Yoshifumi Hashimoto – Grand Knights History

Mollie: When I heard that Grand Knights History was coming to America, I was excited. Right now, in America, the PlayStation Portable isn’t nearly as strong as it is in Japan, so whenever a great-looking PSP game comes out in Japan, we never actually know if it’ll come to the States or not.

Yoshifumi Hashimoto: I definitely hope a lot of people in America play the game.

Mollie: Well, with that strength of the PSP in Japan, it’s easy to think, “I’m going to make this game for Japanese players.” However, do you think about players in other countries when making games? Do you contemplate what other regions the game might be released in?

Hashimoto: It really depends on the title. For Grand Knights History, it’s a turn-based RPG, which clearly would have more traction in Japan. While Japan is indeed our first focus, I do consider how it would be received overseas when working on it.

Mollie: If my memory is correct, Grand Knights History was announced, and then not long afterward Dragon’s Crown was revealed. Dragon’s Crown is, of course, for both the PS3 and PS Vita, and the Vita is Sony’s exciting new hardware that’s getting all of the attention as of late. Did you feel like your project had at all been over-shadowed by the announcement of Dragon’s Crown.

Hashimoto: When Dragon’s Crown was first announced, there was maybe too much information for the customers to make an informed decision. Once time passed and players understood that Grand Knights History is coming out really soon, while Dragon’s Crown is still a ways off—as well as the fact that Grand Knights History has online features that people necessarily wouldn’t want to wait for—I think maybe the game was over-shadowed at first, but following that, we were really able to distinguish the game from Dragon’s Crown.

Mollie: One of the things that’s interesting right now is that Japan is so focused on handhelds like the Nintendo DS, 3DS, PSP, and PS Vita, and there’s some concern that Japanese developers are putting too much emphasis into handheld gaming and not enough into the more powerful consoles. When you make a game like Grand Knights History, do you feel that you can do everything that you want to do with the game on a handheld? Are you happy about the game being on that kind of platform?

Hashimoto: Talking specifically about Grand Knights History, when we were making the game, obviously we had to work within the limits of the hardware itself in terms of graphics or online capabilities or whatnot. Within those limits, I’m very satisfied. However, if we had made the game on a console instead, there are many other things we could have done that we weren’t able to do, and maybe that’s the next challenge for us—to try something on consoles with all kinds of interesting features.

Mollie: In that regard, the PS Vita does feel like you’re holding a home console in your hands. As a game creator, and as somebody who plays games to some degree, if Japan ended up only having portable systems like the PS Vita or 3DS, would you be satisfied with that idea? Or does Japan also need to continue pushing console gaming?

Hashimoto: I started off making arcade titles, but arcades really started dying off and it became all about making home console games. Now, who knows what’s going to happen to console games, as we’re seeing the rise of things such as social games. As a creator, I want to make all kinds of games, so I’d like to do more console games. I don’t think I’d be satisfied with just portables. It’d be the same with entertainment—if there was only TV, you wouldn’t really be satisfied, as you’d want other types of media as well. I think having a wide diversity is very important.

Mollie: One of the first things that, for me personally, I noticed and cared about was the character creation. I feel the idea of character creation is still a very Western idea, where as Japanese games still have a great reliance on strong characters—such as Cloud in Final Fantasy VII or Bayonetta. As the first part of this question, as a Japanese developer, how do you personally feel about giving the player the ability to create their own character or characters for use in a story?

Hashimoto: Basically, I think it depends on the game. For a game like Bayonetta, the character is really a central part of the game, and in that kind of game you don’t really need to give the player that kind of ability—like, oh, what if Bayonetta was blonde? In a game like Grand Knights History, however, by giving the player the ability to change all of these things, it really adds a lot to the game. By giving the player the ability not only to change physical features, but also personality and voice, it helps the player to connect better with the characters. So some games don’t need that option, but others do need it.

Mollie: In response to that—and before I get back to part two of my question—I’m really a fan of the game Mass Effect, and the reason why I love that game so much is that I can create that character the way I want. I have more attachment to that character, because I feel like it’s my personal character.

Hashimoto: I like Mass Effect—I bought it!  [laughs] I can’t really talk about the next project I’m working on yet, but it’ll be something for the PS Vita. In that game, you’ll have a full character creation option. Of course, you then have a game like Mario Bros., where if you were able to make your own character, the game wouldn’t be a Mario game any longer. There’s room for both types of games, I think.

Mollie: Part of the reason I ask about character creation is not just because it’s something I care about, but Vanillaware is so well known for their art style–that very detailed, elaborate style that the moment you see it, you know who the game has come from. Also, very rarely do you see 2D games give you that kind of character creation. So you have a genre of game that typically doesn’t have that option, and you combine it with a Vanillaware game that has such a complex art style—how daunting of a task was putting that combination together?

Hashimoto: Working with Vanillaware, everything takes a long time, so even before we announced Grand Knights History it took two and a half years. During that time, they were furiously drawing our assets. When we first decided that we were going to go the character customization route, we thought, well if it’s Vanillaware, it’s no something that they can’t do, it’s just going to take a long time because they’re going to have to draw everything. Also, in other Vanillaware games like Muramasa, there are spots in the game where there isn’t any animation for elements like the backgrounds, but in this game, everything is animated. Animation doesn’t stop even for moments like cutscenes. So, from the beginning, we decided that that was how it was going to be done, and we had faith that it would be okay.

Mollie: If you’re using the character creator for Grand Knights History, what is your favorite option, or combination, or other personal favorite element of the creator?

Hashimoto: It’s kind of silly, but both men and women can wear ribbons in their hair. I think it’s really funny to have a huge, macho male character with a cute ribbon in his hair. It’s cuter than you think!

Mollie: I know somebody who bought the Japanese version of Grand Knights History, and they were making a female character one time but accidentally gave the character a male voice, which surprised them. Was that a mistake, or is that intentional.

Hashimoto: Actually, the base voice is male, and be changing the pitch you can make the voice sound female.

Mollie: I like that option—I think it’s interesting. [laughs]

Hashimoto: A lot of people have said that. [laughs]

Mollie: One more really quick question before we finish. With Harvest Moon [a series Mr. Hashimoto has served as producer on] having been around for as long as it has—does Farmville piss you off?

Hashimoto: There are some common points in the games. [laughs] But hey, why don’t they make that kind of game, really. Back in the arcade days, when one shooting game came out, suddenly there were ten shooting games. It wasn’t that you had to protect your shooting game, but more that the market got bigger and there were more people to play them. As long as you’re making another game that’s better than that, you really have nothing to fear.