Where we talk about their newest game, the difficulties in marketing as an indie dev, and TGS
An Interview with Japanese indie game developer Reminisce
Interview by: Douglas Schules; Translation by: Douglas Schules
Daedalus Machine
I picked up a demo of Link: The Unleashed Nexus at C92, but I noticed that there is a full version of the game on Steam. How are the two games different? Reminisce Currently, the game sold on Steam is my debut game. In 2017 it was decided that Link: The Unleashed Nexus would be released on PS4. So, I thought why not remake the game itself from scratch, attached the subheading “Restructured Heaven” to it, and that’s the C92 version. Daedalus Machine Can you tell us a little about the story of the game and its design mechanics? Reminisce Basically, the concept is “speedy and simple,” but depending on how it’s played can be enjoyed as a “technical time attack.” I set the difficulty level high, but I had a thought that I wanted people to enjoy the game through trial and error, so I’ve eliminated the “game over” and allowed for smooth restarts. Because it's an action game, the story isn't deep. I think players will want action, so initially I made it so that players can play without thinking about it too much. A back story has been prepared, and as the game progress the story will become clear. It would be ideal if, after players play through the game, they mull over or reflect on the entire story. Daedalus Machine Now that you mentioned the ‘time attack” aspect of the game, the grades a player receives at the end of each stage makes sense. Can you tell us a little about how the grades are determined and hints about how to rank high? Reminisce Currently, the ranks are determined based on clear time. When the game is released, I might add a few different conditions as well. Also, clearing a stage without using the Urgent Riser ability adds a “plus” to the rank, like in “S+”. To achieve a high rank, it’s best to first look at strategies, and then search for a route that matches your style. Among those who have uploaded gameplay videos, I’m pleased that there are also people who are attempting time attacks using routes that I myself didn’t predict. Daedalus Machine Looking at your website, it seems you have a series of games revolving around the same theme. Can you tell us a bit about these games and their relation to each other? Reminisce We released the games, the Link series, which sketches high-speed action and "the digital era’s spiritual culture." And we released a game called “Spiritually Empty Resonance/Conflictor” that represented the struggle of spiritual bodies who try to acquire divinity and synchronicity with music. The Link series deals a different spiritual phenomenon each time, and I want to continue to develop this series. Next year, I also plan to begin a completely new project. Daedalus Machine Can you provide more details about this overall theme? What types of phenomenon have you considered to date and why?
Reminisce
I’m consistently dealing with a theme concerned with “a society where the spirit has a greater meaning in the contemporary era.” Many things, such as urban legends or mental illnesses, are derived from the human consciousness (I’m avoiding concrete details to prevent game spoliers). I’ve combined the remarkable things I’ve personally experienced into the “Link” world view and remixed it. It might be a little bit related to mental illness (And no, I’m not mentally ill. Don’t worry!). Daedalus Machine And what about this new project? What hints can you give us about this? Reminisce The details aren’t set, but I’m thinking about a game that focuses on the life of a certain girl. I plan to make a game that asks questions that don’t have answers, such as “What kind of existence are the human beings who are playing games for that girl?”, “What kind of choices do they make together?”, or “What kind of path will they walk?” It explores new relationships between the game character and player. Daedalus Machine The level design of “Link: The Unleashed Nexus” reminds me of 3D action adventure games like Metriod Prime or DMC: Devil May Cry. What games influenced you when making this? Reminisce I wasn’t necessarily influenced by specific games. Putting aside the game structure, I think that the game reflects my personal preferences and ideals. To what extent it meets those ideals I'm still not entirely sure.... The conception for the level design comes mostly from a dream that I had when I was sleeping. I’ve test played it so much that, in the end, when I dream I am able to fly... Daedalus Machine In general, what games influenced you? Reminisce I've played action games since I was a small child, so in making a game the thing that makes me the most excited are action elements, you know? The game system that I first played at my home was the Dreamcast. I wouldn't say that I’m particularly great at these games, but I love the feeling you get when your skill improves, or when you overcome a difficult part, or when you instinctively ward off an enemy without thinking, and it would be awesome if I could evoke these emotions with my games. Daedalus Machine What were your favorite games and why? Reminisce Growing up I played a lot of games for the Dreamcast. For example, the 3D Sonic series; Shenmue, where I enjoyed the open world that was based on one story; Phantasy Star Online, where I enjoyed the real excitement of hack ‘n’ slash, just to name a few. My sustenance when making games comes from arcade type shooting games like Darius and Touhou Project. Because the STG genre tends to be weak on story, I get worked up over the artistic direction. Specifically, the game Hellsinker has always been my bible because of its cool production value. Daedalus Machine Can you tell us a little about Reminisce? For example, when were you founded, how many members are there and their roles, and what are the group’s goals in the future? Reminisce Reminisce started in 2014, and until 2016 there was another member who was responsible for things like effects, textures, and asset settings. Starting from 2017 he got very busy and I’ve been doing things mostly on my own. Outside of sky sphere (inside the 3D game, the data that is the sky) and sound effects, which are assets that I’ve bought, the programming, planning, 3D modelling, animation, effects, materials, score and the like are mine. Daedalus Machine That’s quite a lot of roles. What programs do you use for designing your 3D models, animations, and scores, and the like? Reminisce I use the 3D modelling and animation program Blender and the digital audio workstation (DAW) Reaper for music. I draw textures with Substance Power. Finally, I integrate the assets using Unreal Engine and build the game. Daedalus Machine Can you tell us a bit about your background? Why did you become a game developer? Reminisce Until a few years ago I was a liberal arts student. I only dimly considered the future and when I eventually had to look for a job I unexpectedly came across the game development middleware Unreal Engine. I fell in love with the rich shading presentation, comparatively brief scripts, and next gen level editor, and although I didn’t know any of the basics for making games, I was determined to make a living doing so. In particular, Unreal Engine 4’s visual scripting program Blueprint was innovative and helped me make the game quicker than I expected. I think it was just fit with my production style. And so after about 3 months I finished the first version of Link: The Unleashed Nexus. I learned the necessary technical skills, along with game production, through self-study and that’s how I developed the current game. Daedalus Machine So you’re mostly self-taught. What was the biggest challenge for you in learning to use Unreal Engine? Reminisce I don’t remember it being difficult. If I had to say something, because my knowledge of programming, computers, and software was thin, when there was an error it took a lot of time to identify the cause. Daedalus Machine I’m hearing more and more from developers that they are using Unreal Engine or Unity to design games. Why do you think Japanese developers are increasingly turning to these tools to make their games? Reminisce Rather than creating from scratch after learning the basic mechanics of programming, by using game engines allow you to skip this process. In particular, their merits become clear for individuals or small-scale productions. Even without a programmer, it became possible for designers to create a game’s system. Daedalus Machine As we talked about at TGS, getting help with marketing and distributing games is important for Japanese indie developers. Since you are currently considering the best way to do this, I’m interested in hearing your thoughts. What options to do developers have and what support can developers get, especially when trying to promote their games overseas? Reminisce Even if you can develop games by yourself, promoting that game by yourself is difficult. No matter how large the distribution platforms such as Steam you sell on, if your publicity has no impact then there won’t be any results. I’ve personally experienced the severity of this through the results of my own attempt with self-publishing. There are promotion efforts that can be done with one person, but they’re not enough. I think that it’s best to dutifully listen to the publisher in matters relating to localization and advertising. Daedalus Machine I see a lot of indie developers in the US try to promote their games by themselves through social media platforms like Twitter. I’m not entirely sure that those efforts are successful. If you don’t mind telling us, how did you try to promote your game and what do you think is effective in the Japanese market? Reminisce In terms of self-publishing, the reason that I was forced to put the game out on my own is because plans to sell on Steam by the publisher were cancelled. I passed the Greenlight system that decides which games are sold to the Steam community, and after some exchanges with Steam I was finally able to sell the game. I tried things such as the advertising methods that are provided by Steam, and I can confirm that there are definite effects for mid-size sales. In the Japanese market, I don’t think that there are many opportunities for individual producers and small studios to gain exposure. At least for PC games, it’s extremely difficult to get noticed on download platforms where the games are aimed at all ages.
I plan to release Link by borrowing the power of the Play, Doujin project which is geared towards consumer game consoles. First, I developed for PS4, and afterwards I’ll consider other game consoles. For indie games, I thought that I could feel the possibilities more with consumer game consoles than the PC market which is becoming Red Ocean.
Daedalus Machine You also mentioned the importance of working with publishers to localize games. To what extent do you think Japanese indie developers need to market overseas? Reminisce I don’t think that the so-called doujin game culture in Japan is not really conscious of overseas markets. However, there’s no need to forcefully bring this to a new market but if an individual producer thinks it’s necessary he can act on that. Even with the current situation where indie games enter Japan from overseas, it doesn’t seem like the opposite happens too often, so if that environment changes, the situation could change as well. Daedalus Machine In what ways, if any, does planning to market your game overseas impact its development and content? Reminisce I’m not aware of how the game’s content changed specifically for overseas markets. For indie games, I don’t think I’ve consciously changed the fundamentals of the game for players. I want to make a game that has no national boundaries and isn’t subject to culture. I single-mindedly include those things that I want to express; I think that indie games should be like that. Daedalus Machine We also talked about some of the differences between the ways the American and Japanese indie devs approach making games. For example, crowdsourcing through platforms like Kickstarter is an immensely popular way for American developers to get funding to develop a game, but it is almost unheard of in Japan. Why do you think this is? Reminisce I consider the difference to be in the way crowdsourcing is done overseas and in Japan. For me, I have the impression that the idea of investing in unfinished products hasn’t really taken root in Japan. While different sites praise crowdsourcing, there also are many cases where crowdsourced items are simply turned into preorder goods. Kickstarter just launched in Japan the other day, but I think it’ll be difficult for it to become a silver bullet for Japanese game developers. Daedalus Machine What is the most common way for Japanese indie devs to get the resources they need to make games? Reminisce There isn’t a definitive way; it’s extremely difficult. Development is risky, and getting results is a gamble. I think that’s a big reason why there aren’t so many indie developers. If there is governmental support for game development like in Canada and Korea…I have a little hope for this. Daedalus Machine As I mentioned before, you’ve participated in both Comiket and TGS. Could you tell us a little about your experiences at both events? Reminisce At Comiket, I have the impression that the booths are poorer and that there are many people who come having gathered information beforehand. I think there’s many people who search for hidden treasures after getting the items they specifically came for in the morning. At TGS, there’s also an indie developer booth section, and I thought that there were a lot of people searching for games they’re unfamiliar with. Of course, there are a number of people who come to play these games because they’ve got prior interest, and I’m grateful that there were also people who came to Makuhari Messe for Reminisce. Daedalus Machine Can you tell us a bit about the application procedures for both Comiket and TGS? Reminisce You get the application form for Comiket prior to the event, and apply either by mailing it or online. There are lots of Circles who hope to display their goods at each event, so who gets to do so is decided through a lottery. The application period is pretty strict, so it’s necessary to be aware of the deadlines. There are two ways to display at Tokyo Game Show’s Indie Game Corner: one way is to apply through a video of the game, and those chosen are done through an election. The other way is to pay a fee to display. Daedalus Machine Based on your experiences at both events, what do you think about the future of the Japanese indie game scene? Reminisce The mood of Comiket and TGS are radically different, and other than that there are events like Tokyo Indie Fest and Digital Games Expo, so I feel that opportunities for exposure have certainly increased. At regional game production community events like the Kanto Game Production Division, Kansai Game Production Division, Kawaz, and at the monthly Tokyo Indies event, developers can show their games to each other and it’s become easy for developers to participate in exchanges among themselves. AS for the future of indie games, the issue is how to attract people not in the indie game world. I think that once people know more about how individual game creators live and their stances, then Japanese indie games will show popular growth. By looking at industry trends, the overseas game scene is larger in scope, and on the other hand, in Japan, small scale smartphone games are more popular. I think the developers changing that balance are the indie developers. Daedalus Machine What advice do you have for people who wish to develop games? Reminisce First of all, act on it. There are exhibitions of various sizes, and many chances to show your products at them each year. If you see the event as a deadline, I think that your motivation and production speed increases. Exchanging ideas with other creators and players there can be motivation to proceed to the next stage. I want other people to put out their own games!
Related Content
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
|