Wii U

So the online feature was the reason why the main character was changed into an avatar.

Yes, that change came naturally.

How does it feel playing with an avatar you've created yourself? Does it affect how much thought goes into playing with that character?

Although we admitted to being scared of connecting with other players earlier, we're actually fans of online games, so it was so much fun being able to create our own characters. However, we had a lot of discussions over the volume of the customizations, like how many different features we should offer.

If there are too many customization options, it would take a while for the player to actually start playing the game.

But on the other hand, it would be a problem if the choices were too limited.

That would make them all look the same.

This is why we had many discussions over this.

As scriptwriters, it must've been a hard task to adjust the script when the main character was changed to an avatar.

Before the "mass construction," I wrote out the script expecting to have a main character, just like in Xenoblade Chronicles. This was actually my first time writing a script for an avatar...

Unlike a main character played in third person, an avatar represents the actual player, so the flow of the story must've changed drastically.

Yes, it did. So I had many hurdles to overcome from a technical standpoint. But honestly, I think the people who created the avatar had a much harder time than those of us who wrote the script. There are so many choices for the voices alone, and each voice has a different voice actor...that must've been a lot of work.

Not only are there many different voices, each voice has a different personality to fit RPG staples such as the reliable brave guy, sexy characters, characters with a dialect, etc..

From my standpoint, though, I think we were equally struggling with this change. (laughs) The flow of the story changed from being guided by a distinct main character to an avatar designed by the player, so that must've been a lot of work.

Well, I do admit it was a race against the clock. (laughs)

Can I add a little bit about the voice actors?

Go ahead.

Characters talked a lot during battle in Xenoblade Chronicles.

Yes, they did talk a lot in various scenes. (laughs)

Some players really liked that, while other complained it was too loud, so I discussed with Takahashi-san what we should do in Xenoblade Chronicles X. He replied that the talking portions made the game stand out, so we should continue doing that in this game, and I agreed with his opinion.

So you agreed to make the characters talk more?

Yes. In Xenoblade Chronicles, there were around 3,000 lines that were recorded. It was a large amount of lines at the time, and I remember being heavily scolded by the producer of Monolith Soft. He said "You've spent so much money on the voices, so you better use every single one of them in the game!"

(laughs)

So he told you to use everything that was recorded. (laughs)

That's right. I was told, "You recorded them, so you better use every single one of them!"

So, there were 3,000 lines just for the battle scenes, correct?

Yes, 3,000 lines of recording just for the battles...but for Xenoblade Chronicles X, it increased to 11,000.

11,000 lines?!

Yes. There are around 4 times more voice recordings in this game, so it should be especially enjoyable for those who like to listen to character voices.

Well...I did expect there to be a push for the voices, and an increase in number...but I was taken off guard that you've increased it to 11,000! (laughs)

I honestly thought there were too many zeroes when I first saw the number. (laughs)

But because there were so many lines, some voice actors lost their voices during the recording.

(laughs)

They're in-battle voices, so they have to be very loud.

Naturally, because there's a lot of shouting during battles.

Exactly.

Yes, and we had to ask them to keep shouting for hours.

Voice actors are voice specialists, so it takes a lot for them to lose their voices. I've worked on jobs requiring a lot of screaming by actors in the past, but I've never seen or heard a professional voice actor lose their voice during a recording.

So, I was a bit sorry after this...

The localization process must be quite a challenge, too! (laughs)

Yes, that's why I felt very sorry about what I'd done... Also, I was very sorry to throw such a workload at Mario Club¹³. 13. Mario Club, Inc. conducts testing on Nintendo software during development.

Ah, it must've been quite some job for Mario Club, too.

I was so focused on creating the game that I didn't pay attention to who had to take care of the aftermath.

When I saw the invoice for Mario Club's testing fees, I froze up for a moment.

I'm not surprised...

I even said out loud, "Why are these numbers so high!" (laughs)

I would like to take this time to apologize to everyone that was involved in this matter.

(laughs)