[Entrevista] Koei Tecmo’s Ryu Michi on Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening and the series’ story

To celebrate our impressions of Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening, from Cow Tecmo they have given us the opportunity to talk to ryu michi, producer and director of this long-awaited title. If you want to take a look at our talk, you can do it through the next interview which we leave you below.

Interview with Ryu Michi of Koei Tecmo

Nobunaga’s Ambition is a series with a long history, what do you think has made the franchise successful in the last 40 years?

It’s rare for a game series to stay ahead and release titles for 40 years. As developers, we have continued to develop various game systems to entertain our players with each title.

The game system changes significantly with each installment, so our players can always play with a “fresh” feeling. I think this is one of the reasons why this series has lasted so long.
In addition, we are lucky to have fans who like our titles who join Koei Tecmo and work in development with the desire to create something even better.

This new installment was launched a few months ago for the Asian market, at what point did you decide to bring it to the West?

We wanted to release the game simultaneously from the beginning, but due to the production schedule, it was difficult to develop the game in all languages ​​at the same time.

Since this title is not well known abroad yet, we didn’t want to release a mediocre version due to the schedule, so we had to take our time to make sure the quality of the game was competent. We apologize for the long wait, but it’s turning out to be a great game, so we hope you enjoy it.

Oda Nobunaga is a very famous historical figure in Japanese popular culture, what do you think makes him such a relevant figure even today?

I think it’s great and admirable that he carved out his own future. The fact that he was defeated in the middle of his dream is also tragic and reinforces his story.

Also, everyone wonders what would have happened if he hadn’t been defeated, so I think this is one of the reasons why he’s so popular today.

What are the main features of Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening that the team is most proud of?

If I had to mention one, I think it’s that players can use all the commands correctly. Some unnecessary commands appear in feature-rich games, but I don’t think there are any unnecessary commands for Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening.

That doesn’t mean you can’t pick the most important feature. (laughs) I just think that a good strategy game should have all the features of the game working together, and we’ve done a great job on that.

What advice would you give to a player who decides to start playing the series with this game?

Many people think that strategy games are difficult, but in Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening, the servants give you suggestions and guide you. If you follow their advice, you will be able to progress well, so beginners will learn and improve naturally, and little by little the game will become one that they can play in their style.

The base game has already been released in Japan and other Asian countries, and has received a lot of positive feedback about its ease of play even for beginners, so we hope that all Westerners who play it for the first time can enjoy it.

Can you give us any clues about the future of the franchise?

We’re currently focused on the development of Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening, so there’s nothing I can talk about right now, but of course, I think this IP will continue in the future.

Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening marks the 40th anniversary of the series, so please support us so we can continue it for 50 or 100 years.

Do you have any final message for fans of the series in the West?

I think this title is still not known to many people in the West, even though it has been running in Japan as a top-of-the-line series for 40 years. We would like to bring the excellence of this game to more and more people, so we hope that anyone who is even slightly interested in Japanese history or who likes strategy games will give this title a try and enjoy it.

Thank you very much for your time!

And up to here! We remind you that you can reservar Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakeningand that will be available this next July 20th on Nintendo Switch and other platforms.