As a writer, I am primarily a novelist. However, I have had a multidisciplinary career. I started out as a copywriter in the creative department of an agency. Coming up with ideas and writing scripts and radio spots for advertisers like Ford, Telefónica, or ONCE really helps to hone your writing, getting straight to the point. Concurrently, I developed a literary activity that has resulted in the publication of five books, almost all of them crime novels, a genre in which I have carved out a niche, a reputation, and quite a few readers. As for video games, I'm not a gaming addict, so I've been gradually getting into them, naturally, in the same way that I've always dabbled in any work requiring well-written stories. I started out as a dialogue writer, crafting all sorts of texts for games, designing backgrounds, and then contributing ideas for narratives... Neon Blood is the title that has given me the first opportunity to propose a complete narrative, from the initial structure to writing the script.

When I entered the development process, I didn't encounter a blank page. The folks at Chaotic Brain had already done excellent graphic work, environments, characters, and had several quite appealing lore ideas. So the initial inspiration came from the work I found already done. From there, I insisted that if this was going to be a cyberpunk genre game, I wanted to tell a story as cyber as it is punk. I turned to the most classic references, of which nods can be found throughout the game (for the more culturally savvy players): William Gibson, Warren Ellis, Phillip K. Dick... In the story, influences range from as obvious as Strange Days to some much geekier ones, like Tales from the Galactic Tavern.

Developing a video game is, in most cases, a team effort. So, you have to start with some reflection: What narrative does the team want? Which narrative among those I can and want to create will appeal to the whole team? You also have to examine the work done, the concept art, the part of the flow that has already been built... and think of a story that fits. In the case of Neon Blood, for example, I thought that the type of graphic art, vintage and delicious, wasn't suitable for a serious, existential science fiction story, in the style of Ghost in the Shell or Blade Runner. However, it was perfect for something more Transmetropolitan, to shake things up, to offer a sharp critique of our present through fiction, to be, at times, a bit rough and, at others, more reflective. In other words: a very classic hardboiled story, but replacing LA gangsters with characters with cybernetic implants, addicted to synthetic drugs. From there, you just have to sit down and write. First, you outline a structure, like a screenplay, with its acts, powerful turning points, climax. And then you start writing action and dialogue as if there's no tomorrow.

In my experience, the most complicated part is figuring out where the space is to tell a story. And once you find it, making a story that fits that space. When you write a novel, you know the story will be told with ink on paper. When you write a movie script, you know the story will be told with images, where you'll see characters' actions and dialogues. When you write a video game narrative, it's a bit more complicated. One of my first jobs was for a sports game; I wrote a very sophisticated background and character profiles that turned out great. But then, in the video game, there wasn't room for all those things. It's not the same to write a Red Redemption, which is almost like a movie, as it is to write a Monument Valley, which also tells a beautiful narrative but has hardly any space to insert it. I think the latter is much more commendable.

Narrative is not only important in video games. People don't realize how important it is for every profession. From a waiter to a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, mastering narrative helps to better present the product of your work. Narrative is nothing more than adding emotion to the description of facts. I can tell you the facts that lead Frodo to Mount Doom. But narrative tackles it from the emotion: it first tells you what a character's goal is, and then focuses on all the obstacles keeping that character from achieving it: he's small, he's pursued by nine Nazgûl, there are spiders in the way... For the consumer, narrative offers a great gift: it gives you the possibility of living lives other than your own. This is especially powerful in video games, where the player has more power over the action than a novel reader. Well-done narrative will make you afraid, subject you to incredible emotions, make you laugh. Everyone loves the narrative created by Portal's off-screen voice, but the game could have existed without it. It would have been a great game, but not an exceptional one. And that's because someone saw the opportunity to add that voice to that story.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2067310/Neon_Blood/

Axel McCoin is a police detective and revolutionary leader in Viridis. He possesses advanced deductive skills, is empathetic, and has a strong sense of justice. His goal is to make Viridis a better place for all its inhabitants. He wears the Viridis police uniform and has a prosthetic arm after losing his arm during an escape. Before Neon Blood, Axel was Joe's protege and felt trapped in the monotony of his work. In Neon Blood, he investigates a conspiracy from the upper echelons of Bright City to destroy the balance of Viridis, becoming increasingly violent and furious. His objective is to help the people of Viridis and achieve lasting peace and uniform equality.

Axel Miller

28

Bright City

Police Detective

Leader, Game Protagonist

Highly advanced deductive abilities, intelligence, innate leadership, follows his convictions more than his obligations

Axel is highly empathetic, able to put himself in others' shoes without difficulty. He has a strong sense of justice, which, coupled with his respect for people and kind heart, makes him a fair and good police officer. His goal is to make Viridis a better place for all its inhabitants, a goal he gradually postpones due to bureaucracy and minor cases, but he endures this situation even if it means falling into monotony. He has a way with words but demonstrates intelligence and even ruthlessness during interrogations, being more than competent as a police officer. Over time, Axel becomes hardened by the situation in Viridis, transitioning from being more passive in his life in general to being much more proactive, allowing anger or rage to occasionally cloud his decisions, but always with a very clear objective, without crossing the line of 'the end justifies the means'.

9/10

Axel McCoin wears the standard uniform of the Viridis police force, sporting grayish trousers held up by a belt around the waist. He wears a gray suit vest over a regulation white shirt enriched with carbon fibers, giving it some resistance although it is not a true armor, adorned only by a black tie tucked inside the vest. Although it's the standard uniform, it's slightly more resilient than typical attire, but Axel dislikes dressing this way. Due to Viridis' common rains, they are required to wear a trench coat; however, Axel decided to wear his own trench coat with a faint blue light around the outer embroidery. This light serves a purpose, helping him quickly find his trench coat if he needs to remove it, as well as being able to use it as a distraction if the situation requires it.

Viridis detectives have a small internal projector implanted in their left eye with the police system interface, where they can obtain information about almost anything in real time, as well as enter detective mode, a mode patented by the Viridis police and later improved by Basilio, which intensifies the natural power of the eye and highlights elements that may be useful. Apart from that, Axel does not have any other implants, which are highly frowned upon within the force, a situation that changes when he is forced to flee the station, losing his arm due to a bullet that impacts his shoulder, seriously damaging the nerve and losing all mobility in the arm, as well as becoming infected from collapsing in very dirty tunnels during the escape. Luckily, Nikolai finds him while searching for scrap metal, helping him by having to amputate his arm to save his life, crafting a prosthetic arm that serves more than one function and will aid him in combat. Axel sports the typical almost military haircut required by the police, but it's on his face where one can see a man who has to mature and become aware of the world at forced pace, generally having a serious and tough demeanor.

Axel McCoin was born as Axel Miller into a wealthy family in Bright City. Like any family minimally belonging to Bright City's oligarchy, they had complete contempt for anyone from Blind City, instilling that thinking in young Axel from an early age. However, internally, Axel struggled to think that way. Over time, a young Axel began to peacefully rebel by sneaking away to Hunter Heaven, the nearest neighborhood belonging to Blind City, where he made friends with whom he enjoyed himself and realized that the class distinction his parents spoke of was simply fear of the unknown. Eventually, his parents found out, and if they were told that Axel had died, it would have hurt them less. His parents began to see him as if he were dirty, as if he had mixed with the riffraff, even resorting to violence due to his great audacity and irresponsibility.

The situation became extreme; Axel's parents would beat and insult him for mingling multiple times, seeing him as if they had no children. Fortunately, Axel's situation became evident little by little, especially to the neighbors, who called the police, and fortunately for Axel, it was Detective Rob McCoin who showed up at the door. Seeing the situation, he told the parents that he was taking him to teach him a lesson, to which the increasingly paranoid parents happily agreed. Rob rescued Axel, and after learning about everything that had happened and the good-heartedness the boy had, he decided to adopt him and give him an education in Hunter Heaven, away from the toxic environment where he had been raised. The elitist group among whom Axel's parents moved quickly realized that they had allowed their son to mix with people from Blind City, so they began to turn their backs on them until they ended up falling further into their madness, cursing Axel for his actions and turning to drink.

Rob was a good mentor; he taught Axel about right and wrong, about how it's important to fight for justice, equality, and respect. Undoubtedly, Rob was one of the few good cops left in an increasingly corrupt police force. When Axel learned of the situation, he felt horrible, but Rob helped him understand that it was his actions and philosophy that killed them, telling him that it's important to fight for your philosophy but that the end does not justify the means.

Axel grew up happily under Rob's tutelage, with the goal of working as a taxi driver, becoming completely enamored with the people of Viridis and its places; he wanted to meet many people and help them get around. However, when Rob died in the line of duty, Axel's objective changed radically. He had to enlist, join the force, and help people in another way, as Rob had helped him. Rob's partner, Joe, knew about Axel and his abilities, so from the police academy, he taught him to deduce and investigate, motivated by his promise and objective, soon standing out from the rest, becoming a detective in the Viridis police force.

Axel was Joe's protege, not out of favoritism towards Rob, but because Joe saw in him a young man with clear ideas, a good heart, and a real willingness to help people, not just collect his paycheck, aligning with Rob and Joe years ago. Axel spent his days in his Hunter Heaven apartment, always attentive to the most complicated cases that Joe gave him, sometimes handling minor cases, making Axel feel like he was falling into monotony and drifting away from his main objective.

Axel begins investigating another case, a simple murder, but to his surprise, as he delves deeper, he realizes a conspiracy by the upper echelons of Bright City to destroy the balance of Viridis. At first, Axel is a bit bored with the situation in his life, feeling that he wasn't really helping the people of Viridis, but as the game progresses, Axel becomes increasingly violent and furious, driven by Robin, with the goal of taking down Ruby.

To help all the people of Viridis, achieving lasting peace and uniform equality.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2067310/Neon_Blood/