digital storefront and a physical store in Osaka). Some songs sound like an energetic and vicious attack, while other songs are brilliantly melodic and upbeat, yet it all fits into the band’s signature sound.
And that’s what I hope to convey with Balzac the mascot in Boss Saga.
I don’t mean that in the musical sense; music is Todd’s department, and he’ll write whatever fits the scene. Rather, I mean that in the narrative sense. Boss Saga is all about episodic storytelling set in different worlds with different tones. Some episodes are total comedy, while some episodes are literally about death. Many episodes fall somewhere in-between. And I really enjoy the juxtaposition of light and dark elements.
Balzac, both the mascot and the band, personifies that melding of light and dark. Balzac the mascot is small and cute like a Hello Kitty, but he’s also a devil of astronomical power who is going to guide the overarching meta-narrative. Personally, I love him, and I hope you will too. In our next post, I’ll talk a little more about Balzac’s function in Boss Saga!
In the meantime, if you’re intrigued by what you’ve seen of Boss Saga, we would be so humbled and delighted if you follow the development of our game here, on Twitter, and/or on Facebook! 🙂
(The beautiful promotional art of Balzac featured at the top of this post and elsewhere on the website was created by fantastic artist Glauco Silva.)
Boss Saga 