Hey all! Chris Sabin chiming in here to talk about sound design for Demon Crush. Let me tell you a little bit about the design behind one of Kenzo’s iconic weapons, the kusarigama.
The kusarigama, or chain-sickle
This chain and sickle is both an offensive tool and a central part of Kenzo’s mobility. It can be used to extend combos. It grants the player different avenues of approach by moving towards the enemy or bringing the enemy back to them. It can be used to latch on to grapple points throughout the level. The kusarigama (KG) is a very handy and flexible tool that deserves proper recognition through sound.
The kusarigama (KG) in action as a traversal and combat tool
Foley tools to help make the KG’s sounds
One of the joys of being a sound designer is acquiring your own personal collection of noise-making junk. One person’s trash is another’s treasure. In this case, a chain, knife, and metal masher recorded on my trusty field recorder, plus a small array of wooshes and punches helped get the job done. The process also involved a “pizza slap”, which is not pictured above, but hopefully some readers may picture it in their minds.
Design Scheme
The KG has multiple audio components to it.
Chain Launch – The initial sound of throwing the chain is present regardless of whether or not the KG hits anything and has a few variations. It consists of a couple different layers of chain recordings and a woosh.
Chain Impact – The KG can hit different types of targets that each behave differently.
Grapple Point – This is the simplest target type. There is a single identifiable sound that represents the KG connecting to a grapple point.
Ricochet – If the KG hits a wall or non-grappleable object, it plays an impact sound that is blended with a material sound depending on the material of the surface it hit. There are material types for grass, stone, wood, or swampy terrain. Certain enemies will be able to defend against the KG and the impact will blend with their shield sounds.
Enemies – If the KG connects with an enemy, there is a reverse woosh into impact that is intended to signal the connection and motion of a successful grapple maneuver. Through Wwise we’re able to use spatial automation to move the sound source in the direction of travel. When you pull the enemy towards you, it will sound like the enemy is moving towards the center of the screen from its respective direction.
Here’s an example of the different impact types and materials in Wwise.
All these elements come together in one of Kenzo’s most versatile weapons. We hope you find satisfaction landing the perfect grapple combo or effortlessly maneuvering across the screen at high speed with the kusarigama.
Let me leave you with a nice grapple combo.
A fun combo using the KG to string hits together
2 Comments
Joe Kassai · April 29, 2023 at 3:16 pm
It’s always fun to see someone’s sound design process – but I miss hearing how it all comes together in the game!
Is there a video of it ingame somewhere? I looked through the game’s Twitter profile but all videos I found were soundless
Richard Hinckley · April 30, 2023 at 2:16 pm
You’re right, we should really have some video with sound on this blog! We don’t have audio on Twitter because of the concern that the short clip length would result in some annoying looping.