Kaneko: “It may be a boring answer, but it requires time and money. Speaking of the large world map, one thing that is a common complaint is the reuse of assets. In the past it was more going from point A to point B, so we want players to be able to interact with the world more.” Kaneko: “The main thing is having a larger world map and having people be able to explore it by doing different actions like jumping, using gadgets, solving puzzles, and so on. Is there anything else that you want to put in Armed Fantasia that you haven’t been able to do in the past? In our initial interview you mentioned you wanted to make a huge world map, since you weren’t able to in Wild Arms 4. It may be bad to say, but there won’t be as much freedom as something like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, as it’s more of a story-driven game.” You can switch between characters, as each will have certain actions only they can do to help you solve puzzles and navigate. Kaneko: “What you can see is some running and jumping, as we’re still thinking about what kind of actions there will be. Will Armed Fantasia feature a lot of platforming challenge? You recently released a field test video of the main character running around and jumping. Kaneko: “Our foreign staff helped create the Kickstarter page and worked on the campaign to market it to foreign markets, so as for the localization of the actual game, we think they can help out on that again.” The Kickstarter campaign and much of the promotional materials have been translated to English, but have you given any thought to who will localize the game itself? Kaneko: “We’ve only shown three characters so far, but we plan to reveal them over time, so everyone please look forward to their reveals!” To talk more specifically about Armed Fantasia, the Kickstarter page mentions six main characters, but we’ve only seen three so far far. For a Japanese publisher to make a new game… it’s really about the money. Sequels in a pre-existing series make a lot of money, so it’s hard for them to lend money to a new title as it won’t make as much. Kaneko: “(In English) Money! (Laughs.) Of course if a game becomes a hit and has a good return it’s no problem. What do you think would be necessary to convince publishers to make more JRPGs? It’s not so much that JRPGs aren’t popular, its that publishers won’t let us make them.” In my case, I went to Sony over and over again, but nothing came of it. If it’s a part of series that already has a first game, it’s alright, but when it comes to making a new JRPG, Japanese publishers just won’t take the risk. Kaneko: “Of course there are still very popular JRPGs like Persona 5, but with Persona 5 that’s the fifth installment. In the video announcing the Double Kickstarter with you and Machida-san, you all suggest that JRPGs are not as popular as they once were. ![]() In addition, working on Wild Arms for 15 years and working in anime for 10 years inspired me to want to utilize aspects of anime like the storytelling and the way it’s portrayed in Armed Fantasia.” Machida-san has more of a horror taste, and I a Western taste. We both made 90s JRPGs, so we thought we want to make another 90s-style JRPG. ![]() Kaneko: “We’re doing a double Kickstarter with Machida-san, who’s making Penny Blood. Have there been any new or other influences for Armed Fantasia? I read that Western themes and things like Trigun influenced your design of Wild Arms. Also if you’re a fan of anime you’ll find fun in that as well.” ![]() On top of that, it will be an open-world like experience where you explore all over the place. ![]() There will be a compelling story as always, but the story and characters and such will be different than those from Wild Arms so anyone who hasn’t played Wild Arms will be able to enjoy this game. Kaneko: “First of all, Armed Fantasia is a completely different game than Wild Arms. This game is often advertised as a spiritual successor to Wild Arms, but for people who like me who haven’t yet played Wild Arms, can you explain what makes this game special and stand out from other RPGs? Publishers will do research to see what people want or if what they’re making is good or not, whereas with Kickstarter, without going through another company we can ask customers directly ‘What kind of game do you want us to make?’ and ‘What do you think about this?'” Kaneko: “Under a publisher, making a fun and interesting game is of course the most important. So what has the experience been like developing a crowdfunded game versus having a publisher? You know, the person answering questions on Twitter as Alicia is this guy. I’m not as good an interviewer as Alicia is on the game’s official Twitter account, but I’ll try my best.
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