– Star Ocean 5 producer Shuichi Kobayashi
A new interview with Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness producer Shuichi Kobayashi sheds some light on the challenges of developing traditional Japanese console RPGs on HD consoles — from both a design and production perspective.
The game, which is out in Japan and due out in the West this summer, marks a turning point for the franchise. Kobayashi goes into detail on how the game has moved away from static cutscenes — a staple of the franchise, and the genre — in favor of storytelling alongside gameplay.
But he also talks about what a challenge it is to create a game in the genre at all, given the level of detail and volume of content Japanese RPGs are known for:
The interview, over at Anime News Network, is an interesting read if you’re curious about the inner workings of high-spec JRPG development in 2016.
Kobayashi has spoken before how he took on helming the franchise at publisher Square Enix, to save it and maybe even help save the genre, outside of top-tier games, at the publisher.