Daemon X Machina producer talks in-depth about demo improvements and changes, story, more

On a similar topic to visibility, how about the fixed lock-on? In the 4Gamer feedback report, one of the main concerns was whether the camera would be fixed or movable.

Tsukuda: The game does support an optional lock-on feature. But I think it would be called more a “soft lock-on”. It’s not possible to lock-on to something that isn’t in your field of view, and if the enemy should leave you field of view the lock will be disengaged.

Since the enemies in the game are so fast and attacks can come from any direction, I suppose if you were hard-locked on one target you might end up just spinning round, which would be difficult to control.

Tsukuda: Right. For example, if an enemy suddenly rushed behind you, you would spin around so quickly to meet them that it would be hard to follow the action, and the player might even end up feeling motion sick. As I mentioned earlier, the markers on the screen and the radar make it easier to grasp the enemies’ location, so once the player is used to the game it’s simple to play without a lock-on ability at all.

Were there any other concerns?

Tsukuda: Some players said that the text size was too small. The truth was that it was originally bigger, but a mistake in the demo code meant that it became smaller. It will be returned to normal in the finished version. Another thing that was really surprising for me, was that a lot of people called for there to be some sort of motion or gyroscopic control ability. A lot of the team thought at the time that no-one would use them and it was okay to leave them out, but we were all surprised when we read the feedback.

I think there are probably a lot of players who are used to playing that way on Splatoon 2 on the Switch.

Tsukuda: That’s right. Before that I didn’t think it was important at all though! I’m think I’m just old-fashioned… (laughs) I’m glad we got that feedback so we realized how important that was to Nintendo Switch players. The motion and gyro controls are optional, so those that don’t want to use them won’t have to.

How about the response the so-called “Lab” where you can augment your character?

Tsukuda: The response from fans of sci-fi and mech has been pretty huge, but overall we have received more praise than we expected. There were those that didn’t like the fact that the alterations changed the appearance of a character they had spent so much time creating, but since this is so much a part of the game world we have left it as it is.

I feel like that is the cost of obtaining that power and the choice the player must make, so I’m glad it’s staying the way it is.

Tsukuda: And for those that don’t want to augment their character, they’ll still be able to battle fine by improving their player skill level and strengthening their arsenal. I personally think that unless a game lets each player play the way they want to play it isn’t fun, so I feel like we should always try to offer lots of different choices for the player.

In general, what element of the game took the most work?

Tsukuda: Once we had decided which feedback to address, there wasn’t anything that particularly difficult. If I had to give something, it would probably be examining all of the worldwide questionnaires. Each day we would gather up all those forms and apply the suggested improvements. A lot of the overseas feedback was in line with the domestic, but there was a definite nuance shift that meant a lot of cross-referencing.

Was the feedback generally favorable, or was some of it harsh?

Tsukuda: After we had gone through all of the questionnaires, I’d say over 90% was positive. It was as if everyone was playing the game with a positive frame of mind and the sending off their opinions. Obviously there was also some harsh criticism, but the staff took all of that seriously and used it to improve the game.

Over 90% satisfaction is pretty impressive. How did you feel when you saw that?

Tsukuda: I was very happy, and it basically encouraged all the staff. Since this is a completely new title, we’d like to create something that hasn’t been done before. As a team we want to make a game that not only mech fans but also fans of action games can enjoy, so the first goal is always to make the game fun for those players. When I saw the feedback, I felt like we had achieved that goal.

I’m sure many who played the original demo will be interested to know how much the game has changed since then. Will there be a chance for them to try it out again before the release?

Tsukuda: We haven’t made any decisions yet, but I would love it if we were able to give everyone the chance to play the game again in a demo or something.

I look forward to it. Any final message for the fans out there?

Tsukuda: This game gives fluid and fun gameplay precedence over other mech elements. Rather than piloting the suit the feeling is more like moving your own body, which makes the game easier to play. This means players can enjoy that cool-looking, fast-paced action without the game being too difficult. While I’m sure mech and sci-fi fans will enjoy this title, there is also plenty here for those that fall outside of those groups.

I’m looking forward to the September release. Thank you.

Translation by provided by Corks on behalf of Nintendo Everything

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