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Suda51 ComicCon interview: the truth about Lily Bergamo, Killer7/NMH ties, TSC DS

cj_iwakura

cj_iwakura

Member
I asked a couple questions for this one,since the interviewer was kind enough to seek out questions. Glad mine got asked! :D

Expect No More Heroes/Killer7 spoilers.


sudacosplayer1.jpg


Big thanks to Kid Fenris for the interview!

Here's the article on the panel: (Well worth reading)
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/int...japanese-video-game-design-with-suda51/.90633

Grasshopper's more recent games include Liberation Maiden, a DS shooter in which the teenage-girl president of Japan pilots a mecha to defend her country. A visual-novel sequel followed on PlayStation 3, while the multiplatform action game Black Knight Sword grew from the original idea for Shadows of the Damned. Most prominent among Suda's recent projects is Killer is Dead, an action title that throws assassin Mondo Zappa into surreal, futuristic worlds and romantic encounters. Suda also contributed to a segment of the omnibus film Short Peace by scripting the game Ranko Tsukigime's Longest Day. It finds a schoolgirl assassin sniping targets with a violin-rifle, and Suda's inspiration for it was simple.

“In Japan, it actually happened,” he joked. “So be careful when you come to Japan.”

The panel closed with Suda discussing his current projects. Let It Die, a gritty action game, grew of out another Grasshopper games, one called Lily Bergamo. The developer scrapped some parts of Lily Bergamo, including protagonist Tae Ioroi, and turned the remains into the free-to-play PlayStation 4 carnage of Let It Die.

“It's hack-and-slash, and I haven't really talked a lot about it,” Suda said of Let It Die. “The main character climbs a tower, but it's not really story-driven. So it's not an RPG, but you do clear levels and you'll collect weapons and equipment, and you can combine equipment and weapons. I don't want to talk too much about the game, but I'm working really, really hard on developing it.”
Click to expand...

“Maybe it was during the development of No More Heroes…I gave a speech, and the audience was so kind that I think I was kind of high, and I said that I was going to release the Silver Case in English. And I'm sorry I haven't kept that promise yet. We did port it to the DS, but I really wanted to work on it further, with additional content. But now we're on to the 3DS. But I definitely want to release something in English and European languages. It's unfortunate that Grasshopper's debut title isn't available.”
Click to expand...

And the interview:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/the-x-button/2015-07-22/how-suda-is-now/.90757

Some excerpts:

screen-shot-2013-10-19-at-12-35-54-pm.png
screen-shot-2013-10-19-at-1-36-55-pm.png

Would you say that Moonlight Syndrome was the first time you had a game all to yourself?

Because I couldn't give a lot of input for Twilight Syndrome, I wanted to put a lot into Moonlight Syndrome. Twilight was a horror game, but I thought that humans were scarier than ghosts. So that's why Moonlight Syndrome is psychological horror.

Moonlight Syndrome, Silver Case, and Flower, Sun and Rain are part of a trilogy called Kill the Past, united by a theme of people wanting to erase something in their history. How did you devise that?

For myself, I didn't really want to be dragged down by the past titles. I wanted to create something new each time. So I didn't want to pay attention to the past too much. That was all I wanted to do.

Is that why some of the characters from Moonlight Syndrome die in The Silver Case? And some from The Silver Case die in Flower, Sun, and Rain? Some fans believe it's sort of a tradition in your games.

Yes, if some fans feel that way, it's great. It's sort of intentional…but not really.
Click to expand...

nomoreheroesart6.jpg


At the end of No More Heroes, a character who looks like Garcian or Emir from Killer7 shows up and gets offed rapidly. A lot of your fans wonder if this is really Garcian or just a lookalike. Do you prefer to leave it vague?

Vague is good, I think. [laughs] Garcian is definitely a good character, so I don't want him to die! It's nice to see them fight together, though.

You stopped that tradition after No More Heroes, though, because you haven't killed off Travis yet.

Well, I definitely want to see Travis again. Not just in the sequel, either. His life is really interesting, so I want to talk about his story again. I want him to grow up as I grow older. I'm not sure when it will be, but I want to talk about his life. So Travis is very important to me. I think he's the most loved of my characters.

Yes, No More Heroes made it to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Did you have input about it?
I was there, but I couldn't get involved too much.

Do you prefer that people play the Wii version, then?

The Wii version, definitely. One hundred percent.
Click to expand...

Some people criticized Killer is Dead for its Gigolo Mode, where you essentially stare at women and romance them. In the book, you mention that a lot of this mode was due to Kadokawa Games' suggestions that you add sex appeal. How did your original version of the game and Mondo Zappa's romances differ?

First of all, Gigolo Mode was not there to begin with. I was surprised when I saw Gigolo Mode for the first time. I was all “you really made this?” The team were really good sports and played along. But at the beginning, I don't think there was any Gigolo Mode. The setting was all about fighting, and the mini-games were all about fighting. I think the focus was more on the sword, and the mini-game was to make the sword stronger.
Click to expand...


843637-me0001045705_2.jpg


Grasshopper made but never released a Silver Case port for the DS, and later the 3DS. How is it different from the PlayStation version? Did you add anything to the plot? Did Masahi Ooka work on the DS version?

Well, the interface had to change a bit for the DS touchscreen. At the same time, in order to release it, the game needed to be more complete. Because it was our debut title, I really wanted it to be better before shipping, so I figured we needed more time. There was no extra storyline. Ooka created a version of Silver Case, 25 Ward for cell phones, so there wasn't a need to add anything to the original.
Click to expand...

I really like his bit about 'humans being scarier than ghosts'. Looking at what the antagonists in the Syndrome and KTP games do, no joke.

Also, he touched on the changes made to Killer is Dead and Shadows, and doesn't quite sound as critical as he did in the book... hmm.

In the book, you're very forthcoming about the changes publishers required for certain games, such as them asking you to put guns in Shadows of the Damned.

I think most of it was good. A lot of people had a different image for the character, and by collaborating, I think it kind of gives us a good way to bond for the project.

Some people criticized Killer is Dead for its Gigolo Mode, where you essentially stare at women and romance them. In the book, you mention that a lot of this mode was due to Kadokawa Games' suggestions that you add sex appeal. How did your original version of the game and Mondo Zappa's romances differ?
Click to expand...

taeioroi1.jpg

You recently had a game called Lily Bergamo that turned into Let It Die. But the trailers for Lily Bergamo showed a different game from what Let It Die became. Lily Bergamo was more anime-like compared to Let It Die. How did Grasshopper and GungHo Online Entertainment decide to change Lily Bergamo into Let It Die?

Originally, we wanted to a make a hack-and-slash, so the concept for that is still the same as Let It Die. As we tried to think of good gameplay, we had this side mode for Lily Bergamo which was really interesting. So we decided to develop that idea, and that turned into Let It Die. And when we came up with that idea, the world needed to change.

You've said that Lily Bergamo's protagonist, Tae Ioroi, won't be in Let It Die. What was her storyline originally like?

[Confers with GungHo Representative] Hmmm…that's a tough question to answer!
Click to expand...

Shot down. :( I asked the Garcian/Emir question, by the by.

I knew he'd be cagey, and I expected no less. Still nice to hear him touch on it.
 
D

delSai

Member
Thank you for posting this. Read the Let it Die Parts and yeah, its not really anything new unfortunately. I really want a new trailer or some details. Hopefully at TGS.
 
Shin-Ra

Shin-Ra

Junior Member
Work with Japan Studio to put Tae Ioroi into a side mode for Gravity Daze 2 and I'll let this slide.
 
cj_iwakura

cj_iwakura

Member
I really like his bit about 'humans being scarier than ghosts'. Looking at what the antagonists in the Syndrome and KTP games do, no joke.


Also, he touched on the changes made to Killer is Dead and Shadows, and doesn't quite sound as critical as he did in the book... hmm.

In the book, you're very forthcoming about the changes publishers required for certain games, such as them asking you to put guns in Shadows of the Damned.

I think most of it was good. A lot of people had a different image for the character, and by collaborating, I think it kind of gives us a good way to bond for the project.

Some people criticized Killer is Dead for its Gigolo Mode, where you essentially stare at women and romance them. In the book, you mention that a lot of this mode was due to Kadokawa Games' suggestions that you add sex appeal. How did your original version of the game and Mondo Zappa's romances differ?

First of all, Gigolo Mode was not there to begin with. I was surprised when I saw Gigolo Mode for the first time. I was all “you really made this?” The team were really good sports and played along. But at the beginning, I don't think there was any Gigolo Mode. The setting was all about fighting, and the mini-games were all about fighting. I think the focus was more on the sword, and the mini-game was to make the sword stronger.
Click to expand...

And in case you're thinking of getting NMH PS3... don't.

Yes, No More Heroes made it to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Did you have input about it?
I was there, but I couldn't get involved too much.

Do you prefer that people play the Wii version, then?

The Wii version, definitely. One hundred percent.
Click to expand...
 
A

Auctopus

Member
I can't believe a whole art style was so drastically changed to suit this new game. That was so vague. So weird.

I can't believe they chose such a bland, horrible art style to switch to as well.
 
S

SatoAilDarko

Member
I still can't believe they haven't bothered to release the Silver Case Remake. How difficult would it be to port to 3DS and just release it digitally?
 
M

Mr-Joker

Banned
So Lily Bergamo was going to be a hack and slash game....fuck can we somehow get Let it Die changed back into Lily Bergamo.
 
G

Gbraga

Member
BIONIC-ARRRMMM!! said:
A game starring an underage anime girl with zero other info released about it was cancelled, so it must've been good.
Click to expand...

I would usually agree with this, but it's Suda. It's all about style over substance. I feel like people have a reason to be disappointed if the style suffered a downgrade. I don't think anyone was expecting a DMC quality title when it comes to polish and depth.

If Killer is Dead looked like Let it Die, it would absolutely be a much inferior product.
 
T

Toxi

Banned
Interesting that he wants to use Travis again.

Also interesting that he wasn't as critical of the Shadows of the Damned changes as he was in the book. Of course, that's normal; you ask someone something at one time and at another time, and their answer will likely differ depending on factors like how they feel at that moment.
 
cj_iwakura

cj_iwakura

Member
Toxi said:
Interesting that he wants to use Travis again.

Also interesting that he wasn't as critical of the Shadows of the Damned changes as he was in the book. Of course, that's normal; you ask someone something at one time and at another time, and their answer will likely differ depending on factors like how they feel at that moment.
Click to expand...

He was clearly being kept in check by a GungHo rep. He went all in for the book.
 
P

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
Theres an unfortunate amount of dev throwings under buses in that there interview. Never entirely sure how much to trust Suda51 when it was said he was a bit of a showboater and took credit for games he had very little to do with.
 
cj_iwakura

cj_iwakura

Member
Pie and Beans said:
Theres an unfortunate amount of dev throwings under buses in that there interview. Never entirely sure how much to trust Suda51 when it was said he was a bit of a showboater and took credit for games he had very little to do with.
Click to expand...

Yet he is also very humble in regards to stuff like Killer7(Mikami), Sine Mora, Fatal Frame, and Contact, so who knows. He's also very kind to James Gunn(Lollipop Chainsaw).
 
D

Dinda

Member
Like all Lily Bergamo Threads this makes me sad.
I still watch the Trailer sometimes (featuring translator-san)

Such a shame. From looking so interesting to....looking like garbage.
 
cj_iwakura

cj_iwakura

Member
If we get The Silver Case localized on 3DS, he can keep Lily Bergamo.

One has a chance. The other is dead. We have FSR and K7. Finish it, Suda.
 
NoKisum

NoKisum

Member
I got a feeling Lily Bergamo related stuff will either be unlockable or DLC.

When was the last time we got concrete info about Let It Die?
 
S

Stone Ocean

Member
Has Let It Die even shown up anywhere after the reveal? What a weird radio silence for something that is supposed to be F2P. At least Deep Down had the excuse of having a super high tech engine.
 
Acquiescence

Acquiescence

Member
I'm just going to echo everyone else's sentiments and say that it's an absolute tragedy that Lily Bergamo was cancelled in favour of Let it Die. Mark my words, that 40 second teaser trailer will still make more of an impression on the world than the entirety of what's going to replace it.

Maybe I should get my ass over to #BuildingtheList and request that Sony pick up the rights and get Studio Japan to revive it. It's a long shot, but hey, so was requesting Shenmue the third of every month.
 
N

Nyoro SF

Member
BIONIC-ARRRMMM!! said:
A game starring an underage anime girl with zero other info released about it was cancelled, so it must've been good.
Click to expand...

I have expectations for crazy Suda/Grasshopper action games, so it's pretty easy to get hype off that alone. I very much enjoyed Killer is Dead, for instance. The concept of a cloth-physics Grasshopper action title mixed with Japanese style art... how could you not like the concept?

Also featuring a woman lead which is pretty rare in this industry. Underage anime girl my ass.
 
R

Ridley327

Member
cj_iwakura said:
Yet he is also very humble in regards to stuff like Killer7(Mikami), Sine Mora, Fatal Frame, and Contact, so who knows. He's also very kind to James Gunn(Lollipop Chainsaw).
Click to expand...

I've never gotten the impression that he takes credit for other works that he really didn't have much of a role in. His name is plastered all over their stuff, but who else is going to step up to the role of the hype man inside of Grasshopper? The only other name gamers would know is Akira Yamaoka, and he's more content to stick to music composition these days.
 
cj_iwakura

cj_iwakura

Member
Ridley327 said:
I've never gotten the impression that he takes credit for other works that he really didn't have much of a role in. His name is plastered all over their stuff, but who else is going to step up to the role of the hype man inside of Grasshopper? The only other name gamers would know is Akira Yamaoka, and he's more content to stick to music composition these days.
Click to expand...

I used to be really irritated about the whole Suda 51 Trip BS until I read The Art of GHM. Seems more like he never really wanted the spotlight to me.
 
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