Fatal Claw News

Hello, everyone!
We're back with the second round of our dev notes on Fatal Claw.

As a quick recap of the first dev notes, we shared the inspiration behind Kisha, our choice of the Metroidvania genre, and character design concepts.
This time, we will shed light on how the in-game world was built and how each part of the world was designed with your gameplay experience in mind.


[h3]The Beginning[/h3]

Set in a dark zootopia-like world, the journey begins with the dazzling magic civilization of the ancient Elord Kingdom and its powerful relic at the center—the Stone of Immortality.

This stone could record and restore everything—objects, knowledge, life, even time. But its overwhelming power came with a cost. Twisted creatures began to emerge, corrupted by the stone’s backlash.

To contain the curse, the Elord Kingdom forged a pair of mystical claws. But after a mysterious catastrophe, the kingdom collapsed, and everything was lost, saved only as records inside the Stone of Immortality.

Now, in the present, Kisha awakens alone in an underground lab. From there, his journey begins, uncovering the secrets of the Stone and saving the underground world with its residents.

We spent a lot of time shaping Fatal Claw’s narrative and imagining how we wanted the game to feel.

Though it’s a 2D game, we wanted to bring life to every character and backdrop.

In addition, we wanted to give you the feeling of having just watched an animated film by the time you finish. That’s why we put so much effort into every detail of the world.

Each region has its own theme and vibe—not just visually, but in gameplay too. We designed every area to keep things feeling fresh as you explore.




[h3]Origin Laboratory[/h3]



This is where the game begins, with Kisha waking up here. There’s a life support device that kept him alive, and the sealed doors hint that this lab has been shut off from the outside world for a long time.




[h3]Moss Cave[/h3]



A natural underground cave, untouched and serene. Crystal-clear water and lush plant life give it a mysterious, beautiful vibe.
But be careful—infected plants and unknown creatures lurk within.




[h3]Aurora Village[/h3]



This village was formed by survivors after an unknown event. As the safest area in the game, you can buy items, gather info, and meet new characters here. It's a hub for expanding the story through conversations.




[h3]Kannir Drilling Site[/h3]



A long-abandoned drilling facility set up by someone, though it’s unclear who. What exactly were they trying to extract here?
Idle equipment and leaking gas only deepen the mystery.



When designing new regions, we always try to keep things feeling fresh—If you’ve just seen something natural, the next spot might feel artificial.
After a blue-toned area, you might enter somewhere red. Wide-open spaces are followed by tight, narrow ones. Even just visually, we wanted every area to spark curiosity.

Of course, it’s not just about looks. We’re blending events, combat, and character growth to make sure the game is fun in every way.

< Elord Castle >

< Quarry >

That's all for these dev notes. Keep your ear to the ground as we will continue to share what will be coming in store!

Greetings from NDEV GAMES!

We are pleased to share the first developer's notes for Fatal Claw!
Through these dev logs, we want to share our direction, determination, and key ideas that helped shape the game into what it is now.
Furthermore, we will talk about why we chose the Metroidvania genre, what important aspects we considered when designing Kisha as a feline character, as well as his weapons and costumes.
Here is the first part of our journey:

[h3]Fatal Claw - A Metroidvania Game[/h3]
First of all, the Metroidvania genre is inarguably the one we love. All of us have been playing games from this genre regardless of platforms.
We have been discussing each game's strengths and weaknesses, taking those into account in our own development to create a game we can truly enjoy.
While our game may also have key strengths and areas for improvement, we are enjoying every aspect of the game design process—from creating new ideas to making tweaks—committed to deliver a thrilling Metroidvania-style experience for everyone.

[h3]Kisha the Cat[/h3]
In Fatal Claw, a mysterious adventure unfolds as Kisha returns from death and explores the underground world in his own way, all the while fighting off the infected and joining forces with survivors in a search for the solution to reach the surface.
We aim to present this seemingly dark and serious narrative in a way that feels bright, hopeful, and appealing.
Through countless brainstorming sessions, we settled on the concept of a demi-beast world with a feline protagonist.
(Although everyone is a fan of the Metroidvania genre, all of them must be adoring cats themselves... In fact, most of the team are cat owners. 😉)



[h3]Weapons[/h3]
When we envisioned a cat character, we imagined it should be cute, dignified, nimble, adorable... Virtually every positive trait we could think of.
So instead of getting lost in too many ideas, we adhered to a cat's "default" weapon: claws.

Initially, we came up with clawed gauntlets, but that meant they had to be quite large in order to visually stand out in-game.
This could have made our character look somewhat slow and bulky, unintentionally increasing the character's hitbox size.




So we focused on the idea of a magic cape with claws attached, which was one of many early sketches.
As a result, we managed to come up with a unique and interesting design. With this, we were able to define Kisha's intended hitbox size, visibly convey the character's speed, and add an ability to express the character's emotions.




[h3]Basic Costume[/h3]
We aimed to make Kisha visibly stand out by setting the overall game background in a darker tone.
We also focused on expressing the character's identity and preventing the character design from hindering gameplay, rather than focusing on cool design alone.
Some keywords are:

good-heart, rightfulness, bravery, nobility

To incorporate this idea, we adopted a white/yellow/blue color scheme, with strong contrast between black and white to make the character stand out against any background.
We used blue and yellow as accent colors.
Honestly, we still believe the black cat's blue pupils are the key visual here.




While some Costumes are visually stunning as cosmetics, we wanted them to be obtainable items through a Costume system as players follow the game's narrative.
Even if the Costumes are complex and flashy, we believe players will be well-acquainted with the gameplay mechanics by the time they acquire them.




When designing Kisha, we made sure to prioritize gameplay functionality, not just his compelling design.

That's all for our first dev notes. We will continue to share more updates on what's in the pipeline, so stay tuned!

Hello, this is NDEV GAMES.

Recently, we received reports of the unauthorized use of Fatal Claw's gameplay footage and image resources to seize user information, which may lead to potential damage. Please note that we have filed an appeal to shut down the scam website in order to prevent further exploitation.

The playable demo of Fatal Claw has never been released on the web. We officially distribute our game only through Steam, and as soon as we are ready, we plan to announce our test schedule via the Steam community.

Keep in mind that the name "Brutal Claw" appearing on the scam website is not related to our Fatal Claw at all.

To get the latest news from us in a safe way, please follow us and add Fatal Claw to your wishlist on Steam!

Thank you.

We are NDEV GAMES, the developers of 'Fatal Claw'. We are pleased to get in touch with you all via Steam Community.

As genuine lovers of games, we are here to offer you a diversity of excitement and fun with unbiased preferences on genres and trends.

Set in a dark, underground zootopia, 'Fatal Claw' is a stunning and stylish Metroidvania game in vibrant 2D artwork.

Although we are currently working around the clock, we thought we could afford to communicate with you and share our progress while we keep at it.

We hope you will enjoy 'Fatal Claw' soon. Stay in touch, and don't forget to add the game to your Wishlist and follow us.

Until then, Happy New Year!