Aesthetics were just as important as gameplay when developing El Shaddai, says Ignition

Ignition Entertainment's Shane Bettenhausen has told Gamasutra, that the development team has a bit of fun basing El Shaddai on the biblical text of the Book of Enoch.

According to Bettenhausen, the game which mixes "Judeo-Christian iconography with fantasy elements," has plenty of "art, narrative and music," which he said is in some ways the most important part of the game.

"Fundamentally, for me, the art, the atmosphere, the story and the music are in some ways more important than the gameplay -- it still has to have good gameplay; I think El Shaddai delivers both.

"When you see this game, you either like the way it looks, you like the characters; or, you're like 'what is that?' You're either confused and scared, or you automatically think, 'oh, that looks fresh and different and quirky and neat'."

Bettenhausemn goes on to assure the game "isn't like playing a Wisdom Tree Bible game," yet at the same time, it shouldn't "offend people who do want it to be religious."

You can view the latest screenshot for the game here, which are quit lovely.

It's out sometime in early summer on Xbox 360 and PS3.