Nightmare Kart,the upcomingBloodborne-inspired Kart Racer, has humble beginnings. It was originally conceived as aBloodbornefan game calledBloodborne Kart, made by the same developer whocreated theBloodborne PSX Demake, after a fake leak claimed such a game was in development. It quickly became an in-community joke before Lilith Walther, the aforementioned dev, decided to make it a real thing. As an April Fool’s joke, Walther released a smoke and mirrors trailer forBloodborne Kartthat got more attention than anything she had done prior, and the logical conclusion from that is to genuinely makeBloodborne Kart.
However, the project eventually got Sony’s attention which, reasonably and understandably, asked her to stop its development; however, the company said that ifshe removed theBloodbornebranding, the game could still be released. From those ashes risesNightmare Kart, a Kart Racer releasing for free on Steam and Itchio on May 31. Game Rant recently spoke with Walther aboutNightmare Kart, and she estimated that she and the team were about 40% complete with the rebranding process. Interestingly, it is more fun than it might sound.
Nightmare Kart Becomes 100% Walther’s Creation
“Honestly, I’m not going to say I’m glad it happened,” Walther said, referring to the intervention from Sony, “but there have been a lot of positives.” This isn’t Walther’s first rodeo with aBloodbornefan game, but she acknowledges that such projects are very limited because everything she did had to be something that existed withinBloodborne. Through this rebranding process, Walther is able to makeNightmare Karther own, genuinely, and do things she hasn’t done in prior projects. This approach is twofold: Her creativity is no longer limited, and she can execute ideas she’s always wanted to do. Secondly, her in-depth knowledge ofBloodborneallows her to take advantage of themes and motifs not present inthe FromSoftware Soulsborne game.
The Three Tiers of Rebranding
During our conversation, Walther explained the three tiers of rebranding work she’s had to do. The first is simple work consisting of mostly a palette swap and slight silhouette adjustments; this work, she says, takes about two hours to do. The second involves significantly changing the silhouette, which can take a day or two to complete. The third tier is a complete redesign from the ground up, consisting of completely new models, new concept art, and new textures.
How Nightmare Kart Has Rebranded Key Bloodborne Characters, Motifs, and Themes
Nicholas is a key example of the first tier of rebranding; Nicholas began as theBloodbornecharacter Micolash. To change him, Walther changed his domineering color scheme, gave him a Bird Cage with a bird inside of it, and changed his hair color. Thus, Nicholas was born. Another example is how Umbilical Cords became Moon Shards, Blood Echoes became Blood Droplets (right now), and Insight has yet to find its proper replacement (as she continues to work on the game and thus this is all subject to change). For these, it was as simple as a name change, an asset change, an icon change, and a sound effect change.
Mistress Marie qualifies as the second tier, who is born out of theBloodbornecharacter Lady Maria. Mistress Marie underwent several processes to change her silhouette significantly, including additional armor pieces, new gauntlets, and a new but still Victorian-appropriate hat. As Walther explained, “Changing hats has been very common; I’ve changed all the hats.” The protagonist Hunter ofNightmare Kart, who now carries the name of Rede, is an example of a character who was done from scratch. Of course, rebranding the characters is just one of the many changes for the game.
Nightmare Kart’s Story
When it was the game known asBloodborne Kart, the story to its campaign mode was essentially an abridged version of the full title. It was more referential, Walther explained, than a full-blown story because players would have been expected to knowBloodborne’s story and lore. That’s not possible inNightmare Kart, so Walther has been busy writing a new story adherent to its own canon. This process has been rather “on the fly,” Walther explained, but creating this new story and doing all of this rebranding work is still fun. Speaking about creating this new story, Walther explained,
“I actually kind of enjoy it. The pressure is off because it’s a Kart Racer; you’re not really here for the story. I am having a good time writing everything and making sure everything connects and fits together. It isn’t going to blow anyone’s minds, but I think it would please people who would be along for the ride, so to speak, as they go through the campaign, take on bosses, and do stuff like that.”
Nightmare Kart’s Themes and Motifs
Perhaps the most interesting element of this rebranding process, however, is not where Walther is creating something brand new, but where she is making something within the holes ofBloodborne’s motifs and themes. As Walther explained,
“There are a few things that Bloodborne seemingly deliberately chooses not to do, to make it less generic, like the werewolves are not called werewolves. They’re called Scourge Beasts, right? That’s an example.”
This affords Walther the freedom to pursue motifsBloodborneotherwise avoids. For example,Bloodborne’s Messengersare shriveled-up old guys, but a lot of players initially misinterpret them as skeletons from afar. Walther decided to reinvent them as skeletons, but instead of a simple skull, she messed with the silhouette some more and gave them a giant eyeball for a head becauseBloodbornedoesn’t really do that. There are eyeballs that giveBloodborneplayers the Frenzy condition, but nothing that’s just defined as a big giant eyeball.
Another interesting example is thatBloodbornedoesn’t do much thematically with roses. There might be an incidental, singular rose or rosebed somewhere in the game, but nowhere is it a central motif. This is something Walther has wanted to do, but she never could becauseBloodbornedoesn’t. However, now that it is not a central motif toBloodborne, it’s somethingNightmare Kartcan pursue:
“Another example is just the idea of a red rose as a motif. There are no roses in Bloodborne as a visual thing. You’d think there would be, but there aren’t. It just seems like a conscious decision, so I wanted to use those.”
Another, albeit smaller, example is that the Astral Clocktower inBloodborne’s Old Hunters DLCdoes not feature any sort of numbers, Roman numeral, or otherwise. It’s another area, Walther believes, whereBloodbornesought not to be a generic game, and it’s something she can play with in her creation ofNightmare Kart. Her clocktower might just have Roman Numerals on it, or something else entirely, but it’s an interesting creative pursuit to see what or what doesn’t give a game its identity.
Ultimately,Bloodborne Kartwas restricted andNightmare Kartis set free. The latter is a creative pursuit defined by Walther’s own passions, while remaining an interesting creative practice with different kinds of limitations. It remains to be seen how it is received, butNightmare Kartand its own world, its own story, and its own design takes will be at the starting line very soon.
Nightmare Kartreleases May 31 for free on Steam and Itchio.
