Noble Shadows Report #2 - Hair Customization by Popular Demand

Hey everyone, Sherwin the Dev here 👋

Real talk on what I’ve been doing in Kizoku no Kage.

Why hair, and why now?

Two reasons:

1. The full character design is still a work in progress and I got sick of staring at the same default haircut while testing combat.

2. There’s been a lot of requests about customization from you all. So I decided to quickly develop this hair style & color feature as a fast iteration on character design. Consider it me listening.

Dev priority check:

My main focus is still on core stuff — combat systems, level design, enemy AI, story beats. That’s where 90% of my time goes. This hair system was basically a “sudden insert” into development, but your requests + my sanity made it happen.

So what’s this preview?

• Showing 5 hairstyles today - mostly anime style right now. Topknots with questionable physics, braids that defy gravity, that one dramatic eye-covering strand.

• Game will have 10+ styles total.

• All Unlockable. All earned through quests, clan rep, exploration.

• No more default-hair jail - you won’t be stuck and bored on a single hairstyle. Change it up before starting a mission.

• It’s WIP - the actual customization menu/UI is still being built and I’ll reveal that in future updates.

Scope reminder:

Hair is just the first piece. The plan is clothing and accessories will be unlockable too — kimono, masks, headbands, all dyeable. But combat and levels come first, so don’t expect the full wardrobe yet.

I genuinely need your vote since you asked for this:

1. Do you LIKE the anime hair direction?

2. Or do you want more serious, grounded historical styles? Less anime protagonist, more exhausted shinobi?

3. What should the other styles be? You requested customization — now tell me what to fill it with.

Comment below or yell at me on. - I’m solo so I literally read every post.

Thanks for pushing me to add this. At least now we both don’t have to look at the same haircut for 20 hours.

— Sherwin / Kizoku no Kage

Kizoku no Kage (Noble Shadows) is a stealth-action game inspired by Tenchu, set in feudal Japan. Wishlist on Steam to follow development and receive future playtest invites.