Resonance of Fate – AKA End of Eternity (which is a better name, grumble grumble) – is creeping closer to its English – language release. In order to get to Tri Ace to ask them some questions, we had to fight our way through several dozen random battles on the way to Japan…
But keeping to the Matrix – style gun battles, we looked cool doing it.
CG: The trailers suggest a suitably epic story. Could you give an overview of the plot, and an idea of the themes, for those of us who don’t speak Japanese?
TA: The game is set on earth in the remote future; deterioration of the environment is visible and people are living in a closed space in the purification unit called Basel. People live in a hierarchical world and the protagonists belong to the middle class with a religious leader called Cardinal positioned at the top. The story develops when the fates of the protagonists and the Cardinal, two parties who are unlikely to have any contact with each other, are brought together around the discovery that Basel is not just a purification system but is in fact managing all inhabitants’ destiny; their life and death. It is hard to explain the theme of this game in a simple way, but if I were to put in one sentence, it would be “Those who believe shall be saved”.
CG: Much emphasis has been put on the real-time acrobatic gunplay. Why did you choose this style of combat for your latest RPG?
TA: Since the majority of playtime will be spent on the battle, we decided to enhance the battle rendition. Our RPG games up till now have featured swords and magic which are limited when it comes to merging with acrobatic actions and so we decided to use guns instead. Moreover, another reason was that a world with swords and magic does not appear as fresh any more.
CG: How much freedom in terms of exploration and in the game in general, will the player be given?
TA: I believe the game provides a lot of strategic freedom over how the player completes the game.
CG: Will random battles feature? Do you see them as anachronistic in today’s market, or an important part of the RPG genre’s heritage?
TA: Random battles have been out for quite some time but I do not think they are obsolete. Although, I do not consider it is a must-have element for an RPG either. I take a stance that it should be included if it betters the game and if it ruins the fun, should be excluded. For RoF, we evaluated that it would improve the gameplay, so we included random battles as well.
CG: Some Japanese publishers and developers have, over the last few years, sought to appeal more to Western audiences. Do you feel the need to do this, and if so why? What, if anything, should Japanese developers think about doing differently in this regard?
TA: Sure. It must be due to the need to cover the ever-increasing development costs by larger sales. As a developer I personally believe that the fun elements for the game would not differ so much between the West and Japan. So I am not so conscious about the market territory when I am creating a game. I do not expect a game which flopped in Japan becoming a smash hit overseas, so instead of thinking of the audience in a specific territory, it is more important to create what we can truly enjoy ourselves first. Of course the difference in taste for character’s appearance might be observed, but I consider that has more to do with Marketing. As to the taste for character design, I actually think there isn’t much of a big difference between the west and Japan.
CG: Who or what has influenced End of Eternity, and how?
TA: I’m sure that when you play the game you will see there is no specific influence. The game is full of originality in its World setting, scenario and game mechanic.
CG: What next for Tri – Ace?
TA: I am afraid I can not share that information yet since it has not been officially announced. I hope that RoF will be a big hit so it will be in our future plans too.
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