Back at Tokyo Game Show in September, I had the chance to sit down with David Carrasco, the CEO and co-founder of Vermila Studios and the executive producer on the upcoming *Crisol: Theater of Idols*. The game is a survival horror first-person shooter that leans heavily on both survival and horror elements.

*Crisol* takes place on the Island of Tormentosa in Hispania, a nightmarish version of Spain, tainted by corrupting religion and a blood curse that fuels your weapons and health.

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### A Blumhouse Games Beat

Over the last two years, I’ve found myself covering several titles associated with Blumhouse Games. At Summer Games Fest 2024 in LA, I spoke with some of the team behind the high school-set *Fear The Spotlight* when the new publisher made a big splash entering the gaming industry. Since then, I’ve also interviewed the creators of *The Eyes of Hellfire*, a gothic Irish multiplayer game.

As a big horror fan, I’m by no means complaining. In fact, I’ve been continually impressed by how unique and singular each game signed by Blumhouse feels, despite all existing within the same broader genre.

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### Finding Vision Through Culture

When I asked Carrasco why the Hollywood-based publisher sought out his and his peers’ games, he explained:

> “I’m not Blumhouse, I cannot speak for them, but I think what is really important for them is that you have vision. That you are not just making a game, but that your game tries to explain something and has an essence.”

Regarding how a developer achieves this, Carrasco added:

> “In many cases, you speak from what you know, and we know Spanish folklore.”

*Crisol* goes beyond folklore to explore the scars left by Spain’s complex relationship with religion — from Paganism to Catholicism. This historical tension is represented in-game through two fictionalized groups: the “religion of the sun” and the “cult of the sea.”

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### Navigating Controversy with Creative Freedom

In an era when games across the globe are getting canceled mid-production due to the “increasingly intense” US political climate, I asked Carrasco if convincing a publisher to support a game with potentially controversial themes inspired by real political and religious history was difficult.

He explained:

> “We discussed [with Blumhouse] that it was [inspired by] Spanish folklore, but you didn’t need to know anything about it. That it would be interesting to you even if you didn’t study Spanish history.”

While Blumhouse was receptive to this pitch, Carrasco noted that not every publisher shared the same openness.

> “Some publishers that we visited, they either wanted to remove some of it or they were wondering whether someone that didn’t have that connection would be interested [in the game].”

This part of the pitching process frustrated Carrasco. He pointed out that many games successfully invite players to overcome cultural hurdles through engaging gameplay, style, or unique premises.

> “Some people don’t know anything about Samurai or Japanese culture,” he said, “but then you play and you get excited about it, because it’s so exotic, so unique, and different.”

Carrasco sees this as an opportunity for players to learn about different cultures by immersion:

> “It’s a way to introduce — in our case, this is not Spain. It’s a completely twisted [version of the country], but there’s a lot of Spanish flavor there. We’ve taken a lot of things from different eras, regions, and art styles, so it can give you that glimpse, that idea of ‘Oh, I would like to know more about this. Where did it come from? Maybe I can visit Spain sometime and discover the cathedrals and how they connect with the *Crisol* version.’”

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### Connected to Faith: World and Art Design

Some of the influences Carrasco mentioned can be spotted quickly by watching the trailer or playing the demo. The first-person horror and monsters stalking you clearly channel *Resident Evil*, while the shooting and light stealth mechanics draw inspiration from the highly animated *Bioshock*-style gunplay and immersive sim elements.

Curious about deeper inspirations behind *Crisol*’s unique world design, I asked Carrasco about specific parts of Spanish history or folklore that helped shape the game.

> “In terms of art design, we really wanted to have coherence,” he said. “Sometimes you play games that are a lot of fun, but you notice that they didn’t invest that same amount of time or effort in the art direction. One thing doesn’t feel connected to the rest of the environment, or you think, ‘Why is this person dressed like that?’”

To avoid that, the team committed to crafting cultures and locations that felt natural and internally consistent.

> “We really put in a lot of effort creating a coherent, structured art direction. In Tormentosa, there’s the Cult of the Sea, so everything has that sea connection — either in color, shape, or decorations — and you don’t feel like anything is out of place.”

However, Carrasco quickly highlighted that the game’s title reflects its design philosophy:

> “*Crisol* means crucible, like a place where you mix a lot of things. We mixed a lot of elements from different places in Spain, but we didn’t want them to feel like, ‘Oh, this cathedral doesn’t belong here,’ so we spent a lot of time and effort making it kind of natural.”

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### It’s in the Blood: A Singular Gameplay Mechanic

Most of *Crisol*’s gameplay elements have clear inspirations, but one feels wholly original: in *Crisol*, your blood acts as both ammunition and health.

Unlike other survival horror games where you scavenge for ammo, here if you run out of shots in your gold-encrusted shotgun, you can transmute a chunk of your health bar into bullets and hope to land a clean hit on the monsters approaching.

Occasionally, you’ll find rotting corpses in the streets, some fresh enough to absorb their hemoglobin — presumably — restoring your health and allowing redistribution into your weapons.

This creates a fascinating risk/reward balance that consolidates health and ammo management into a single resource, forcing players to make tough decisions.

Carrasco described the thought process behind this mechanic from two directions.

> “First, survival horror games have slowly become less survival and more action. They give you a lot of ammunition, your weapons become more powerful, and you don’t feel that the horror is very challenging. The creatures that attack you, you can defeat them sooner or later.”

He elaborated:

> “By adding that blood mechanic, you always have to concentrate on how much health you have, which weapon is best for each enemy type, or how many enemies you have on screen and how to approach the situation.”

Beyond gameplay, the team was drawn to the mechanic’s symbolic power and narrative integration.

> “The more religious aspect of it is how you sacrifice your blood to your god to be able to defeat the enemies.”

Carrasco likened creating ammo to a sacrament:

> “You are taking your blood and making it divine, so then it becomes a weapon that can defeat the monstrosities attacking you.”

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### Reveling in Rare Reliquaries

Layering religious imagery on gameplay mechanics to build atmosphere is a recurring theme in *Crisol*, often discovered naturally through the team’s research.

This is especially evident in the game’s ostentatious weaponry. At first, your revolver or shotgun looks relatively ordinary. However, once the religious soldier you play as infuses his blood into a gun, it becomes encrusted with jewels and a golden finish reminiscent of a 16th-century religious scepter.

Carrasco shared the real-world inspiration behind this transformation:

> “Once we started digging into religious history, we discovered a lot about saints and how they preserve relics.”

Your weapons function like reliquaries — containers for the divine. In reality, reliquaries often hold remains of saints or objects owned by them, crafted from materials such as gold, ivory, and rare woods.

> “They use the same materials as reliquaries — gold, ivory, very expensive wood — and that contrasts with the weapons you find. Then the blood is what is divine, so it holds a divine element inside.”

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### Meaningful Religious Imagery

This isn’t religious imagery used merely to court controversy or grab headlines. Vermila Studios appears genuinely invested in exploring religious ideas through gameplay and worldbuilding.

The result is a game that feels authentic to the region while willing to comment thoughtfully on its history and culture.

I can’t wait to see where *Crisol: Theater of Idols* takes these ideas when it releases.

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*This preview is based on a PC demo played on-site at Tokyo Game Show in Japan. The final product is subject to change.*
https://www.shacknews.com/article/146730/crisol-theater-of-idols-isnt-shying-away-from-its-horrific-religious-themes-and-that-is-what-makes-it-so-interesting