A faithful companion for every game developer
Inspirations from mythologies in video games can be seen at every step – the last famous title that drew on the beliefs of the former inhabitants of Europe is last year’s Hades, but fantasy based on mythology (including Greek) has been accompanying players for at least a dozen years.
Myths and legends have been popular in the entertainment industry for a long time. Both filmmakers and the gamedev community eagerly reach for them. It’s almost a bottomless pit when it comes to great ideas for both the storyline, characters, and the creation of the entire world around the player
– comments Krzysztof Król from 7LEVELS, the creator of Castle of Heart based on the Slavic mythology
Greek mythology leads the way, appearing on screens connected to computers and consoles practically from the very beginning of this form of entertainment. We can find examples such as the distinguished Kid Icarus from 1986 or even the graduation of Disney’s Hercules from 1997, but in the broadly understood education about the beliefs of the inhabitants of ancient Europe, the God of War series is in the lead . However, sightseeing tours with Kratos around hot Greece (and recently also in freezing Scandinavia) are not the only things fans of ancient climates can count on. Supply goes hand in hand with demand, thanks to which more and more deities can expect employment offers – SMITEFor years, he has adopted every fantastic character “interested in cooperation”, and in recent years, Apotheon or Total War Saga: Troy have appeared on the market in recent years . In addition, there were, among others, tours of the Scandinavian vision of hell ( Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice) , and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla offers us swimming, murdering and looting, in any order.
New art, timid
There are, however, a few blank spots on the European map of deities used in pop culture. One of the largest stretches over the areas closest to us – the Slavic beliefs have been forgotten over the centuries, because few sources have survived moving the adventures of “our” deities. The most important reason for this is extremely prosaic – Polish lands have always been a troubled area, and the constant battles certainly did not have a good effect on the preservation of the written heritage, monuments and people interested in cultivating the achievements of Perun and the company. Moreover, it should be remembered that the Scripture came to us with a Christianity which, for obvious reasons, was not, to put it mildly, favorable to spreading pagan beliefs. Therefore, Slavic mythology has holes like Swiss cheese, and Europe is only just discovering it, rewriting it many times. It is no different among game developers who often find a fresh and flexible source of inspiration in Slavic mythology. According to Stan Just, the creator of the upcomingGorda , and previously a person associated with, for example, the Witcher series :
When exploring Slavic mythology, we constantly feel that we are discovering something new instead of learning a new interpretation of threads that we have already dealt with at school, for example. Ultimately, for people from the central-eastern part of Europe, this mythology seems closer, because it speaks about the beliefs of peoples who once lived in the same areas. As a result, we perceive it more as “our” .
Krzysztof Król from 7LEVELS, quoted earlier, echoes him:
Slavic mythology seems to be still not sufficiently exploited in comparison with popularized legends from the West or even Scandinavian myths. Each title that is created on its basis may contain something not yet presented, unexplored by the players, and therefore much more interesting at the same time. The enormous success of the Witcher series certainly contributed to this to a large extent. However, not only – in my opinion there is something special in Slavic legends. They are often darker, more mysterious, but also have a “homely” character that we just feel, like and are able to use. In our first Nintendo Switch title, Castle of Heart, we’ve loosely addressed a few of the passes, drawing on a handful of them when it comes to character creation, enviro, and some stories.
Geralt’s children
Of course, the history of Slavic gaming would be incomplete without the gradaptation of the Slavic / non-Slavic (depending on Andrzej Sapkowski’s humor) The Witcher, and the success of the third part certainly started a trend, the effects of which are only beginning to become visible – games are not created overnight, but are the result of many years of work of multi-person teams. New titles drawing on Slavic mythology and bestiaries are created (including the aforementioned Gord from Covenant.dev and the untitled game by Unseen Silence), not only in Poland, but also abroad – in the previous year, for example, Too Husky’s Mira was premiered, and including – Yaga by Breadcrumbs Interactive.
Still blame Slavicness
Some take more radical steps and summon Slavic gods to help create their next games. Among them is Stribog Games, which specializes in mobile games, which has chosen a god associated with prosperity and wealth as its patron.
From the moment the team was founded, we were looking for a strong and distinctive patron for our team. The uniqueness and relationship of Strzybog with the Slavic culture allows us not only to make an interesting rebranding, but also to emphasize our Polishness.
– explains the president of Stribog Games Marek Wylon
Slavic mythology creates the image of a hardcore, well suited to players bored with cheerful, delicate climates. As Stan Just ends:
In terms of its artistic merits, I would say that Slavic mythology is much darker and more brutal than many others, and this fits very well with the tastes of fantasy fans, especially the more mature ones.
Therefore, we can expect more blood, more dead bodies and most importantly more action. Who knows, maybe it is in Slavic mythology that we will see the successor of God of War ?
