SacriFire (Interview)

Today we are interviewing (Pixelated Milk) as they are working on an upcoming jrpg called ScariFire. We dive into the behind the scenes of what they are working on.

What was the first game that made you fall in love with gaming?

It’s hard to pick one title. Our team bonded over classic JRPGs and anime vibes. Some of us remember staying up late on Final Fantasy VI, others getting lost in the world of Suikoden II or Xenogears.

How did you get into game development?

For most of us, it began with sketching characters and running tabletop RPGs by candlelight, then experimenting with Unity prototypes. Passion and persistence carried us from paper maps to playable code.

How did your studio come together?

Pixelated Milk started over ten years ago when a group of friends - who met during university and ended up working at the same company - figured it might be fun to try making games of our own. That led to our debut game, Regalia: Of Men And Monarchs - a tactical, JRPG-inspired adventure. After its success, we felt like trying something completely different. That’s how Warsaw came to life: a turn-based strategy game built around the story of the Warsaw Uprising. A lot of us are from Warsaw, and we felt it was about time those events were told with some real respect - both for the history and for the players. Now we’re working on our third game, going back to our roots with a proper, classic-style RPG inspired by the JRPGs we grew up loving.

What was the inspiration behind the name “SacriFire”?

We were bouncing around a lot of ideas in the office, playing with words that represent some of the main themes of the game’s world. Somebody came up with ‘SacriFire’, and it just instantly felt right to us. It had that quasi-religious sound, but at the same time it felt fresh and unique.

The name ‘SacriFire’ also conceals a secret message that ties into the story, but this is for you to discover while playing.

Give us a backstory behind the setting of SacriFire.

Humanity shelters beneath the domes of the underground city Antioch, guarding against demons that roam the surface. Trained by the militarized Church of Sheol, you’ll venture into both Antioch’s catacombs and the spirit realm of Erebus, each revealing long-buried truths and forcing you to question everything you believe.

Who is the main protagonist in SacriFire?

You play as Ezekiel Ridan, a young priest of the Church of Sheol. His duty is to protect Antioch, but soon he’s drawn into a war that’s lasted millennia and must decide where his true loyalties lie.

What was the inspiration behind the gameplay for SacriFire?

We took cues from JRPG classics like Xenogears, Vagrant Story, the Trails/Kiseki series, even Mass Effect and Tales, and mixed turn-based strategy with real-time action. You chain affinity-based attacks into combos, pause time to plan, then unleash powerful finishers. That blend of pause-and-play plus bullet-hell elements creates a fresh but familiar flow.

Tell us about the Divine Weapons in the game.

The DIVOS is the weapon used by Ezekiel and the other bishops, and it’s a pretty nifty gadget. As the game progresses, you’ll be able to unlock ‘astras’, which - as the DIVOS is made out of pure energy - allow the weapon to take on new forms. So, at first, you’ll be limited to a sword, but pretty soon you’ll get a hammer astra, a crossbow, and so on, and you’ll be able to switch between them as the situation demands, depending on the weaknesses of the enemy.

If I had to sum up the DIVOS in a sentence, I’d say it’s basically a lightsaber - but even cooler!

Tell us about the soundtrack. How did the collab with Motoi Sakuraba come together?

Working with Motoi Sakuraba is an incredible honor for our team. He’s a legendary composer - instantly recognizable and absolutely beloved in the industry - and as players, we grew up on his soundtracks. His music was a huge part of the games that shaped us, long before we ever imagined making any ourselves. His ability to blend intensity, emotion, and melody is something we’ve always found deeply inspiring. When the opportunity came to collaborate, it felt like a natural extension of everything we’ve ever loved about games and game music. It’s genuinely thrilling to have him contributing to our project.

What are some of the places you can explore in SacriFire?

In SacriFire, you'll explore the vast underground city of Antioch, which has various districts. You will also visit Erebus, an idyllic spirit world, accessible via "prayer wheels". The game features Ivanstone and extensive dungeons.

This game is all about choices. Tell us about some of the choices you have to make in the game?

In keeping with the traditional JRPG format, the game is not so much about branching quest choices, but rather the choices characters make, the external hardships and personal failings they’re grappling with, and how that informs the rest of the game. With that in mind, while there’s a specific story we’d like to tell, we’re planning for a decent enough variety of content to allow the player to interact with the world of SacriFire with multiple flavors in mind.

Will there be any DLC in the future?

It’s too early to talk about that.

The billion-dollar question: why should anybody want to play this game day one?

If you love JRPGs, SacriFire feels instantly familiar, yet different. You get tense real-time combat with strategic pauses, a branching story, two distinct realms to explore and great music. It’s the classic you remember reforged with fresh flame.