"Stupid Never Dies" preview: zombies, corpses, love, and punk rock
In "Stupid Never Dies" you don't kill zombies, you are one yourself. The debut work from the Japanese studio GPTrack50 is a colorful sensory overload – and is being created under the leadership of several well-known veterans of the gaming industry.
«Stupid Never Dies» is one of those games that is hard to put into words. The latest baby from «Resident Evil 6» director Eiichiro Sasaki is playable punk rock – colorful, chaotic, and unpredictable.
I already got a chance to play this fever dream ahead of its October release and chatted with Sasaki about zombies, love stories, and the inspirations behind the young studio GPTrack50.
Source: GPTrack50
An unusual love story
Humanity has been wiped out by monsters. Werewolves, vampires, lizardmen, and all sorts of other mythical creatures have destroyed entire civilizations and then crawled underground. On the surface, mostly zombies remain – and I step into the role of one of these undead.
Sasaki explains: «Zombies are popular enemies in games – for us, they are playable characters.» In the world of «Stupid Never Dies», however, the undead have a bad reputation. According to Sasaki, they are the lowest creatures in the monster hierarchy. «And our protagonist, Davy, is the lowest and dumbest of the zombies. A complete loser.»
I have to laugh out loud. I have never heard a game director talk about his hero like that. Poor Davy.
One day, on one of his mindless wanderings through a shopping mall, the loser zombie finds something very special: the frozen corpse of the beautiful student Julia. The undead falls in love with the ice-cold dead girl. Julia froze to death in a freezer section during the «Great War» – the name given to the downfall of humanity.
Sasaki says you should take this love story seriously, even if it seems strange at first. «A zombie falls in love with a corpse. Yes, our story is absurd. But from Davy's perspective, it's his first great love. As a human, he had no romantic relationships. For him, Julia is something special.»
Source: GPTrack50
Shortly after his fateful encounter, Davy meets the mad scientist Dr. Frank. He promises Davy that he can save and revive Julia. All Davy has to do for that? Travel to the underworld, beat up monsters, and at the end of his adventure, kill the «KOM» – King of Monsters – who is responsible for the whole misery.
Of course, Davy agrees and inevitably becomes the hero of humanity. Sasaki summarizes: «Davy doesn't fight to save the world. He only fights for selfish reasons. To save his frozen love.»
Source: GPTrack50
«I love punk rock»
Just as Davy falls in love with Julia, I fall in love with the abstruse world of «Stupid Never Dies» from the very first second. The characters are all crazy, loud, and written in a funny way. The unique art style overwhelms me with rich colors and a wild mixture of numerous influences. I am reminded of wacky Suda51 titles like «Lollipop Chainsaw» and «No More Heroes». It's just fun!
Source: GPTrack50
The leitmotif for the game's visual identity: punk rock. Sasaki says: «I love punk rock. Our game is punk rock, visually and in spirit.» Responsible for the artistic design is Genseki Tanaka, who previously worked at Ubisoft on games like «Far Cry» and «XDefiant». In addition to Tanaka and «Resident Evil 6» director Sasaki, other well-known names from the gaming industry can be found at GPTrack50.
The Japanese studio was founded in 2022 by Hiroyuki Kobayashi, who previously worked at Capcom for 27 years on game series such as «Resident Evil», «Devil May Cry», and «Dragon's Dogma». Also on board: «Resident Evil 4 Remake» level designer Koji Kakae and «Sengoku Basara» veteran Sinya Shigeyoshi.
Source: GPTrack50
With «Stupid Never Dies», the experienced developers are breaking free from all the shackles associated with working on long-running game series. They are starting from scratch.
Sasaki is aware that a fresh start is not easy: «It is always a risk to create something new. But that's what we want to do – and have fun doing it.» Confidently, he adds: «We trust in our skills and the experience we were able to gain during our careers.»
Deeper and deeper into the underworld
GPTrack50 describes «Stupid Never Dies» as an action RPG. That's not wrong, but it's not the whole truth either. At its core, the colorful adventure is a roguelike. My goal is to reach the deepest depths of the underworld within a time limit. Of course, I don't manage that on the first try. Nor on the second, third, or twentieth.
After each run, I use resources I collected in the underworld for permanent upgrades that I purchase in the shopping mall. With these, Davy levels up faster in the underground dungeons, beats up monsters more easily, and reaches deeper worlds. In addition, there are temporary upgrades that I find in the underground, which differ with each run.
Source: GPTrack50
The start of the game is sluggish. I am overwhelmed with countless tutorials, and Davy's first runs are boring. The zombie has no exciting abilities and develops only slowly.
In a later stage of the game, I clearly feel the difference compared to the beginning: Davy collects XP at the speed of light, unlocks new perks every few minutes, and brawls through large hordes of enemies with ease.
The game gets faster, more spectacular, and better as you play. Like a snowball rolling down a hill. An exciting approach – but one that comes with disadvantages that could deter impatient gamers.
Source: GPTrack50
«Why should a zombie worry about his defense?»
The studio also takes an unconventional approach to the combat system, true to the motto: blocking and dodging are for wimps.
Davy goes all-in on every encounter. His attacks fill a «Bite Gauge». Once full, I can bite enemies and drain their life energy. If an enemy attacks, it's worth jumping into the attack with a «Stupid Parry» (I love that name!) and countering for maximum damage. As I said: blocking and dodging are for wimps.
Source: GPTrack50
Sasaki calls this offensive fighting style «Funky Zombie Action». He explains how this unusual approach came about: «From the beginning, it was clear: We want to have a playable zombie. Then we thought about what abilities zombies have.» He smiles and continues: «The most important thing about a zombie is: He is already dead. He can't die anymore. So, why should a zombie worry about his defense?»
Source: GPTrack50
Especially cool: Davy can copy the fighting styles of strong elite enemies with bite attacks. This way, the undead temporarily transforms into a werewolf, a fairy, or a harpy. I can switch back and forth between the styles at any time and upgrade them temporarily per run. Sasaki reveals that there will be a total of 11 copyable styles in the finished game.
Source: GPTrack50
In my limited time with the game, I unfortunately don't really warm up to the combat system – even though I find the offensive approach and the copied styles exciting on paper.
Even after the thousandth beaten enemy, it still doesn't «click» for me. Davy's attacks feel too sluggish and imprecise. I also sorely miss a lock-on system. Especially enemies in the air, I can't hit reliably for the life of me. Damn it, Davy! Make an effort. After all, you're fighting for Julia!
Source: GPTrack50
I make friends with some fighting styles more than others. For example, I like the brutal werewolf, who knocks away several enemies at once with his spin attacks. The harpy turns out to be an annoying beast in my runs that I can't control at all. I don't hit enemies, I'm too slow, and I fly through the levels like I'm drunk.
Source: GPTrack50
From a positive perspective, the feel of «Stupid Never Dies» is unique – I can't name you a game that controls similarly and so consistently ignores defensive moves.
I will definitely give the loud punk rock fever dream a chance at launch. Maybe I need to suppress my muscle memory from past action and hack-and-slash games more consciously to feel the combat system. Forget defense, precision, and speed. In short: become a zombie yourself and just attack mindlessly.
«Stupid Never Dies» will be released on October 22 for PS5 and PC. GPTrack50 invited me to a preview and interview session at Gamescom.
My love of video games was unleashed at the tender age of five by the original Gameboy. Over the years, it's grown in leaps and bounds.
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