Where we talk about yuri and moe in Japanese games, influences on their work, and their latest game
An Interview with OGSD, Part 1
Interview by: Douglas Schules; Translation by: Douglas Schules
Daedalus Machine
Can you tell us about the story for My Name? OGSD The basic story is that the protagonist, who has fallen under a curse that transforms people into monsters who attack other people, and goes on a journey to obtain the means to break it. DM The game has a female protagonist. Can you discuss the reason for this? OGSD There’s no deep reason behind this. It's simply because most of the members who worked on the game like works with moe. Many of the protagonists of our works so far have been modeled after heroines that we were watching during the planning stage. Also, the yuri genre, which features love romance between girls, is popular recently in doujin world. So, we are trying to add yuri elements by making a female protagonist. DM What would those be? OGSD The design for the characters in the game are based on the following models:
Eme
Alois from The Dog of Flanders
Big Old Woman
Hii-sama from Princess Mononoke
Bess
Mary from Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers
Terumigos
The TV personality Matsuko Deluxe
Wizeman
Aijima-senpai from The Tatami Galaxy
The Red Witch
Isako from Denno Coil DM Since you brought it up, I’m interested in hearing your opinion on moe. The concept is hard to enough to describe in Japanese, let alone explain to people overseas. Can you tell us what you think it means? OGSD As you said, the root of “moe” and its definition are not clear, and we also have the impression that we’re using it to capture some kind of atmosphere. So for that reason, please understand that what we say from this point on are our own personal impressions. We think that moe is one of the expressions of the positive stimulation of emotion, whose object is an unreal or extraordinary existence. In other words, the target of affection is outside the real. Meaning, it isn’t used for those who we have contact with in everyday life, such as those of the opposite or same sex, girlfriends or boyfriends, spouses or partners, but rather we consider it to be a word used for characters in anime, characters we create on our own, or general concepts. DM How do you think moe is different from kawaii? The way I try to explain it to people overseas is that kawaii is basically an inherent property of an object, while moe is the affect of the object (consider the Kantian sublime). In other words, something is kawaii, and moe is a feeling a person gets from viewing that thing. OGSD It certainly can be said that kawaii is a word that represents an intrinsic characteristic of an object, but I feel that it generates an emotion that also springs forth from the inside. To put it another way, the emotion of kawaii is also generated in the heart of a person who sees something that is cute. However, that raises the problem of what separates the emotions of kawaii and moe. I think that that difference lies in what I said earlier. DM While some people would say that it’s rare for a game to have a female protagonist, I find this less true for Japan. Why do you think female main characters are popular here? OGSD I definitely think that the influence of anime is the biggest factor. Because Japan has had quite a history of magical girl-like "fighting girl" works, I think it was natural that female protagonists would appear in games, too. DM This is generally true, although I would say that the link between "fighting" and "magical girl" is relatively recent, blowing up in the 1990s. Prior to that, the two were generally separate and, as a result, had a different aesthetic and market. Consider the evolution from Kagami no Akko-chan, to Salior Moon to Nanoka, for example. With that in mind, I'm interested in hearing your thoughts on this change. First, since these anime were traditionally aimed at girls, what changes happened to make these anime appeal to men? OGSD All the members of this Circle are in their 30’s, so most of them say that the first anime aimed at girls that touched them was Sailor Moon. So for our generation there’s nothing particularly unnatural about this and to be honest we don’t really have any particular opinion on the matter. Those from a slightly older generation, though, may have felt this shift in the content of anime. DM The first version of the demo was released at C91, and you’ve released another version for C92. Can you tell us what additional content you’ve implemented, and describe any changes you’ve made to the game? OGSD The main additions to game content are written below:
DM What ideas do you plan to implement for the finished version of the game? OGSD We don't plan big changes to the system, but we plan on adding weapons for the main character, stages, and enemy characters. DM My Name is a side scrolling action game reminiscent of the original Rygar or Wizards and Warriors for the Nintendo. I realize that those titles are a bit…dated, but can you tell us what games influenced the development of My Name?
OGSD
Actually, the main idea of My Name is markedly influenced by Bloodbourne by FromSoftware. Also, we referred to many games, from old school Nintendo classics like the Ghosts 'n Goblins and Castlevania series to contemporary side scrolling games like Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Dragon's Crown, and Earth Wars. DM In what ways do you think My Name adds to the side-scrolling action genre? OGSD For action games, recently 3D has become mainstream. All of the games that have a high reputation worldwide are 3D. Building on the foundations of old-school side scrolling games, we aimed to create the fun of these 3D games. DM When starting the game, the player can choose between a sword and an axe. What are the benefits of these weapons, and which do you prefer? OGSD In the release version we will add new weapons such as fists, two-handed sword, and spear, so I'll explain all of their features. Sword
We carefully created all the weapons, and we have emotional attachment to them, so I think about it's difficult to choose one.
I designed each weapon to bring out clear characteristics rather than their strengths and weaknesses. Whichever weapon a player chooses, each offers a different kind of fun experience, so I’ll be happy if players feel that when they play. DM Personally, I like the axe. But I noticed that when thrown, it operates like the axe subweapon from Castlevania. Did you have this in mind? OGSD It was intentional. We planned to make the axe unable to perform aerial or continuous attacks, but unlike upward attacks similar to the sword’s, we ended up with a “throw” mechanic by considering where the axe attack motion that does not conflict with a regular or downward attack.
DM
In the C91 demo, there are two bosses in the second stage. One of them is a hidden giant anime character, as I show in the video review. When we talked at C92, you mentioned that it was left over from testing…can you tell us a bit more about why it was included?
OGSD
The anime character in stage 2 was a character that was created by the programmer for testing. When implementing new functions, we tested with that anime character, so the programmer had a deep attachment to it and said “I want to keep it in no matter what.” We left it as a hidden character since it was in the demo version. However, because it doesn’t fit with the atmosphere of the game we will remove it in the release version. DM That’s unfortunate. I think games that have Easter Eggs like that have personality and add another way to appreciate a game. Like the first Silent Hill where you could be abducted by aliens. Regardless, I’ve noticed that many Japanese games don’t insert this type of “extra” content. In general, do you think there’s a reason doujin and indie games avoid this? OGSD I think that each Circle faces different circumstances, but in our case the biggest reason is because there’s no space. When you participate at Comiket, opening day exists as an absolute development deadline so, for a small-scale Circle like us that has to develop using limited manpower and limited time, there is no leeway to include playful elements like Easter Eggs. One more thing, I think, is that because doujin activities have become one form of self-expression. This circle, too, has people who like playful elements, but there are also those who want to make the game as they envisioned without those kinds of elements. When developing, the producer’s opinion is the easiest to accepted, and for this version of the game the situation is that the producer is a member who prefers the latter approach, so since his word is final we removed it. DM I see. Can you tell us how the Circle is structured and how you choose the producer? OGSD The current membership of the group is outlined below:
The producer is decided at the next meeting that’s held after Comiket or when a project is finished. At that meeting, members who have ideas present them to the others, we evaluate them, and decide on which game to produce next. The person whose idea is adopted becomes the producer. DM Do you have any plans to release the game on platforms such as Steam or PSN? OGSD We haven’t currently considered it, but we might register with a doujin game download site. DM For those reading this from outside Japan, can you tell us a little about what doujin game sites are popular in Japan, how they work, and so forth? OGSD The main doujin sites that we use are the following: In any case, when users register and pay with either electronic funds or credit card they can download the game from the website. Registered users, can re-download software as much as they like and receive updates from the Circles whose games they’ve purchased. DM How long have you spent on developing My Name? OGSD We have been developing My Name since August 7, 2016, so it’s been just about a year for the C92 version.
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