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Tetsuya Takahashi

Monolith Soft R&D team engine

As shared in a new interview published today, Xenoblade developer Monolith Soft has not only set up a new R&D division, but is also expanding its game engine.

CCO and director Tetsuya Takahashi has been in charge of overseeing the R&D team for roughly a year. Xenoblade lead programmer Michihiko Inaba is the group’s producer and director.

Speaking about the need for an R&D team with CGWorld, Takashi shared the following (rough translation):

Xenoblade 3 ending

The Xenoblade Chronicles 3 art book came out this week in Japan, and it contains a pretty big interview with various members of the staff, including executive director / writer Tetsuya Takahashi.

At one point, Takahashi addressed a player survey with a specific topic about the administrator of Origin. This led him to mention that while fans may have some questions and may want to see certain things such as what happens after the end of the game, he’s asking them to wait for now and answers could follow in the future through additional titles.

Xenoblade 2 Torna DLC music Whiplash

According to Xenoblade series director Tetsuya Takahashi, we have the 2015 movie Whiplash to thank for the jazz-inspired soundtrack in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 – Torna: The Golden Country.

Takahashi shared a lengthy message looking back on the franchise as part of the recently-released Xenoblade Chronicles Original Soundtrack Trinity Box. He had some kind words for composer Yasunori Mitsuda, and would later go on to discuss Torna. Takahashi had hoped to incorporate “a jazz-style atmosphere” in the main game, but “there wasn’t enough time to implement it”.

New Xenoblade

According to Xenoblade Chronicles director Tetsuya Takahashi, assuming we see another entry in the series, it “will likely be something vastly different from what came before.”

A message from Takahashi was included in the recently-released Xenoblade Chronicles 3 soundtrack release. Xenomira has since provided a translation.

Monolith Soft boss and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 executive director Tetsuya Takahashi has weighed in on the game’s nations of Keves and Agnus, world of Aionios, and main cast of characters. Takahashi left a lengthy message in the art book included with the special edition that was recently made available to fans.

Here’s the message in full:

Xenoblade 3 10-year life span

Nintendo and Monolith Soft have discussed the more serious story of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and having the 10-year life span as a major plot point.

Monolith Soft senior director and chief creative officer Tetsuya Takahashi, the studio’s director and producer Koh Kojima, and Nintendo director and producer Genki Yokota weighed in. Kojima actually initially felt that Takakhashi ” was deliberately trying to remove the sense of ‘Xenoblade-ness’ of the series” because of how serious the world is and having a different design. However, through “trial and error”, the team “found a good balance” and captured the series’ essence. 

Xenoblade 3 culmination

Tetsuya Takahashi, senior director and chief creative officer at Monolith Soft, has said that Xenoblade Chronicles 3 marks the “culmination” of the series. However, rather than marking the end of the franchise, it’s instead a “summary for moving on to the next step”.

Takahashi shared that information as part of a newly-published interview, which also features director / producer Koh Kojima and Nintendo’s Genki Yokota. Here’s the relevant excerpt from that discussion:

After plenty of speculation, Nintendo and Monolith Soft finally unveiled Xenoblade Chronicles 3 today. Director Tetsuya Takahashi has since shared an official message with fans.

Read Takahashi’s full words below.

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition

Nintendo has shared a new interview with some of the key developers behind Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition. They include producer Shigekazu Yamada, director Yuki Sakamoto, executive director Tetsuya Takahashi, and co-producer Genki Yokoto.

Though the interview was short, some interesting comments were shared. The team was asked about topics like why Xenoblade Chronicles still resonates with long-time fans to this day, how remastering the music came about, and more.

Here’s the full discussion:

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition

If there’s one thing Monolith Soft is known for these days, it’s the Xenoblade series. The company has churned out three massive RPGs between the first and second Xenoblade Chronicles titles along with Xenoblade Chronicles X. We also just received a new version of the series’ debut entry for Switch.

Going forward, it sounds like fans can expect more from Xenoblade, with creator Tetsuya Takahashi telling Vandal that Monolith Soft wants to continue to focus on building up the IP’s brand. At the same time, he would be interested in developing “a smaller-scale project if the opportunity rose” so that Monolith Soft can have more variety.

Takahashi’s full words:


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