Iwata Asks: Project Zero 2: Wii Edition details

The latest Iwata Asks focuses on Project Zero 2: Wii Edition. Project Zero producer Keisuke Kikuchi, director Makoto Shibata, and Nintendo president Satoru Iwata were the main participants in the interview. We’ve rounded up a bunch of details from the discussion which you can find after the break.

The Worst Happy Ending Imaginable

– Zero: Tsukihami no Kamen was made to take advantage of the Wiimote
– Iwata showed the Wiimote used as a torch in a video shown at the 2005 Tokyo Game Show
– Kikuchi’s team made something that fit well with the Project Zero series interface, so they felt they should use the Wiimote after coming up with their concept
– During the development of Tsukihami no Kamen, many ideas came about but not all could be included in the game
– There were also ideas that were created after completing work on the game
– Kikuchi: “That’s right. And then there are always those ideas that you only hit upon when work on a title has finished. So the concept for this project was born out of a belief that we could utilise this new control system and rework an existing title to give players a new horror experience that went beyond a mere remake.”
– Crimson Butterfly chosen to be remade because its ending resonated with people and inspired a debate over its pros/cons
– This game stood out within the series and compared to the overall adventure genre
– They had made one ending which “was the worst kind of happy ending imaginable”
– Kikuchi knew they couldn’t get away with this ending by itself, so he told Shibata to make another
– Shibata responded by saying they should have the ultimate bad ending
– No such thing as an ultimate happy ending even with the multiple endings
– The team wanted an ending that lingers on in your mind since it would fit within a horror game
– New endings for the remake, including another happy ending “that isn’t quite as straightforward as it seems”
– Kikuchi considers the remake to be, in one way, a gift to players who experienced the original
– Shibata: “I’d like to pick up on this point about the game having a new flavour. With the action viewed from behind the main character, and the Wii Remote allowing you to look around you, this title has even more of a fresh feel than we imagined it would, given that it uses the same environment as the original. Even from our perspective, as the ones who created the game, it feels like we are walking around a different world.”
– New controls give a new impression on the game, even if it has been played many times before
– Shibata says the feel of performing the same actions is completely different
– Players can peer into rooms, lift things aside, interact with the world dynamically
– This makes the world feel fresh and new when you revisit it
– The team likes to think of this as the “Touch System Plus”
– Improvements to the system include all manner of different levels of shock and surprises
– Element of unpredictability in the game that keeps players on their toes and gives the game a fresh feel

“I’ve Seen Ghosts!”

– Each member of the team approaches development differently
– Kikuchi and Shibata are different in that Kikuchi doesn’t like scary things
– Kikuchi will get the urge to see something scary from time to time, but he’s very scared when experiencing these things
– He doesn’t go out of his way to be frightened
– This changed somewhat when he started working on Project Zero
– Kikuchi began to ask himself why something was frightening and analyze it calmly afterwards
– Kikuchi would still be frightened by the unknown and unexplained due to that instinctive aversion
– He feels he doesn’t like scary things but still likes to experience them
– Kikuchi is like a guinea pig during development; he puts on headphones and plays the game late at night and when something scary happens, he recoils in his seat
– This type of reaction means it’s worked properly
– People react to frightening things regardless of where they come from and what language they speak
– The sense of relief when something is over is the same
– Kikuchi believes fear and laughter are closely related, which could be why we laugh after being frightened or surprised easily
– These two emotions are both reflexes
– Shibata goes out of his way to be frightened
– Shibata says the most frightening thing is what’s in your head, explaining why a film of a book isn’t always as scary as the original story
– The most frightening thing is when you aren’t sure what’s out there, according to Shibata
– Shibata believes he has seen ghosts and wants to recreate that experience in a game

Getting the Heroines Right

– The team wanted to make the lead character in a way that players could share the protagonist’s fear through its facial expressions
– Because of this, it was natural for them to choose a youthful female character with some kind of sixth sense
– Players mostly look at her since ghosts won’t appear for a majority of the time
– Shibata: “The movement you’ll see in the centre of the screen is basically always going to be the main character walking with trepidation, and then reacting to things with shock and fear. As we pursued the most idealistic design, in order to make this as subtle and rich in emotion as possible, we eventually came up with that kind of a youthful female character. Also, her less-threatening appearance should clearly tell the players that this isn’t a game where you can defeat your enemies by simply hitting them.”
– Iwata says Nintendo was taken aback by how particular the staff were about this aspect of the game
– Kikuchi: “I think that the decision to use female lead characters in the Project Zero series grew naturally from a combination of three factors: their appearance and the mood they convey really suits the story; they work well within the game system where combat takes place using a camera; and they are pleasant for the player to look at.”
– Major theme in Project Zero 2 is the symmetry of having twins as the main characters
– Twins are older than they were originally in the remake
– Their visuals have been completely redone, including their clothes and facial structure
– wanted to move toward a more adult appearance rather than a “cute” look
– Kikuchi was careful with regard to their faces, especially their lips
– Kikuchi has been careful about the shape of the heroin’s lips for 10 years; eventually the team would say, “Not the lips again!”
– While the eyes are significant, Kikuchi believes the mouth is also extremely important
– In this game, Shibata was particular about the look of the heroin’s shoulder straps
– Shibata: “Well, their clothes fit quite tightly, so we designed it so that the shoulder straps would move, to contrast with that. I thought it would be better if the straps moved from side to side when the heroines ran, and it is summer after all… I’m not sure if anyone will understand what I’m talking about.”
– Original Crimson Butterfly used a “three-quarter” view
– This view meant there were a lot of scenes showing the main character from the front
– Remake uses a third-person view, so you can see the main character from the back mostly
– Because of this, the character’s back must be able to show a whole range of things
– Shibata: “Precisely. This means that from the perspective of designing the main character’s clothes, we needed to focus more on what was visible from the back. And right at the centre of the screen are her shoulders. That’s why we thought it would be better to have something that moves, which is why the shoulder straps became very important.”
– A lot of female staff work on the Project Zero team
– Designer overseeing the twin lead character was a woman
– Shibata has noticed some different in the way men and women focus on different aspects of female character design
– However, he doesn’t think this makes a big different with the final result

Fear and Fun at the Haunted House

– Changing the camera angle was an issue in the Wii Edition
– Players could look at something the designers wanted them to see
– Game won’t function as it’s intended to as a result
– A lot of changes made to the map in the remake
– Difficulty in determining which precise points should be changed since the team knew the map very well
– Kikuchi: “That’s why we formed a ‘Minakawa Village Walking Society’ together with Osawa-san and Izuno-san. We would walk around the village, covering every area of the map, checking to see whether the right information was appearing at the right time, and whether the way the player was being drawn into the story was effective. The idea was to slowly, ploddingly check that all of the details were in place.”
– Walking Society allowed them to see where adjustments had to be made to the map
– Tutorial, which introduces players to the story, was also adjusted
– Nintendo refers to this “tutorial” as “the first half hour”
– Drawing players into the game right away is important since you won’t get the response you wanted even if great things lie ahead in the game
– Osawa: “Yes, it is. I think you need to get the player happy and comfortable with the controls and the tutorial guidance structure before trying to frighten them, otherwise it just ends up being a stressful experience, and the player won’t be able to focus on the game world. Tecmo Koei has excelled in creating the frightening elements of the game. We felt our job was to enable the player to fully appreciate this fear by leading them into the game in a way that’s as a stress-free as possible. That’s why we focused a lot on the difficulty level and the tutorial guide system.”
– Kikuchi: “I feel that to all intents and purposes, it’s a new game! (laughs) The objective viewpoint that Nintendo brought to the project meant that we ended up reworking a lot of different elements of the game from first principles. We’ve made significant changes to the battle system, and we have added new episodes and several endings. We’ve also brought the graphics up to date, and packed it full of features that put it right at the cutting edge of horror games. As Shibata likes to put it, ‘It’s got it all.'”
– The team has added everything they wanted when they made the original game
– The remake also has extra dimensions in terms of how frightening it is, how fun it is, and how challenging it is
– They’ve done everything they could possible do
– Not a simple remake of the first game
– New elements such as the Haunted House Mode
– This mode is a quick, no-frills game
– Haunted House mode is a great option when playing with friends/family who want to avoid the really scary elements
– Different courses in the Haunted House at random
– Press a button to walk, release it to stop; use Wiimote to look around
– Controls are very simple for this mode
– Osawa wanted a mode where you could watch people getting scared, and they could see you being scared in turn
– Initially wanted to make and edit the maps yourself
– Scrapped this because after playing a course once, it wouldn’t be much fun after that
– Osawa: “We realised that it was going to be tough to proceed like this, so we reconsidered the whole idea. After a lot of twists and turns, we finally arrived at the decision to make the events in the Haunted House randomly generated. When we did that, the timing of the individual events was something we would never have come up with. We would be left saying things like, “That could never happen! That’s just really weird!” There would be a mixture of fear and laughter, when you just don’t know whether you’re finding the experience funny or terrifying. It’s a really curious feeling.”
– Unexpected things happened during testing
Osawa: “This ghost’s disembodied head came crawling along the floor. It was actually an error in the program designating how and when ghosts should appear. We were saying, ‘Hold on! Did we actually make this?’ ‘This is an error, isn’t it? We need to correct it.’ Then someone else would say: ‘No, no. We should use this!’ (laughs)”
– The staff kept this error because it worked well

“Project Zero – Bringing People Together!?”

– Iwata believes the remake’s Haunted House mode could bring people together
– In this mode, a second player can use the Wiimote to make noises, make player 1’s Wiimote rumble, or cause ghosts to appear
– Shibata: “Normally, when you are building on preceding titles in a series, the game system and story become more elaborate. But creating a new title in collaboration with Nintendo means that we’ve had to completely clear away all of our preconceived notions, in the process of which, we have discovered new ways to enjoy horror games.”
– Haunted House mode was remade roughly five times before they settled on the final design
– The team worked on it daily with Nintendo before arriving at the finished product
– Kikuchi feels there are many reasons as to why fewer horror games are being produced
– Kikuchi says it’s important to combat this decline by taking on new challenges from time to time
– Need to appease fans while getting more people playing horror games
– Shibata hopes the Haunted House mode will ease players into the Story mode
– Shibata: “Project Zero 2: Wii Edition has so many new elements that I think it can be described as a new title. We have reassessed every part of the game so that players who enjoyed the original will get even more out of this one. I think we have created a title that combines the very best and most innovative elements in the Project Zero series. For those players who have yet to experience a Project Zero title, we have included all-new elements that let you get straight into the action. There’s a whole variety of scenes to enjoy, whether playing alone, or with others. I would urge you to give it a try and have fun!”
– Kikuchi: “Firstly, I would like to say something to fans of the series. Even now, nine years after Crimson Butterfly was released, it is still widely discussed on the internet, people still have great memories of the game, and it is well-loved. This makes me very happy indeed. … But when we look back on the game from the vantage point of the present, we see a lot of things that we didn’t manage to achieve at the time. That’s why we have made the game again with the aid of the latest advances in technology and design, all the know-how accrued over the last decade, and the cooperation of Nintendo. I am confident that people who have played the game before will enjoy it, and get a fresh, new impression of it. This is a title I want people to really enjoy this summer.”

You can read the entire Iwata Asks here.