David Stanley, the creator of Skelattack, has provided an in-depth response to our article yesterday which criticized some elements of the way that story ended. His response is detailed and nuanced and I’ll post a screenshot of it below:

I really appreciate this response. Not only because of what it says specifically, but also because it shows that Skelattack’s story was created with love, by people who care a good deal about Skully and the world they created.

And as for the contents of the response itself, you’ll see Mr. Stanley actually agrees with our take that the humans were not villains and were in fact just as much in the right to seek immortality as the monsters were in the right to try and rescue the Blue Flame. He also mentions that the writers had many ideas to emphasize this point in the ending and throughout, but these ideas were unfortunately cut as the release date of the game approached.

Stanley also says he liked our idea of playing for a human character in a sequel and that he would be happy to make that game, provided Konami (who now owns the rights to Skelattack) wants to continue.

This response has made me look at Skelattack in a different light. While I always loved the artwork and the platforming (and those rodent guys, they’re the best!), my sympathy for the human’s quest to gain immortality and my disappointment that the monsters didn’t share the Blue Flame was a roadblock to my enjoying the story – as at the time, I was certain the developers would disagree with this view. But now that I know that the creators of Skelattack believe both sides are justified and that it’s okay if you side with Serenity and the humans, I will have to reconsider my stance.

No, Skelattack does NOT try to make you root against the humans. It gives you two equally valid sides and allows you to choose who you mentally side with, even if you play for Skully.

That’s a point in the story’s favor. While I am still disappointed that the humans couldn’t achieve immortality too, (as I believe it would have been easy for the Underworld to just share the flame so both sides can live forever) I will probably revisit Skelattack with this new perspective in mind, while hoping against all odds that a Skelattack sequel focusing on a human character trying to bring immortality to all of humanity actually gets made someday.

Konami, the ball is in your court to bring David and his team back to make this sequel happen!