Devil’s Third – further Nintendo praise from Itagaki, not a simple shooter, more
More bits from this week’s Famitsu interview with Valhalla Game Studios head honcho Tomonobu Itagaki have popped up online. Itagaki spoke more about Devil’s Third including how Nintendo encouraged him to inject more of the company’s “distinctiveness” and not hold back, why it’s more than an average shooter, and more.
Head past the break for Itagaki’s comments.
On Devil’s Third’s change in platforms…
“It’s because [Nintendo] loves games more than anybody. It’s because they love play. That’s why [Valhalla Game Studios] went our own way in the first place – so that we could create in an environment where the first thing we could do whenever we decide anything is ask ourselves, ‘what is a game?'”
On Nintendo’s support and encouragement him to put as much of his individual flavor into his game as possible…
“I’ve been working with Mr. Hitoshi Yamakami of Nintendo, and at one point he said to me ‘Why don’t you bring out more of the Valhalla distinctiveness, the Japanese developer distinctiveness!?’ I asked him, ‘Is it really okay?’ to which he went as far as to tell me, ‘Of course it is! There’s no reason for you to be working on the game otherwise!’ Nintendo isn’t about being a certain way ‘because it’s Nintendo.’ It’s about ‘What is a game? What is play?’ and for the past few years, all we’ve discussed is what players are looking for.”
– Devil’s Third is set in a parallel world where a rogue former Soviet force resorts to terrorism in order realize a worldwide revolution
– The terrorist group has destroyed the world’s satellites through the Kessler Syndrome
– Electronic equipment is rendered useless due to EMP by detonating nuclear weapons high in the atmosphere, reducing combat to the old-fashioned low-tech way of grunts and ground forces
“It’s a fictional parallel world, but it’s not an impossible situation. I’m a military fan, so I didn’t want to make a world that seems fake or absurd.”
On how the story hasn’t changed since Devil’s Third’s original announcement…
“The story has not changed at all. I’ve spent over 2 years building up the world setting and character background, so the method is a little different from my regular style of development.”
On how there’s much more to Devil’s Third than it just being a shooter…
“The game isn’t just a simple shooter. This time, it takes place in North America and players partake in the North American campaign and try to survive. At first, you start from the position of a citizen, and all you have as weapons are metal pipes and normal guns. Insurgencies are happening everywhere, so you can try the road of the lone mercenary, or you can find allies and build up your own vigilante group or armed organization – clans or guilds, you could call them. So it’s a massive shooter where tens of thousands of people play trying to control the North American land.”
– there will be casual game modes as well like chicken gathering or sporting activities
