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Shadows of the Damned is a horror-comedy shooter made by Grasshopper Manufacturer that was produced by Suda 51 and Shinji Mikami (and had music by Akira Yamaoka), and while the original release was handled by EA, it looks like Grasshopper managed to retain the IP rights (an entire level based on SotD was made for No More Heroes side game "Travis Strikes Again"), and now a remaster is on the way courtesy of Devolver Digital.

With this and the Lollipop Chainsaw remake on the way, I definitely like that some of Grasshopper's more overlooked games from the early 2010s are getting another lease on life. Been a fan of Suda ever since Killer7 and have followed his work pretty closely since.

I remember watching one of the episodes of What Happened? of Matt McMuscles and I was amazed to discover the rollercoaster the game had in its development cycle. From the dream project that Suda 51 envisioned only to suffer savage shifts and cuts from EA. I suppose the one thing that surprised me the most is realizing that Shinji Mikami had barely any involvement in the game. And I mean, sure, Suda and Yamaoka crushed with what they had and delivered a spectacular game, which is why I wonder what would be the history of this game if EA hadn't messed around.

Interesting to note that Suda working with EA is what influenced some aspects of the plot for Travis Strikes Again, with the biggest reference being a game developer having to deal with a CEO whose last name is "Riccitiello" (John Riccitiello was the CEO of EA until 2013, and Damon Riccitiello would also return as an antagonist in No More Heroes 3). Travis Strikes Again in general also feels like a game where Suda is really baring his soul on a meta level by using Travis as a mouthpiece (for example all the references and praise for Hotline Miami absolutely read like Suda saying "Hotline Miami really reignited my passion for game development," and the level based on Shadows of the Damned also feels like Suda saying "I know development was troubled and maybe at one point I resented working on this game, but after seeing how people still loved it now I feel much warmer towards it").