The Last Story Iwata Asks details (part 2)
– Sakaguchi: “For me, image illustrations and characters are very important”
– Sakaguchi and concept artist/character designer Kimihiko Fujisaka worked together from the beginning of the creation of The Last Story’s image
– Sakaguchi attributes how the game’s world view looks to Fujisaka’s artwork.
– Many Fujisaka fans at Nintendo
– Fujisaka didn’t receive too many requests from Sakaguchi, at first he was only given a simple plot and was able to do what he wanted
– Sakaguchi also likes Fujisaka’s work, mainly his work on female characters, would give up everything for the girl whose profile is shown in the logo (if she were real)
– Iwata joked that a bunch of Nintendo employees would fall in love with the character
– Sakaguchi liked what Fujisaka did with the characters, he modified the character personality and world setting in some instances so they would match the characters drawn
– Iwata thought that Sakaguchi had already thought about the image of his games in mind, so he was surprised about that
– Development started with Sakaguchi, Fujisaka, and a programmer speaking over lunch
– They debated over different topics like Japanese and Western RPG styles
– The plot was created as the three of them spoke
– Much time spent on prototype work
– Game slowly changed over a year and a half period, approach similar to Final Fantasy VII, although that game’s prototype took only a year for the same phase
– Blocks used for characters during prototype phase
– Square “test dungeon” made as well, still on the ROM
– After changes are made to gameplay systems, the team goes to that square dungeon and play
– Many gameplay systems made, so much so that Sakaguchi jokes that two games could have been made
– “UFO” system cut: UFO-like discs would fly out from enemy spawn points
– Elements of the UFO system and other unused systems morphed into subsequent systems
– Sakaguchi focused on gameplay this time
– Sakaguchi: “The true drama for the story emerges during battle”
– Sakaguchi feels that if you had someone cover someone else in a story sequence, you might get the player emotional to some extent, but if it happens in battle, the player will feel a deeper bond with the ally
– Sakaguchi: “This time, we wanted to make the systems first, then later insert cut scenes that matched up with this.”
– Iwata: “When I actually saw it for myself, it gave me the impression of a game unlike what I’d seen before.”
– Iwata: “What particularly impressed me was that even though a climactic point is occurring in the story, the camera view is not forced to that climactic scene.”
– Sakaguchi in response: “I feel that doing it this way helps connect to the rich feel of the world. If it’s a climactic scene, rather than forcing the viewpoint, we’re making it so that the world that the player is seeing is everything. For example, if you imagine that something is taking place in an area where you’re not looking, don’t you get a little excited?”
– This approach was made through trial and error
– Sakaguchi thinks the newness is important for entertainment even if it’s not perfect, and it will make you feel excited
– Iwata also surprised that you can fast forward through event scenes
– Instead of skipping the scene, you can read the subtitles and keep up with the story
– One town in the game (Ruli City)
– Because you’re in the town so much, Sakaguchi wants players to love it
– Iwata believes Ruli City is very detailed and deep
– Town has many nuances
– When you bump into someone on the street, the person may shout at you, “What!?”
– When you become stronger, the person might apologize for the collision
– Sakaguchi: “It’s an extremely big town, where a variety of things will occur. Even I’ll still get lost in some back roads”
– Fujisaka: “The people in town will dance, play the accordion, sit at the fountain — there are exclusive motions just for the town.”
