Yesterday we reported that Metal Gear Rising would be playable at E3, and that it was rumored Bayonetta’s Kenji Saito was directing the Metal Gear spin-off. Today, Andriasang confirmed that the lead programmer on Bayonetta was indeed in charge of Metal Gear Rising. The news comes from Famitsu, who also shared a bit more about the development process behind Metal Gear Rising.

While Kojima felt the original vision had a strong story and character design, the actual game was just not coming together. After reaching out to Platinum, they showed him a version of the game completely focused on action, and running at 60 frames per second. Kojima felt that “this was it,” though some more changes had to be made to the story. Because of the narrative changes, some of Metal Gear artist Yoji Shinkawa’s work was abandoned.

Though it’s very promising to hear that one of the main men behind Bayonetta will be the driving force behind Raiden in Rising, it’s a shame that some of the original vision for the game has been eschewed to make the game work. Hopefully Rising fulfils its potential, opening the door for even more Metal Gear spin-offs.

SOURCE: Bayonetta main programmer confirmed as Metal Gear Rising director [Andriasang]