Not every idea that is passed around during the planning and development stages of a game makes it to the finished product, even in an indie title like Flynn: Son of Crimson built by a much smaller developer. However, it looks like Studio Thunderhorse isn't quite ready to give up on the ideas that have been left on the cutting room floor before launch.
In an interview with Game ZXC, Studio Thunderhorse commented on the plethora of features and mechanics that made it into Flynn: Son of Crimson, as well as a few that didn't. Some fans might even recognize these missing parts of Flynn's toolbelt, as some of the cut content related to the game's Crimson Energy system were available in its initial demo.
How Crimson Energy Fuels Flynn: Son of Crimson's Combat and Traversal
The Crimson Energy system is what power's Flynn's arsenal, giving players access to new weapons and different ways to tackle the hard-hitting, Metroidvania-style combat. These come primarily in the form of a sword, an axe, and a set of claws, each having different attack speads and move sets that allow players to dispatch enemies however they see fit for a given situation. For instance, the axe is built to deliver slow, powerful blows that can punch through Flynn: Son of Crimson's toughest enemy defenses at the cost of the attack and recovery speed.
"The sword, axe, and claws have always been with us pretty much since day one. We always really liked the clear difference between speeds and damage, but also how they allow Flynn to perform wild abilities like transforming into a tornado or pogo-ing on top of enemies heads."
Additionally, these weapons are also keyed into the traversal that defines the Metroidvania genre, such as how the claws give Flynn the ability to latch onto walls and reach higher places than normal. There are other uses to some of the weapons as well, but the thing to remember is that these Crimson Energy weapons are an integral part of Flynn: Son of Crimson, both for combat and exploration. Seeing that there were other weapons that didn't make the cut likely means that they didn't fit in with the current sandbox of the game, even if they had appeared in an earlier demo.
The Crimson Energy Weapons That Didn't Make the Cut in Flynn: Son of Crimson
In the case of these cut Crimson Energy weapons, these took the form of a Crimson Bow and grapple, both of which had appeared in the demo that released as a part of the initial Kickstarter. According to Studio Thunderhorse, the bow's long range attacks were eventaully repurposed into the blasts that shoot from Flynn's palm. However, it doesn't appear that the grapple makes any kind of appearance in Flynn: Son of Crimson, at least not in a way that compares to how it did in the earlier demo available through the Kickstarter campaign.
"Originally we had two other abilities that didn’t make the cut, one being the Crimson Bow - which ultimately transformed into a magic blast straight from Flynn’s palms and the other was a grapple (both of these were present in the Kickstarter demo)."
While they might be on the cutting room floor, there is a chance that the developer might be able to salvage the concepts and designs in a future indie project. Nothing was confirmed, but Studio Thunderhorse did leave the door open to some of these mechanics making an appearance in a future project, or possibly even in DLC.
Where Studio Thunderhorse Might Be Able to Repurpose The Cut Content
At the moment, both a new project and DLC from Studio Thunderhorse can be considered far enough off that they aren't on the radar of the developer or publisher Humble Games, the production division of Humble Bundle. The developer said, "As for these reappearing in future projects or DLC.. never say never, right?" However, other responses during the interview leave the possiblity questionable. Given that there are currently no plans for DLC, or even the next project coming after Flynn: Son of Crimson, it might be a while until fans get these weapons back in the state that they appeared in the demo - if at all.
Flynn: Son of Crimson is available now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
