Hyung-tae Kim, the CEO of Shift Up and the creative mind behind *Stellar Blade* and *Goddess of Victory: Nikke*, recently shared his design philosophy regarding the “sexy female characters” featured in both games.
In an interview at Tokyo Game Show 2024 with Japanese outlet GAME Watch, Kim revealed that his design choices are driven by his personal instincts and the desires of his audience.
As the lead character artist for both titles, Kim explained that while characters like Eve in *Stellar Blade* and those in *Nikke* have visually appealing designs, there was no deliberate effort to make them “sexy.” Instead, he shared that these ideas emerged naturally as he followed his intuition.
“I don’t think it’s something we consciously aimed for,” Kim said. “I do it because I enjoy it, so I feel it’s a result that naturally comes out when I follow my instincts.”
Kim also emphasized that the original character designs in *Nikke* were not focused on appearance. The game was initially conceived during an internal planning competition, where gameplay mechanics took center stage. However, Kim later shifted the project’s direction to place more emphasis on character design, explaining that this approach grew from the collective creativity of the development team.
“All the design elements that make up a character must fit into a context that aligns with the story,” Kim said, highlighting that while visually striking designs are important, the character’s narrative also needs to blend seamlessly into the game’s world.
He elaborated that both the personality and visual appeal of a character are equally significant, adding that achieving this balance challenges the creator’s skills.
An interesting point Kim mentioned is that the development team for *Nikke* has a high percentage of female members, yet the studio’s signature style remains consistent.
“The fact that these kinds of designs are so important to me means, if anything, the team has already been infused with my DNA,” he joked, expressing his satisfaction with the final outcome.
