Sukeban Games Interview: .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND

Talking with Sukeban About .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND

Following the Tokyo Game Show 2026 demo, Sukeban Games discusses the inspirations, combat design, storytelling, and creative challenges behind its next cyberpunk action RPG.

If you don’t immediately recognise the name Sukeban, you might know one of their famous games, VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action, the highly acclaimed visual novel that was released in 2016, over ten years ago.

The game was brilliant, with a cast of vibrant characters that are grown out by the drinks you serve them. It was a mastercraft of creating intimate moments with truly memorable characters.

.45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND Trailer

Watch the official .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND trailer on YouTube

A New Realm For Sukeban

What interests me the most about .45 PARABELLUM is that it’s a shift from the usual 2d visual novels that Sukeban is known for, especially since it’s an action RPG.

That “active time action” was also curious, being mainly inspired by Parasite Eve, a game I wasn’t too familiar with. It feels like a big switch for the team, and my immediate thought was how the wonderful character-driven moments from their past games transfer to this new world.

However, with its beautiful low-fi style in this gritty cyberpunk world, with the logline of:

“Reila Mikazuchi, a gun for hire emerging from depression, looks to rebuild her life doing what she knows best. A path well-travelled where the consequences are known, but is her biggest foe really in front of her gun?”

It’s hard not to get excited seeing another major release from Sukeban.

Luckily, with an exhibit at the Tokyo Game Show 2026, .45 PARABELLUM was given a playable demo, showing off its unique gameplay. It also allowed me to send over a few questions to the team about their upcoming game.

Talking With Sukeban About .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND

First off, I wanted to ask more about .45 Parabellum and its inspirations. I know from VA-11 Hall-A and from Sukeban Games in general that it's heavily inspired by a lot of Japanese media, and what I get from .45 Parabellum is a little bit of Ghost in the Shell with some Metal Gear Solid graphics in that low-poly, low-resolution style. In short, what things inspired both the look of .45 Parabellum and the story?

At the very beginning, I wanted this to be very self-indulgent. A game where I could just be a geek about Metal Gear Solid, Killer 7, Parasite Eve, Galerians, Ghost in the Shell, BLAME!, Ergo Proxy, and what have you, just to eventually have a bit of a crisis where trying to live up to my inspirations made me burn out for a bit until I decided to isolate my brain from external influences and do my own thing.

I felt liberated, and honestly, if I’m gonna spend so much time working on something so personal, it better be as original as possible. Obviously, I’m still inspired by a bunch of things, but they’re subconscious rather than intentional. It’s fun to see the game stop being a pastiche of media and become 45PB.

Secondly, I wanted to touch more on the active time. I read on the 2024 Sukeban website post about .45 that it's also inspired by Parasite Eve, but that it was a bit different from that game. It's an interesting mix of real-time and pause, and I wanted to ask more about how the system interacts with the RPG aspect; should players be expecting something more mechanically complex for this system?

45PB focuses a lot more on positioning and character customization vs. the weapon customization you see in Parasite Eve. In that game, things are a little slow on purpose; you’re supposed to get hit sometimes because it’s balanced so the equipment carries you forward. In 45PB, movement becomes key as you need to identify the right moment to strike, and this requires smooth controls to achieve it. I’d say this is where they diverge the most. The difference between something slower and with a focus on stats vs. a game where movement and timing are more of a factor.

A tactical combat encounter with multiple characters, aiming indicators, and a battle interface in .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND.

Positioning and timing play important roles in .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND's combat. Screenshot: Sukeban Games.

Thirdly, the teams work with Va11 Hall-A, and the multiple visual novels created by the Sukeban team are all lovely character-driven works, and I expect that with the promise of Reila Mizakuchi's troubled military past in this cyberpunk dystopia, it will be the same. I wanted to ask, if you can share at all, what kind of characters are in the world of .45 Parabellum.

45PB has a lot of combat and exploration with relatively little dialogue, and this makes it so the dialogue has to be punchy and memorable in almost every window. My partner jokes that everyone sounds like they’re cutting a pro-wrestling promo at all times.

In that sense, everyone is memorable in their own way, though the people who have engaged with the game long enough are always talking about this mysterious character called America. More on her when the game is out!

Fourth, as a general sort of question, since this is an action RPG, I wanted to know if the game is going to be more linear or if it is more about choices and consequences.

I can say right away there are no choices or different endings. This is a very personal story that requires a linear progression, and the freedom usually assigned to RPGs lies with the combat system. It’s a game where losing becomes an opportunity to learn and grow.

Finally, I wanted to know about the switch to 3D. Personally, I love the style that I see, it's a beautiful low-poly aesthetic, but with previous works from Sukeban with its wonderful 2D style, I wanted to know how that has translated into 3D, or if there was anything else interesting you've found creating a 3D world.

I definitely like working in 3D more. It has a higher learning curve, but it’s surprisingly versatile and faster than 2D once you get used to it. It allows me greater freedom with atmosphere, and generally I just find it more fun. I still make plenty of 2D games of course; it’s just that for commercial stuff I might be sticking with it for a little longer.

Not to mention how it lets me flex my moviehead muscles. Finding the right angles both for the exploration segments and the cutscenes is something I’ll never stop enjoying. I just wish setting up cameras for the environments wasn’t so soul-crushing.

A lone figure in a narrow courtyard beneath towering weathered buildings in .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND.

The game's low-poly 3D environments use imposing architecture to build atmosphere. Screenshot: Sukeban Games.

Looking Forward To Release

As of writing, .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND does not have a release date; instead, it’s slated as WID (when it's done). But I won’t lie, I am very excited for this game. Sukeban Games has always released incredibly passionate games, and hearing from them, it seems this game is going to have the same passion in it.

The focus on the mechanics of the gameplay with the tighter narrative style will be interesting to see in the full game, and I hope to fall in love with the characters in the same way many did with VA11 Hall-A.

.45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND

Release: To be announced

Genre: Action / RPG / Indie

Developer / Publisher: Sukeban Games

Platforms: PC (Steam)

From Inspiration to Identity: Sukeban Games on .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND