Asura's Wrath: Story First, Gameplay Later
IGN AU: You started development with the idea of communicating an emotion – wrath, then developed the story, then worked out the best gameplay fit for each sequence. Why do it that way?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: Our main concept was that we wanted to reach out to audiences all over the world with Asura's Wrath. That's why we focused on wrath as our main concept. It's something that anybody can relate to. It's an emotion that's very powerful. It's sometimes seen as negative, but it can be a driving force that helps you overcome any obstacle.
When we came up with this backwards approach to the development process, first we thought of our focus on wrath, then focused on the story, so we built the story first. Who wrote the story? CyberConnect 2 did, as a group. It was a group effort throughout the dev team, but when we had the story, we passed that on to an actual script writer.
IGN AU: How did your previous work on the Naruto games help this process along?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: About one third of the Naruto team at CyberConnect2 are now on the Asura team, but the rest – the two thirds – haven't touched Naruto at all. We divided them into three teams, and each team would focus on a number of episodes, and there was a lot of going back and forth with different opinions and trying to figure out - how can we make this episode better, how can we make this really over the top, how can we make this a game that will appeal to a worldwide audience?
Especially with a new IP, it's very risky, in this day and age, with so many sequels coming out. Multiplayer games are really popular too. It's risky to create a new IP, but we do think it's necessary, because if we don't – if there are no new IPs - then there's no way to broaden the game horizon. So we do find it risky, but we also see it as a challenge, and we always love a good challenge.
IGN AU: Did you want to create competition between the teams? Was that structure intentionally designed to do that?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: Yes, it was definitely intentional from the beginning. We wanted different teams to have different opinions and work in a way that – well, there were actually four teams. One with the basic overall structure of Asura, and that was one team, and then we had three teams which were in charge of different episodes. And at the top we had the director, so it was almost like a pyramid, with the director at the top, and he would approve the many ideas, and it would go back and forth, and that's how we were able to come to how Asura's Wrath is now.
IGN AU: What was the process behind finding the visual design for the game? It has a very unique, striking style.
Hiroshi Matsuyama: When we came up with all the designs, we started with not the characters, but the world design, the setting. And we came up with the idea of science fiction and Asian mythology and the merging of the two, and once we had that – and that alone, coming up with the world concept, it took about a year and a half of back and forth talking, trying to think of something that is really dynamic and unique, something that's brand new, that people haven't seen.
After we came up with that, we decided, well, what kind of characters would fit here? What kind of people would live in this world? We did a lot of research, going through old Buddhism books and books related to Indian mythology and Tibetan mythology. We wanted to create characters that were very unique in the sense that they didn't look like a typical hero. They had this kind of rough look to them like they were carved out of wood, like you'd go to a temple in Japan and could see them standing there. We really wanted to bring that kind of art style into this game and create a hero out of it.
IGN AU: The game has a second playable character – Yasha. What role does he play?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: What we've done here, with Yasha, is to create a rivalry, and a contrast between the two characters. It gives players the chance to see Asura's story – because he's the main character – through a different point of view. Especially, in this case, it's very interesting because Yasha is one of the ones who betrayed him, so you're seeing Asura's story from the point of view of one of his enemies, but then, in the end, Yasha becomes one of his allies. So that is why we chose to have Yasha as a playable character.
IGN AU: Will there be any other playable characters?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: No, it will just be Asura and Yasha.
IGN AU: The game has an episode set in a Japanese bathhouse. Was this included to give the player a break? Or to show another side to Asura? What's the thinking behind it?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: This hot springs scene is actually a very traditional thing in a lot of manga, animation and Japanese TV shows or Japanese dramas. It's called onsen-kai, and basically in the middle of the story there'd be a random hot springs scene. It gives the viewers a break from what's going on and lets everything sink in for a second. Take a step back, reflect on what happened in the first half, then go right back into it. So it is like taking a little break.
In this case, for Asura, since he's always angry, we wanted people to take a little break from that. He's sitting there, drinking, staring at the attendants, so adding that in there – it adds a little comic relief as well – but it also gives players a chance to stop for a second, relax and think about – woah, I just killed a planet-sized monster. I'm halfway towards getting my revenge. It gets them ready for what's to come. It's very Japanese, because there aren't too many other cultures where there's that hot spring culture, where you go to a hot spring with everybody and just hang out. That's one aspect of Japanese culture that we really wanted to put in to show to everybody. To introduce that to everybody.
Hot springs. They just melt the wrath away...
A window into the unusual development process behind one of the year's most insane titles.
Australia, February 5, 2012
is certainly going to be one of the more unique games released this year. It's a game that is structured episodically, much like an anime TV series. Think Naruto (no surprise, given developer CyberConnect2 has helmed several Naruto video games), think short stings where ad breaks would normally take place, think cliffhangers, and think recaps at the start of each episode.
Story is the central driving force in the game, and it's an epic tale of demi-gods and revenge, with influences drawn from Japanese culture, eastern religions and science fiction. The gameplay is schizophrenic, and jumps all over the place. One minute it might be a third person beat 'em up, the next an on-rails shooter, then that will segue into a long cutscene punctuated by quick-time events. Will it work as a whole? Well, it's hard to say.
Given the emphasis on telling an epic story the fact that I've only played isolated episodes from mid-late in the game doesn't help give a sense of direction or cohesion, and the gameplay comes across as a little slapdash and unrefined. (That said, IGN UK's Keza has played two thirds of the final game so check out what she has to say here.)
There is something here, however; something that makes Asura's Wrath worth paying attention to. In fact, talking to CyberConnect2's President/CEO Hiroshi Matsuyama and Producer Kazuhiro Tsuchiya during a recent demo session, it was hard not to feel their enthusiasm, and to see what a labour of love the title has been for them. They were also kind enough to answer a few of my questions after showing off the game, so here's a little more insight into the development process...
Story is the central driving force in the game, and it's an epic tale of demi-gods and revenge, with influences drawn from Japanese culture, eastern religions and science fiction. The gameplay is schizophrenic, and jumps all over the place. One minute it might be a third person beat 'em up, the next an on-rails shooter, then that will segue into a long cutscene punctuated by quick-time events. Will it work as a whole? Well, it's hard to say.
Given the emphasis on telling an epic story the fact that I've only played isolated episodes from mid-late in the game doesn't help give a sense of direction or cohesion, and the gameplay comes across as a little slapdash and unrefined. (That said, IGN UK's Keza has played two thirds of the final game so check out what she has to say here.)
There is something here, however; something that makes Asura's Wrath worth paying attention to. In fact, talking to CyberConnect2's President/CEO Hiroshi Matsuyama and Producer Kazuhiro Tsuchiya during a recent demo session, it was hard not to feel their enthusiasm, and to see what a labour of love the title has been for them. They were also kind enough to answer a few of my questions after showing off the game, so here's a little more insight into the development process...
IGN AU: You started development with the idea of communicating an emotion – wrath, then developed the story, then worked out the best gameplay fit for each sequence. Why do it that way?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: Our main concept was that we wanted to reach out to audiences all over the world with Asura's Wrath. That's why we focused on wrath as our main concept. It's something that anybody can relate to. It's an emotion that's very powerful. It's sometimes seen as negative, but it can be a driving force that helps you overcome any obstacle.
When we came up with this backwards approach to the development process, first we thought of our focus on wrath, then focused on the story, so we built the story first. Who wrote the story? CyberConnect 2 did, as a group. It was a group effort throughout the dev team, but when we had the story, we passed that on to an actual script writer.
Good question, dude.
IGN AU: How did your previous work on the Naruto games help this process along?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: About one third of the Naruto team at CyberConnect2 are now on the Asura team, but the rest – the two thirds – haven't touched Naruto at all. We divided them into three teams, and each team would focus on a number of episodes, and there was a lot of going back and forth with different opinions and trying to figure out - how can we make this episode better, how can we make this really over the top, how can we make this a game that will appeal to a worldwide audience?
Especially with a new IP, it's very risky, in this day and age, with so many sequels coming out. Multiplayer games are really popular too. It's risky to create a new IP, but we do think it's necessary, because if we don't – if there are no new IPs - then there's no way to broaden the game horizon. So we do find it risky, but we also see it as a challenge, and we always love a good challenge.
IGN AU: Did you want to create competition between the teams? Was that structure intentionally designed to do that?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: Yes, it was definitely intentional from the beginning. We wanted different teams to have different opinions and work in a way that – well, there were actually four teams. One with the basic overall structure of Asura, and that was one team, and then we had three teams which were in charge of different episodes. And at the top we had the director, so it was almost like a pyramid, with the director at the top, and he would approve the many ideas, and it would go back and forth, and that's how we were able to come to how Asura's Wrath is now.
IGN AU: What was the process behind finding the visual design for the game? It has a very unique, striking style.
Hiroshi Matsuyama: When we came up with all the designs, we started with not the characters, but the world design, the setting. And we came up with the idea of science fiction and Asian mythology and the merging of the two, and once we had that – and that alone, coming up with the world concept, it took about a year and a half of back and forth talking, trying to think of something that is really dynamic and unique, something that's brand new, that people haven't seen.
After we came up with that, we decided, well, what kind of characters would fit here? What kind of people would live in this world? We did a lot of research, going through old Buddhism books and books related to Indian mythology and Tibetan mythology. We wanted to create characters that were very unique in the sense that they didn't look like a typical hero. They had this kind of rough look to them like they were carved out of wood, like you'd go to a temple in Japan and could see them standing there. We really wanted to bring that kind of art style into this game and create a hero out of it.
IGN AU: The game has a second playable character – Yasha. What role does he play?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: What we've done here, with Yasha, is to create a rivalry, and a contrast between the two characters. It gives players the chance to see Asura's story – because he's the main character – through a different point of view. Especially, in this case, it's very interesting because Yasha is one of the ones who betrayed him, so you're seeing Asura's story from the point of view of one of his enemies, but then, in the end, Yasha becomes one of his allies. So that is why we chose to have Yasha as a playable character.
IGN AU: Will there be any other playable characters?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: No, it will just be Asura and Yasha.
IGN AU: The game has an episode set in a Japanese bathhouse. Was this included to give the player a break? Or to show another side to Asura? What's the thinking behind it?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: This hot springs scene is actually a very traditional thing in a lot of manga, animation and Japanese TV shows or Japanese dramas. It's called onsen-kai, and basically in the middle of the story there'd be a random hot springs scene. It gives the viewers a break from what's going on and lets everything sink in for a second. Take a step back, reflect on what happened in the first half, then go right back into it. So it is like taking a little break.
In this case, for Asura, since he's always angry, we wanted people to take a little break from that. He's sitting there, drinking, staring at the attendants, so adding that in there – it adds a little comic relief as well – but it also gives players a chance to stop for a second, relax and think about – woah, I just killed a planet-sized monster. I'm halfway towards getting my revenge. It gets them ready for what's to come. It's very Japanese, because there aren't too many other cultures where there's that hot spring culture, where you go to a hot spring with everybody and just hang out. That's one aspect of Japanese culture that we really wanted to put in to show to everybody. To introduce that to everybody.
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