Aluna: Sentinel of the Shards – a Kick Ass Latina Heroine Jumps from the Comics to the Xbox

As a young girl growing up in East Harlem, I didn’t see many examples of kickass Latina women in pop culture, nor had things improved once I became a successful television and movie actress in Hollywood landing roles in properties like “Harold and Kumar” and “Devious Maids.” In 2007 I was browsing the aisles at San Diego Comic-Con when it dawned on me that in booth after booth, no one was representing female or minority characters. The few times I would see them, they’d be either bad guys or half-naked female vampires. However, when you take a good look at the crowds at this event, you can’t help but notice that the attendees are not just white people, but every type of human in the world! A massive number of the people buying these comics aren’t being represented at all in the entertainment they are consuming.

In my Colombian heritage I inspired me to make something of it. My husband Antonio Hernandez and I created Aluna the young, energetic character.^ThSpanish-born princess in the century is accused of witchcraft. Here she discovers her destiny. She must defend Pachamama’s mystical shard, which is believed to hold the heart of Pachamama her goddess mother.

The goal was to organically create a hero that represented a female with ethnic roots that everyone would enjoy, but who doesn’t belong to just one group. The 16th century was before the West colonized countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. After extensive research on the indigenous tribes of South America, we established that Aluna’s mother would be the Incan goddess of the earth, Pachamama. In the 1500’s, Spanish conquistadors were conquering and plundering local peoples for gold and land, so we cast a Spanish sailor as Aluna’s father to represent a mix of the natural world and the more brutish, colonizing world of humankind. Our demigod heroine isn’t the typical demigod from Eastern and Western cultures, as seen in many comics and games.

With a global audience hungry for more Aluna, I partnered with my husband’s development company Digiarts and N-Fusion Interactive to translate the adventure into a videogame. Heroes of NewerthWe were a big fan of top-down gaming, where the character moves around on a map in order to defeat creatures or collect loot. This is what I discovered. DiabloIt was so enjoyable that I played for hours, that I knew it was the best direction to go for Aluna’s videogame version.

Aluna: Sentinel of the Shards, players take on the character of Aluna as she defends her powers from the evils that seek to destroy her in a 16th Century New World based on indigenous lore and the colonization of South America by Spain. The wild jungle environment is filled with volcanic canyons, towering cliffs, and dense forests. Players will also encounter bosses and creatures inspired by Incan mythology. Modeled after the Spanish Conquistador Arms of the time, weapons are based on historic South American and Spanish weaponry. The real world is aided by the mystical as players can customize Aluna’s fighting style by unlocking powerful magical abilities across three schools of magic.

Latin American culture is so rich in diversity and depth that there are many exciting stories to be told. We hope you have as much enjoyment playing Aluna as we had creating her world.

Aluna: Sentinel of the Shards

Digiart Interactive LLC

☆☆☆☆☆
3

★★★★★

$19.99

Inexplicable time and place are defied by mystic shards that fall from the skies. A path was born out of superstition and mysticism, as well as fear of the unknowable. Our heroine Aluna is a young girl who was gifted the strongest of these fragments. It contains the mother’s heart, which is believed to be the goddess Earth Pachamama. Aluna has to travel from her old home in order to find the new world. Aluna has fulfilled her destiny. But so does the evil who seeks to make theirs. Aluna’s past guides her future and her enemies will stop at nothing to steal the shard and take control of the world…