Warlord: Awaji dev cites Princess Mononoke as key influence
The solo developer behind Warlord: Awaji names Princess Mononoke as the specific reference for its gunpowder combat and Lady Eboshi, which places the indie strategy game's pitch inside a well-known Ghibli frame.
Reporting from 1 source: Game Spark.
Matthew Konkoly of Darkmatter Games, the developer of Warlord: Awaji, said in a Game Spark interview that Princess Mononoke and The Last Samurai were his reference films for the game. He pointed to the depiction of early gunpowder weapons and to Lady Eboshi. The open-world strategy game is set on Awaji Island and was released for PC on September 10.
Darkmatter Games' Warlord: Awaji casts the player as a samurai general carrying an Emperor's secret order to conquer Awaji Island and recover a treasure. Base construction, large-scale battles and a world built from historical sources sit inside a first-person view the developer calls "immersive strategy," with no loading screens between them.
Konkoly said he picks one or two films as emotional reference for each project, then fuses their feel into the look and play. For this one that was Princess Mononoke and The Last Samurai.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.