[Entrevista] Vanillaware’s George Kamitani talks about his influences and upcoming projects

We start our interviews this year with a very special one to George Do itPresident of Vanillaware. In case you didn’t know about this study, it is the one behind games of the likes of Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Odin Sphere o Dragon’s Crown. In addition to, of course, unforgettable titles like the wonderful 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim published by Atlus a few months ago. Now, the studio is preparing to launch a new version of another of its classics, GrimGrimoire OnceMore. For this reason, we have seized the opportunity and have asked the Maestro Kamitani about all kinds of things ranging from his influences, going through details of his games and ending in some brushstrokes of What the future holds for Vanillaware as a studio. If all this interests you, do not hesitate to continue reading.

Interview with George Kamitani

How did you start to be passionate about video game development?

George Kamitani: Not to be in the spotlight, but I was introduced to gaming at the dawn of the PC era, and found myself creating pixel art and programming starting in junior high school. For me, this was the only possible path!

What is the best advice that you could give to a young developer who wants to create games like yours?

Kamitani: We are still in the process of growing and learning, and since most of the time we are the underdogs, we are not in a position to give advice in an arrogant way. There are many in the independent world who are much more impressive than we are. I am inspired by many, and I always do what I can with a “can’t lose” mentality. When you decide you want to do something, you just have to keep going.

Speaking of which, your next game is GrimGrimoire OnceMore, what were your biggest inspirations in creating its magical world?

Kamitani: Well, at the time, Sohei Niikawa from Nippon Ichi Software had told me that I could do whatever I wanted and it didn’t have to be a bestseller, so I got excited and decided to make an RTS game like Starcraft, which I loved. That being said, RTS is not a genre that sells well in Japan. I thought if I used a “wizard school” theme like in Harry Potter and made the protagonist a girl like in the Atelier series, people would buy the game without realizing it was an RTS. But that plan didn’t work. Absolutely. The game was definitely not a bestseller.

Vanillaware’s deep stories are captivating to us. How long does it usually take you to write the script for your games?

Kamitani: First of all, thank you very much for the compliment! I think it took me five months on Odin Sphere and a little longer on Muramasa. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim was an agonizing four years, but most of it was due to the trial and error process during the creation of the game’s framework. It also took me a long time because I wrote the scenario using a method that I don’t think anyone had tried before, which was to write the dialogue while composing the scenes in the final check script.

Of all the projects I’ve written for, GrimGrimoire was the one I finished in the shortest time: I wrote it in two months, from conception to completion. Of all my stories, I have a special fondness for it because of how well it is built.

Now that your next title is ready, have you thought about rescuing other classic games from your catalogue…? Many Muramasa fans would love to play this game again on modern consoles.

Kamitani: I think so. I would also like to port Muramasa, although there are problems for it that I will not go into…

I would say that our priority now is to start with the homework that has been piling up… that is, to get to work on the games that we have been planning to make.

Your last published game was 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. At what point did you decide you wanted to bring it to Nintendo Switch?

Kamitani: Atlus contacted us immediately after the PlayStation version was released, so we started working on the port, but it wasn’t until three years later that the Nintendo Switch version was released. At that time, Mr. Kamiyama did his best to lighten the requirements of the game for Nintendo Switch. He also took the liberty of adding some additional equipment. (laughs)

If you had the opportunity to work on an already established franchise, which series would you choose to make a new game from?

Kamitani: As for our current titles, Muramasa was created so that sequels set in the world of Genroku could be created quite easily. I didn’t waste time trying it out creating 4 DLCs, but I still have plenty of ideas for a Japanese-style setting.

Also, I’ve been talking to the rest of the team about the possibility of making a Dragon’s Crown game with additional characters in the style of Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara, but I personally would like to make a new and original game.

Even if it doesn’t end up being Muramasa, we have other ideas for Japanese-themed titles, and even other darker fantasy ideas than Dragon’s Crown.

If you had to choose a single character from one of your games to represent what Vanillaware is, which one would you choose and why?

Kamitani: It’s hard. Personally, I feel like I become a different person every time we make a new title, so more than a character from a past work, the person from this latest project, which I can’t tell you about, is my “soul” character. ”. I think that’s a pretty forgiving time for a creator.

Finally, can you give us any clues about your next original work? It’s sure to be a masterpiece. I have no doubt that it will be a masterpiece.

Kamitani: In March 2019, for reasons I won’t go into, we only sold the prologue to 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, but it did include a video for the follow-up title of it. And now, it’s finally finished. I’m not the director of that title, but it’s one of Vanillaware’s biggest productions, so please look forward to it!

Lastly, the title I’m working on right now won’t be finished for several years, but once that big title I’m telling you about is finished, I should get some development staff, so development of my project will come into play. end in full swing.

Thank you very much, Master Kamitani!

And to you, we only have to remind you that 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is now available for Nintendo Switch, and that GrimGrimoire OnceMore It will be on sale this coming April 4, also for the hybrid console. Don’t miss them!