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Dark Schala · Jun 19, 2014

Thanks to Xelinis for posting this in the Suikoden Community Thread: https://www.facebook.com/notes/suik...rview-with-yoshitaka-murayama/619511931478328

Not necessarily a lot of answers for folks wanting more games, or hoping that Murayama would return to the series or Konami (he probably won't), but I guess there's something for people who want to know what he's been up to lately.

Interesting portions for most people who'll probably gloss over the page:

SRM: In regards to the prequels as well as the more recent "Million Worlds" spin-offs, how do you feel about the direction the Genso Suikoden series has gone in?

It goes without saying that since the Suikoden title itself belongs to Konami that it is not mine. So I don't particularly have anything to comment about in regards to the current trends for the series. That said, right now the Japanese game development scene is in a bad place. Games like Suikoden, where they've used 108 characters throughout the series, require a lot of material to create. So I believe making a game like that is quite difficult right now.

SRM: Since setting up Blue Moon Studios, has Konami ever reached out to you in regards to coming back?

YM: There were never any offers to return to Konami as an official staff member. However, they have contacted me a few times with various offers which never came to fruition.

SRM: What are your plans for the future? Is there anything you're working on now that even Western fans can look forward to?

YM: It’s hard to say with certainty what will happen in the game industry, but one of the projects I’m currently involved with is targeted mainly towards the overseas audience. However, we’ve only just launched the project very recently and are not sure when things will actually get off the ground. When we do have something to show, I’ll be sure to post a message about it on my homepage.

SRM: How do you feel about how the RPG genre has changed since the early Playstation days?

YM: Modern RPGs take a tremendous amount of resources to make. In the PS1 days, Japan was still a very robust game market, allowing for the creation of many ambitious titles, including Suikoden. But nowadays, more and more companies are shying away from making AAA blockbuster RPG's – it’s usually reserved for the very famous IP brands that nearly guarantee a return on development costs.

There is quite a bit of material towards the end of the interview essentially stating how the Japanese development industry is in an odd place and some of his feelings on that. He talks about the prevalence of smartphone gaming and rising development costs that are making some developers move away from bigger HD development (especially for B-games). He poses Kickstarter as a solution, but doesn't necessarily go into specifics of doing it himself as he's more than likely content with where he is right now.

Josh5890 · Jun 19, 2014

I just want to play Suikoden 2. It was rated by the ESRB a few months ago but things have been silent since. I enjoyed playing Suikoden 1 on PSN a few years back.

Hours Left · Jun 19, 2014

An interesting part of the interview:

And, finally, is there anything else you would like to share with the Suikoden fans and the SRM?

As mentioned above, the consumer game market in Japan is facing difficult times now. However, from my experience, game companies do not turn a deaf ear to the pleas of the fans. Of course, often times nothing is borne from it, but let us not forget within these game companies, there are many who are truly passionate about games, and of them are many who love Suikoden.

Suikoden is not something I could ever make myself, nor does it belong to me personally. Yet, I am truly grateful and touched to see everyones everlasting love for Suikoden.

This along with his comment about our efforts "not being in vain" make me feel hopeful. I'll always keep pushing for a return to the real world of Suikoden.

activatethesmile · Jun 19, 2014

So long as Konami's still busy kissing Kojima's ass for Metal Gear 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1121313123123131232344354 we will never see another Suikoden :/

Heck, it seems like the only thing that Konami is serious about these days are Metal Gear Metal Gear Metal Gear Metal Gear Metal Gear. The company is seriously creatively bankrupt in my eyes.

Dark Schala · Jun 19, 2014

Hours Left said:
An interesting part of the interview:

This along with his comment about our efforts "not being in vain" make me feel hopeful. I'll always keep pushing for a return to the real world of Suikoden.

But, in a realistic sense, he goes through the whole interview discussing how expensive game development has become and the shift towards alternative avenues of consuming video games in Japan. While some developers intend a worldwide release, they do have to think of domestic sales first and foremost to recoup whatever they spent on a game and hopefully turn a little profit.

Crowd-funding is a suggestion, and we've seen smaller companies attempt it with varying degrees of success provided they have a long-standing pedigree behind the game (ex: Mighty No. 9, Gunvolt). I'm not sure if larger companies have taken a broad look at it and thought of it as a good idea.

If anyone can discuss how Kickstarter is being discussed in Japan as an alternative to games development for both developers and consumers, that would be great information.

Edit: I'm somewhat surprised he didn't talk about trying to pursue doing something with the series or something similar to it himself.

Hours Left · Jun 19, 2014

activatethesmile said:
So long as Konami's still busy kissing Kojima's ass for Metal Gear 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1121313123123131232344354 we will never see another Suikoden :/

Heck, it seems like the only thing that Konami is serious about these days are Metal Gear Metal Gear Metal Gear Metal Gear Metal Gear. The company is seriously creatively bankrupt in my eyes.

With most IPs, I want them to stay with their original company, but I would love it if Konami sold Suikoden to someone that would actually utilize it. There's nothing inherently Konamiesque about the series, so it wouldn't be losing anything IMO.

I've talked about this before, but with the amount of lore and backstory this series has, it's akin to the Game of Thrones of JRPGs. The fact that Konami is currently content to let it languish is ridiculous.

Dark Schala said:
But, in a realistic sense, he goes through the whole interview discussing how expensive game development has become and the shift towards alternative avenues of consuming video games in Japan. While some developers intend a worldwide release, they do have to think of domestic sales first and foremost to recoup whatever they spent on a game and hopefully turn a little profit.

Crowd-funding is a suggestion, and we've seen smaller companies attempt it with varying degrees of success provided they have a long-standing pedigree behind the game (ex: Mighty No. 9, Gunvolt). I'm not sure if larger companies have taken a broad look at it and thought of it as a good idea.

If anyone can discuss how Kickstarter is being discussed in Japan as an alternative to games development for both developers and consumers, that would be great information.

I don't think anyone wants or expects a new Suikoden to be a big budget game. The series has never thrived on massive budgets, so I think they could definitely successfully make use of the IP without breaking the bank.

As long as the story is strong, that's all most fans will care about. I could easily see this becoming a series that releases on handhelds, and I would have no problem with that.

Dark Schala · Jun 19, 2014

That wasn't my point. I know no one's asking for a high-budget game (heck, I know I certainly don't). His point was that console development was more expensive in general.

I think when talking about new installments, he was more than likely thinking of Konami going the console route for the numbered games. And of course, making a B-grade game--depending on the company in charge--can either be a good idea or a bad idea when it comes to developing the game because there are factors like, "well, how much of the budget should we allocate to marketing, planning, resources, programming, etc.", "how's our company doing this quarter/year?", "what's the likelihood of this breaking even in the current market climate?", etc. It sucks for fans of some series, but that seems to be the reality of it. You also have to think about how handhelds are doing in the current market, and I honestly thought Suikoden would've transitioned quite well to handhelds in a numbered game sense.

Passion certainly works, though. There are some cases where it could or has worked. I don't know what goes through Konami's head other than going with what works and what can most likely turn a profit/is a sure success as opposed to games that more than likely won't. The thing that bugs me the most is that they didn't even try when they probably had the chance. Yeah, Suikoden I+II PSP probably didn't do so well. Tierkreis did okay, and yikes at the PSP game. They had a lot of good ideas in the latter game, but I wonder if it didn't do well because it was a 2012 game (ie: wrong place, wrong time), if previews didn't make the game look hot (and the game isn't very hot at all), if the brand name isn't very strong anymore due to several missteps, or other factors.

It's a pretty tricky business, and I guess that's where he was coming from. It's not necessarily "the fans will buy it because it has Suikoden on the box and it relates to the canon and it's a good story so word of mouth is good", but more whether or not the company itself would like to take a risk with respect to developing it out of their own pockets or even considering crowdfunding.

At this point, I really hope Japanese developers start looking at crowdfunding as an option, but don't go super-outrageous with it. I guess we'll know how they feel if MN9 or Gunvolt meet some successes, but I think some people are warming up to it.

-Pyromaniac- · Jun 19, 2014

I'd do anything for another real suikoden game. I'll have it on any system if I can't have it on a home console. Give me it on Vita, give me it on 3DS. Let me kickstarter that shit. LETS GO.

MilesTeg · Jun 19, 2014

Sounds like Hell. This sucks.

Hours Left · Jun 19, 2014

Dark Schala said:
That wasn't my point. I know no one's asking for a high-budget game (heck, I know I certainly don't). His point was that console development was more expensive in general.

I think when talking about new installments, he was more than likely thinking of Konami going the console route for the numbered games. And of course, making a B-grade game--depending on the company in charge--can either be a good idea or a bad idea when it comes to developing the game because there are factors like, "well, how much of the budget should we allocate to marketing, planning, resources, programming, etc.", "how's our company doing this quarter/year?", "what's the likelihood of this breaking even in the current market climate?", etc. It sucks for fans of some series, but that seems to be the reality of it. You also have to think about how handhelds are doing in the current market, and I honestly thought Suikoden would've transitioned quite well to handhelds in a numbered game sense.

Passion certainly works, though. There are some cases where it could or has worked. I don't know what goes through Konami's head other than going with what works and what can most likely turn a profit/is a sure success as opposed to games that more than likely won't. The thing that bugs me the most is that they didn't even try when they probably had the chance. Yeah, Suikoden I+II PSP probably didn't do so well. Tierkreis did okay, and yikes at the PSP game. They had a lot of good ideas in the latter game, but I wonder if it didn't do well because it was a 2012 game (ie: wrong place, wrong time), if previews didn't make the game look hot (and the game isn't very hot at all), if the brand name isn't very strong anymore due to several missteps, or other factors.

It's a pretty tricky business, and I guess that's where he was coming from. It's not necessarily "the fans will buy it because it has Suikoden on the box and it relates to the canon and it's a good story so word of mouth is good", but more whether or not the company itself would like to take a risk with respect to developing it out of their own pockets or even considering crowdfunding.

At this point, I really hope Japanese developers start looking at crowdfunding as an option, but don't go super-outrageous with it. I guess we'll know how they feel if MN9 or Gunvolt meet some successes, but I think some people are warming up to it.

I feel that they just need to be willing to take a chance on the series again. Both the latest non-canon games reeked of middling effort, pumped out to try and cash in on a brand that the higher-ups obviously have no idea how to market properly. ("Hey fans, love this story rich series? We've gutted all that out for your convenience!")

I think a great model to look at is the Kiseki series. That IP is about has story heavy as you can get, but fans love it. Instead of trying to appeal to such a broad base despite your initial core fans, they should be building up what made the games so attractive in the first place.

As for crowdfunding, I'm all for it as long as the right people are involved. I think news that a new true Suikoden game was being pitched would fire up the dormant fanbase in a powerful way.

Videoneon · Jun 19, 2014

I'm not a Suikoden fan but it was an interesting read. Further reinforcement of the Japanese shift to focus on social stuff, and a not-ideal development climate. I also appreciate explicit confirmation that the Japanese development scene was far more robust in the past even if I've seen other devs comment on it elsewhere.

But this also touches on crowdfunding. Putting aside the fact that Western money fueled the majority of MN9 (i.e. Japan is still testing the waters) I'm not entirely sure when it is and isn't appropriate, and I don't believe it's always a good option. If and when Japanese companies go "overboard" we won't know until we witness it. I want a bunch of games, like new Mega Man, new Valkyria, new F-Zero, lots of dormant franchises and as the industry stands if crowdfunding is the first option the only way franchise revivals seem to make sense is if a mass of generous people spend a lot of money. And imagine continued support for these franchises!

SatelliteOfLove · Jun 19, 2014

Bitter realism...but he has found work in his field! That's good. Alot of these folks just...disappeared off the face of the earth this last decade ala Quintet.

Long-form narrative is such a danger in video games, really. Suikoden had leadershit failure which ran off the creatives, Trails is heavily reliant on massive oceans of dialogue making localizating a bitch, and ME suffered more replacement in the writer's chairs than the Dolphins' RB spot. I'm amazed we got what we did get looking back. The (and I hate this phrase so you know it's accurate) "in name onlies" later didn't help matters, much.

What sort of advice would you give to someone trying to create an impactful and memorable story?

You’ll find similar advice on many How-to-Write-a-Scenario guides, but to write a story is to write about the nature of humankind. Each and every character in a world goes through their lives thinking various thoughts. To portray that is to write a story. When facing hardships, how do humans think? How do they act? Placing yourself in their shoes is the very first step and is needed every step of the way.

In the case of Suikoden, whether it’s a leader, his close confidants, or a common soldier, no matter the character, you have to consider their thought process and how that leads to their actions. When you take it all as a whole, we have a story.

This would fix 90% of craptacular video game narratives' problems but will continue to rarely happen.

activatethesmile said:
So long as Konami's still busy kissing Kojima's ass for Metal Gear 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1121313123123131232344354 we will never see another Suikoden :/

Heck, it seems like the only thing that Konami is serious about these days are Metal Gear Metal Gear Metal Gear Metal Gear Metal Gear. The company is seriously creatively bankrupt in my eyes.

If it wasn't for Kojima's MGS, there may not have BEEN actual game designing going on at Konami right now. They have many more profitable irons in the fire.

Uchigatana · Jun 19, 2014

SatelliteOfLove said:
Bitter realism...but he has found work in his field! That's good. Alot of these folks just...disappeared off the face of the earth this last decade ala Quintet.

Long-form narrative is such a danger in video games, really. Suikoden had leadershit failure which ran off the creatives, Trails is heavily reliant on massive oceans of dialogue making localizating a bitch, and ME suffered more replacement in the writer's chairs than the Dolphins' RB spot. I'm amazed we got what we did get looking back. The (and I hate this phrase so you know it's accurate) "in name onlies" later didn't help matters, much.

That is so depressing, but that's what happens if it's catered only to a certain demographic, and leaves the new players overwhelmed. Anyway, it should be something like the Witcher and the Fire Emblem series; where it had a ton of lore, but it does not detract a lot from new comers.

I felt that the Suikoden series fell between a hard place and rock after Suikoden II. They tried to do something different, but we get clamors from fans that it should be a follow up to Suikoden II. Maybe someday we'll see something similar to Suikoden.

Sinople · Jun 19, 2014

At this point I just want to know what he had in store for the ending of the story.
He should write a novel like Shoji Masuda did for Tengai Makyo 3.

InsaneTiger · Jun 19, 2014

Read the interview earlier today and he provides some good insight of the industry over there. Too bad Konani is just sitting on it, I kind of wish Sony would buy the IP and partner with him to make another Suikoden.

Tex117 · Jun 19, 2014

This interview confirms my fears I've held for awhile. It just takes too much to do a big JRPG.

They really need to focus on capturing some of that magic yet perhaps changing how its done to appeal to a wider audience.

FromSoftware knocked it out of the park with a thoughtful ARPG. Valkeria Chronicles did a great job as well (though it fell on deaf ears and was probably a little early in the console cycle).

Mentallyerect · Jun 19, 2014

I'm telling you. I actually believe our best chance at a new mainline Suikoden is to get a petition as well thoughout as Operation Rainfall, if my memory serves me right lol. We need to petition Nintendo to help fund Suikoden 6 similar to how Bayonetta 2 came to light. Suikoden is a established franchise so its not that big a risk as a new IP. They dont even need to make it a big budget release. Hell, I'd take the Suikoden 5 engine and just enhance the detail and definition at this point lol.

Paertan · Jun 19, 2014

Well he nails it with the resources. Our best chance for a real sequel is on a mobile platform where the need for graphics are lower. If Wii U had sold much better maybe a Vita/3DS/Wii U game could be possible. I don't see Konami investing in a PS4/Xbone game.
My last hope was a late PS3 game like Persona 4 that came out for PS2 when PS3 was released.

The old style of JRPG with world maps and huge worlds is probably dead due to the demand for fantastic graphics. Final Fantasy can do it somewhat since the name alone sells a lot of copies. I really hope we see an upswing if game engines becomes easier to use for games and development costs go down.

IrishNinja · Jun 19, 2014

thanks for this, Schalas! heartbreaking but worth reading nonetheless.

Konami in 2014 remains entirely unworthy of their legacy, news at 11

waby · Jun 19, 2014

If its expensive to make today then don't make it like the games today. I am fine if the next installation of this series to be ps1-nish graphics. The story is what truly captured us. Besides how many re-runs have we played this without complaining the graphics/fps.

Akselziys · Jun 19, 2014

While it would be nice to have a console Suikoden 6, I wouldn't mind a PSN only version and/or handheld version using Suikoden 2 type sprites to continue the mainline series

Actually I might prefer it haha :3

More mainline Suikoden or bust... :<

Longsword · Jun 19, 2014

Suikoden is my favorite RPG series and this is sad to read.

The graphics arms race of games that has burst the dev costs through the roof has killed so many of my favorite series/studios. When you need to sell millions of copies just to recoup the cost of making graphics, there is very little room for games like Suikoden.

Major Gripex · Jun 19, 2014

We had a basic premise for what the successors of all 27 True Runes would do in the very end. Though, I cannot touch upon the specific details.

My guess would be that all the main heroes would unite against Leknaat or something.

A novel or at the very least an explanation about what the hell was going on between Yuber/Pesmerga would abate sooooo much of my suikohunger.

Deleted member 20920 · Jun 19, 2014

I wonder whether more Japanese companies actually considered making more games in 2D rather than chasing 3D and whether it'll actually lower costs for large RPGs. They also need to make games that are targeted at an international audience rather than the usual Japan first path. And by international I mean existing fans who would be likely to buy these games, and not attempts at making westernise versions or listening to some pseudo ghost of what they think western audiences want.

Longsword · Jun 19, 2014

entrydenied said:
I wonder whether more Japanese companies actually considered making more games in 2D rather than chasing 3D and whether it'll actually lower costs for large RPGs. They also need to make games that are targeted at an international audience rather than the usual Japan first path. And by international I mean existing fans who would be likely to buy these games, and not attempts at making westernise versions or listening to some pseudo ghost of what they think western audiences want.

The question is whether paying audience is there? We have seen a lot of the classic 2D RPG games on mobile, perhaps these will find traction (and success). Would be nice.

ZoddGutts · Jun 19, 2014

Kept hoping that he would do a Kickstarter and do a spiritual successor to Suikoden.

Augemitbutter · Jun 19, 2014

there doesn't seem to be a meeting point between parties. continue being a fan and you shall receive. i heard that somewhere before.

activatethesmile said:
So long as Konami's still busy kissing Kojima's ass for Metal Gear 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1121313123123131232344354 we will never see another Suikoden :/

Heck, it seems like the only thing that Konami is serious about these days are Metal Gear Metal Gear Metal Gear Metal Gear Metal Gear. The company is seriously creatively bankrupt in my eyes.

don't blame them for making great games. ask them why they're not making more of them.

Paertan said:
The old style of JRPG with world maps and huge worlds is probably dead due to the demand for fantastic graphics. Final Fantasy can do it somewhat since the name alone sells a lot of copies. I really hope we see an upswing if game engines becomes easier to use for games and development costs go down.

Level-5 can make them as well. they seem to follow their own rules.

Poetic.Injustice · Jun 19, 2014

Konami is basically the Metal Geear and PES studio now, don't expect anything else from them for the forseeable future. I can only imagine the meltdowns if Suikoden 6 was announced as a browser game like Breath Of Fire 6.

Paertan · Jun 19, 2014

Akselziys said:
While it would be nice to have a console Suikoden 6, I wouldn't mind a PSN only version and/or handheld version using Suikoden 2 type sprites to continue the mainline series

Actually I might prefer it haha :3

More mainline Suikoden or bust... :<

I would really prefer that xD

Bebpo · Jun 19, 2014

Sounds like Suikoden's fucked, along with all jrpgs made in Japan. Thanks for the depressing read! (though not anything we haven't known already for 5 years+ now).

/jk, lots of good information there; appreciate it!

Palette Swap · Jun 19, 2014

As an aside, I was pleasantly surprised to see the 1+2 PSP collection appearing on JP PSN this week.

linkboy · Jun 19, 2014

Palette Swap said:
As an aside, I was pleasantly surprised to see the 1+2 PSP collection appearing on JP PSN this week.

I'm still fucking pissed that never got a US release (would love to see someone step up and release a translation patch for it).

Playing Suikoden II on my Vita would be nothing short of godly.

Hours Left · Jun 19, 2014

Akselziys said:
While it would be nice to have a console Suikoden 6, I wouldn't mind a PSN only version and/or handheld version using Suikoden 2 type sprites to continue the mainline series

Actually I might prefer it haha :3

More mainline Suikoden or bust... :<

This is actually what I want.

Make it low-res and/or janky as all get out, just as long as it's canon, the story is good, and the character portraits look nice.

DMiz · Jun 19, 2014

I've actually wondered why there aren't more JRPGs that are put into production into the mobile market.

I mean, looking over the output from the PS1 era that I enjoyed the most - Final Fantasy, Grandia, Lunar, etc - the same style of games could be output with a lower development overhead cost on mobile platforms, where the need for high-fidelity resources is not as demanding.

Would fans be happy with it? Probably not - most of us do desire a big return to consoles. But rather than getting further burned by companies that honestly don't seem to get it (Konami) or companies that are over-zealous with their mobile-style games (Capcom and BOF), I do question why there aren't more JRPGs that take the traditional route but attempt the mobile scene.

I mean, think about it: turn-based battles and map exploration don't require extensive button controls and, with a more forgiving quicksave option, it's doable. Many western developers that are returning to the scene with traditional projects are using Unity, which (and correct me if I'm horribly wrong here) also has a mobile platform output pipeline compiler magical doohickey.

It just seems like an unexploited route.

Lucreto · Jun 19, 2014

If they could keep the Suikoden 2 graphic style and gameplay just in HD they could keep costs down than building a huge 3D world.

If Konami did a kickstarter using that style I would give $100 no problem.

Just take it with you. · Jun 19, 2014

Interesting interview. At any rate, I'm sure Konami listens a lot. But the clarion call of those fitness centers must be immeasurably stronger.

Tiu Neo · Jun 19, 2014

At this point, I would be happy if he made a crowd funded spiritual successor. Better than anything Konami has been doing with the series on the last ~9 years.

Also interested on the "overseas audience" game he's working right now. Hope it is released, someday.

Hades Hotgun · Jun 19, 2014

I greatly enjoyed all of Murayama's games in the Suikoden series and I feel like he is responsible for much of what I liked about them. After his departure all the entries in the franchise felt like empty imitations to me, so I am glad that Konami has stopped pushing out games with the Suikoden title.

If Murayama ever attempts a Kickstarter or similar venture I would love to support it, assuming it's for something other than a mobile phone or tablet game.

Link1110 · Jun 20, 2014

Hours Left said:
I've talked about this before, but with the amount of lore and backstory this series has, it's akin to the Game of Thrones of JRPGs. The fact that Konami is currently content to let it languish is ridiculous.

You know, over the years, many people have recommended Game of Thrones to me, and for some reason I never got around to watching it. After reading this post, I'm gonna start on it tonight. If it's like Suikoden, I think I'm really gonna enjoy it,

SatelliteOfLove · Jun 21, 2014

DMiz said:
I've actually wondered why there aren't more JRPGs that are put into production into the mobile market.

I mean, looking over the output from the PS1 era that I enjoyed the most - Final Fantasy, Grandia, Lunar, etc - the same style of games could be output with a lower development overhead cost on mobile platforms, where the need for high-fidelity resources is not as demanding.

Would fans be happy with it? Probably not - most of us do desire a big return to consoles. But rather than getting further burned by companies that honestly don't seem to get it (Konami) or companies that are over-zealous with their mobile-style games (Capcom and BOF), I do question why there aren't more JRPGs that take the traditional route but attempt the mobile scene.

I mean, think about it: turn-based battles and map exploration don't require extensive button controls and, with a more forgiving quicksave option, it's doable. Many western developers that are returning to the scene with traditional projects are using Unity, which (and correct me if I'm horribly wrong here) also has a mobile platform output pipeline compiler magical doohickey.

It just seems like an unexploited route.

That is what I bring up over, and over, and over again when mobile shows up. Even when the controls ain't a hinderance, strong iterative game design STILL has extreme difficulty coming over. In every transition before this one, the change-over had only minor sea changes, almost as if it was from viewing the same evolving designs from a new light, another step.

This one is different. It's almost entirely alien, even more so than the last transition to HD and all its associated fallout. We're not seeing day and date multiplats on the Smrt devices. We're not seeing those steps onto the platform of healthy series. We're not seeing any success with storied IP having an up-front purchase price other than decades-old ports of classics. We're not seeing those Unity-based games you mentioned being anything other than tiny bright points of light in a vast sea of yawning darkness.

But then again, with Sega making $73m on even a modest IAP-ified lowbrow game, were any of these previously mentioned movements ever really in the game?

IAmRandom31 · Jun 21, 2014

Man it sucks hearing legends like these talk about current game development in Japan.

Is there anything that could help them out? Why have they fallen so far behind western studios? Did they just not develop their tools or are the artist just too far behind?

It seems their main artistic potential comes from super-deformed, anime style graphics which are difficult to translate over to 3D. Perhaps that has something to do with it ? They have the artists just not the 3D modeler talent to translate a vision on the screen?

Just sucks how down it is right now.

But with the rise of the indie scene, I expected to see more old school playing / looking JRPG's that copy the Suikoden / Final Fantasy / Star Ocean / Phantasy Star look with the pixels and everything

Parakeetman · Jun 21, 2014

IAmRandom31 said:
Man it sucks hearing legends like these talk about current game development in Japan.

Is there anything that could help them out? Why have they fallen so far behind western studios? Did they just not develop their tools or are the artist just too far behind?

It seems their main artistic potential comes from super-deformed, anime style graphics which are difficult to translate over to 3D. Perhaps that has something to do with it ? They have the artists just not the 3D modeler talent to translate a vision on the screen?

Just sucks how down it is right now.

But with the rise of the indie scene, I expected to see more old school playing / looking JRPG's that copy the Suikoden / Final Fantasy / Star Ocean / Phantasy Star look with the pixels and everything

Unless you have millions of dollars not much you can do, so sit back and watch Rome burn is the reality.

Ive been doing it for over a decade now.

Asd202 · Jun 21, 2014

Wow thank you for this. Too bad we'll never see Suikoden 6.

Xelinis · Nov 23, 2015

Cross-posted from the Suikoden Community thread:

---

Hey gang! To celebrate the series' 20th anniversary, we're doing another interview with Murayama, this time using questions we get from polling the SRM community. If there's anything you'd like us to ask him, let us know!

https://www.facebook.com/SuikodenRe...102733.77094.298053143624210/881416805287838/

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No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!

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Junior Member

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