Iwata Asks is a series of interviews conducted by former Nintendo Global President Satoru Iwata with key creators behind the making of Nintendo games and hardware.



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Iwata Asks: Xenoblade Chronicles 3D – Exclusively for the New Nintendo 3DS XL

We want to make a JRPG masterpiece

Iwata

Today I will be asking about Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, which will be exclusively playable on the New Nintendo 3DS XL system. In the case of common RPGs, it's not unusual for them to sell like hot cakes right after release, only for sales to decline soon after. However, when the original to this game, Xenoblade Chronicles1 for Wii was released five years ago in Japan, and because of the way the game was designed with an impressive attention to detail, word of mouth started to spread. Now Xenoblade Chronicles 3D is coming to the New Nintendo 3DS XL system. So we'd like to ask Monolith Soft's2 Takahashi-san just what type of game Xenoblade Chronicles is. Thanks for talking with us today, Takahashi-san. 1. Xenoblade Chronicles: An RPG released for the Wii console in June 2010. To be released for the New Nintendo 3DS XL (not compatible with Nintendo 2DS or other Nintendo 3DS systems) in April 2015. 2. Monolith Soft: Monolith Software Inc. A video game development company started in 1999. Developed the Xenosaga series, the Baten Kaitos series (Nintendo GameCube), Disaster: Day of Crisis (Wii) and Soma Bringer (Nintendo DS), among others. The main office is in Meguro, Tokyo.

Takahashi

Thank you for this opportunity.

Iwata

First, could you look back a little on what you were imagining for the world of Xenoblade Chronicles when you started development for the Wii version?

Takahashi

Of course. My first thought was that I wanted to build a masterpiece within the JRPG3 genre... So while I worked towards completing the game, I carefully gathered all of the many elements necessary to make that happen. 3: JRPG: A role-playing game created in Japan. Often have a command-based fighting style.

Iwata

JRPG refers to Japanese-made RPGs, which have had a unique evolution in Japan. The term is used more often in other countries, but not so much in Japan. After the Wii version of Xenoblade Chronicles was released, it seemed that there were a lot of people saying "The quality of Xenoblade Chronicles stands out amongst all the JRPGs released within the past few years." So in that way, you can say that you succeeded in your goal, or should we say, ambition, of creating a masterpiece.

Takahashi

That's true.

Iwata

People said things like "I could stay in that world forever," or "I don't want it to end," even though they'd been playing for over 100 hours4... 4. Played for over 100 hours: The time counter for the Wii version of Xenoblade Chronicles was set to stop at 99 hours and 59 minutes, but the version for the New Nintendo 3DS XL can support a time display past 100 hours. (Up to 999 hours and 59 minutes.)The upcoming game Xenoblade Chronicles X can support a time display of over 300 hours of play. See the Japanese official Twitter @XenobladeJP for details.

Takahashi

We're so grateful.

Iwata

There's no greater compliment, is there? When we made EarthBound5, it made me so happy to hear people saying "I didn't want it to end." When you were making Xenoblade Chronicles, did you expect it would be so highly regarded? 5. EarthBound: An RPG released for Super NES in August 1994. Satoru Iwata, who was the President of HAL Laboratory, Inc. at the time, was involved in program development.

Takahashi

To be honest, we did anticipate that we would get a relatively strong response within Japan.

Iwata

So you must have had a solid feeling about its reception during development.

Takahashi

Yes. But the response from overseas was quite surprising to me...

Iwata

How so?

Takahashi

Most Western gamers like realistic games with high definition graphics.

Iwata

Yes. They do seem to favor large-scale games that offer a lot of freedom.

Takahashi

So I was surprised that users who were used to that type of game bought and played our game.

Iwata

So you didn't know whether people who were used to playing that type of game would like a JRPG like Xenoblade Chronicles?

Takahashi

That's true... I thought they might be tired of JRPGs.

Iwata

Oh, I see. The JRPG genre was able to attract game fans all over the world in the 1990s, but after that, gamers in the West didn't give soaring reviews to the genre like they did before, so you thought that they might not pick up Xenoblade Chronicles.

Takahashi

That's right.

Iwata

But that didn't turn out to be the case. It seemed that fans in the West felt they were finally seeing the evolution of JRPG. Why do you think that is?

Takahashi

Looking back, I wonder if it satisfied a craving they had.

Iwata

Perhaps the 90s game fans felt that the "future of RPGs" they envisioned was never realized, but that your Xenoblade Chronicles offered them hope for the future of RPGs.

Takahashi

That may be. And I think it was quite different from a Western-made game. One difference is that it did a good job of incorporating the innate heroism of JRPGs...allowing the user to become the hero, to become the protagonist. On the other hand, games made in the West - and this is only my personal opinion - they are very well made, down to the last detail, but there's something stoic about them, and often the heroism aspect seems to take a bit of a back seat.

Iwata

The heroes of Western-made games do often look very strong.

Takahashi

Yes.

Iwata

But in JRPGs, the protagonists aren't very strong. They seem like people you could meet on the street who just happen to be born to a certain destiny, and are drawn by some force into doing things that they could have never believed possible... But if Westerners really didn't like that kind of story, Star Wars6 wouldn't have become such a hit. Because that movie is just this type of story. 6. Star Wars: A popular science fiction movie series by Lucas Films. The first film came out in 1977.

Takahashi

That's true. Also, I think the fact that I grew up in Japan's unique comic book culture had a big impact on the game. I was able to smoothly incorporate the appeal of comic books into the world of the game.

Iwata

Recently, Japanese comics have been quite popular in the West.

Takahashi

That's true. I think that people caught on to their appeal.

Iwata

Of course, I've also seen the strong reaction to Xenoblade Chronicles from people who love Japanese comics and anime. But that's not the only appeal.

Takahashi

True.

Iwata

There's the impression that the people who enjoy the overall JRPG genre were overjoyed with the game. They seemed to feel like the next generation of JRPG had finally arrived. The overseas sales would never be higher than the Japanese sales unless that was the case.

Takahashi

That's quite true.

Iwata

Since the topic of comic book culture came up, may I go off on a tangent here and ask you what other cultural influences you have?

Takahashi

Sure.