‘Bayani’ Kickstarter campaign is now ongoing, developer partners with FChamp

Ranida Games has been on a roll these past few months. The developers of Filipino fighting game “Bayani: Kanino Ka Kakampi?!” have just launched the game’s Kickstarter campaign. They also won an award and formed a partnership with eSports star Ryan “Filipino Champ” Ramirez.

Victories

As stated on its Steam page and Kickstart campaign, “Bayani” is the “first commercial fighting game developed in the Philippines heavily inspired by the Philippines’ rich history, culture, and mythology.”

The game will be in Early Access starting from the first quarter of 2019.

All “Bayani” Kickstarter backers will receive a game demo this Christmas prior to its Early Access release. The bigger the backer’s pledge, the more significant the reward, including the privilege of co-designing stages and alternate character costumes, as well as owning a quarter-scale model (sculpted by Halimaw! Sculptures) of a “Bayani” character of the backer’s choice.

Stretch goals include additional original music, animated story cut-scenes, two new unlockable characters, a “Bayani” anime episode, with additional stretch goals revealed in the future.

Ranida Games and other local game developers were also part of the massive annual video game trade show G-Star which this year was held in Busan, South Korea.

“Bayani” won 2nd place in G-Star 2018’s Big Indie Pitch competition – PC category. Fellow Filipino studio ThinkBIT Solutions won 1st Place in the Mobile category.

Ranida Games even released a spiffy new trailer for the game, which treats viewers to flashy animation and gameplay footage as Slapshock’s rousing anthem “Bandera” blasts in the background.

Here comes The Champ!

“Ranida Games reached out to me via Twitter,” said Ryan Ramirez a.k.a. Filipino Champ. “They asked me if I was interested in being part of the team.”

With over 15 years of experience as a fighting game enthusiast and 10 years as a professional eSports player, Filipino Champ has competed in a multitude of big-name eSports tournaments. He is known for his expertise in games like “Street Fighter V,” “Street Fighter IV,” “Killer Instinct,” among others.

Now Filipino Champ is working with Ranida Games to refine “Bayani” into an experience “fitting for competitive play.”

“I feel like this concept has a lot of potential for growth and is also very unique compared to most fighting games,” he said.

As Ranida Games’ consultant, Filipino Champ’s responsibilities include sharing the knowledge he has acquired from playing a rich variety of fighting games, quality assurance, and making sure “Bayani” is fun and accessible.

Filipino Champ already has a favorite “Bayani” character: Lolang Tsora, the character inspired by historical figure Melchora Aquino de Ramos, or Tandang Sora as she is popularly known.

“My Lola is the love of my life,” said Filipino Champ. “This character plays like Dormammu, which is the character I’m most known for.” Dormammu is a playable Marvel character in the “Marvel vs. Capcom” games known for being a powerful “keepaway” fighter.

Filipino Champ considers Tonio (Antonio Luna) as the most casual-friendly character, and Leon (Emilio Aguinaldo) and Rio (Apolinario Mabini) as the most technical. He lauds the game for being accessible to a wider audience while also boasting the kind of depth you’d expect from a competitive game.

“I feel we are still in the early stages of the game, for now,” he said. “We are focusing on the aesthetics and gameplay mechanics before we move to any character specific balance changes.”

While he has spent most of his life in the USA, Filipino Champ was born in the Philippines. He believes practice and dedication to his craft are key to maintaining and improving his fighting game skill level. “Hard work beats talent any day of the week” is his fighting game philosophy. — LA, GMA News

For more information on “Bayani,” visit the official Ranida Games and “Bayani” websites, and the “Bayani” Facebook page.