Wii U

To close, I would like to ask each of you to talk about what you want the players to pay particular attention to. I'd like to save Takahashi-san for last, so Takeda-san, let's start with you.

It's not really a message to the players, but I'm really looking forward to playing it myself.

Even though you've written the story?

Right. When I think about traditional RPGs, there is this main storyline that includes everything there is about the characters and drama. Key information was almost never found outside of the main story.

That's because many games were one-directional and linear.

But when I played the previous Xenoblade game, I was surprised by how the characters and the game world were richly portrayed outside of the story part that I wrote. I realized that with this game, the main scenario is only a small part of the whole game.

There was so much more that was expressed in the game beyond the main storyline.

Right. For example, in the previous Xenoblade game there was a boss called Xord, but in the main story that I wrote, it didn't go much into his background. But when I actually played the game, I was able to find out the shocking truth about Xord just by listening to people in the inhabited areas. I was stunned by how elements like this were expressed outside the main story, and how they could all be tastefully crafted to fit within the game.

So the developers at Monolith Soft had taken the nuggets you wrote and worked off of them to further expand the game.

That's exactly right. So for this game, I felt that the main story shouldn't be the only place where you could find out about everything. By creating a story with room for expansion, I thought the people at Monolith Soft could pick up from where I intentionally left off. Especially this time, the entire volume far surpasses that of the previous Xenoblade game, so knowing that a big part of the game is now outside of the main story makes me want to forget everything I worked on for Xenoblade Chronicles X so I can just purely enjoy playing the game. A great experience that far surpasses the previous Xenoblade game is waiting for me...Sorry, this is wandering off away from what I want people to check out to what I want to check out! (laughs)

Not at all! (laughs) Hyodo-san, as a new member of the team, what about you?

What left an impression on me with this project was something Kojima-san said to me. He said that "Older RPGs have something like an invisible wall. It sucks how you can't go to the other side".

But this time, by making the game an open world, you didn't have to worry about that invisible wall.

That's right. What he said really resonated with me. Even though losing the invisible wall was something that had to be taken care of in development, I felt it related to the writing as well. For example, when you're in the city, rather than have the resident say "This is the city of so and so," if we have her say "This is the city I love," you're able to understand her background, and lines like that can help expand the game world.

You wanted to eliminate the invisible wall, even in the characters' lines.

Right. By doing so, I hoped we would be able to understand things like that character's personality just by listening to them. So even in just a single line from a character, we made an effort to write it so you can get a sense of how large and abundant the game world is, so I hope the players can keep that in mind as they play.

Thank you. Yokota-san, what about you?

This is sort of off topic, but we put a lot of meaning into the "X" in the game's title. The "X," as you know, is a symbol for an unknown factor.

As in the "X" used in mathematics.

Right, we also named the title overseas Xenoblade Chronicles X, and the X symbolized alien life of the unknown, and exploring an unknown planet. In the Japanese version, we refer to the X as "cross," as in a place that can serve as a crossroad where people can come across one another unexpectedly. The game has an online aspect, so there will be a lot of player interactions, as if they're meeting each other at an intersection or a crossroads. A lot of intelligent life from other planets will also appear, and interacting with them can be a lot of fun as well. For example, they won't come to your town unless you find a way to come across and interact with them.

So if you don't take any action, you won't be able to interact with aliens.

Exactly. So you can say this is a game where the experience will change depending on the player's actions. And by the sense of the game being a crossroads, the Skells and humans can fight together. I feel that the "X" in the title really represents a lot of different aspects of the game.

You put a lot of thought into why the game has an "X" in the title and not a "2."

Right, so I hope people will enjoy exploring the "X" aspect of the game for themselves.

Kojima-san, how about you?

I can't really narrow it down to one.

Xenoblade Chronicles X is a gigantic game.

From the map, the events, the battles to the music.

Since it hasn't come up yet, let's talk about the music.

Sure. First of all, video game soundtracks are so distinctive that they're their own genre. There are even fans specifically devoted to it.

Sure.

As for me, I certainly like video game music, but I talked with Takahashi-san about how we didn't want the soundtrack for this to be stereotypical. We wanted a new challenge, even with the soundtrack.

That's right.

Someone that Takahashi-san suggested was Hiroyuki Sawano-san¹⁶, who works mainly in TV dramas and anime shows. Takahashi-san had been a fan of Sawano-san for quite a while. 16. Hiroyuki Sawano: a Japanese composer. He is best known for his works on various TV series, anime, and movies, and has also arranged and provided scores for other artists. Some of his musical works include the Team Medical Dragon series (TV series), Mobile Suit Gundam UC (anime), Attack on Titan (anime), Aldnoah.Zero (anime), The Seven Deadly Sins (anime), Happily Ever After (movie), Flowers in the Shadows (movie). He also worked on the sound for Xenoblade Chronicles X.

Yeah.

So we were all impressed with Sawano-san's music, and had our minds set on having him work on the music. I personally enjoy Sawano-san's music, too, but wasn't completely sure about whether his music would be a right fit for video games.

But you wanted it to be a challenge?

Right. When we reached out to Sawano-san, the passion and energy that came back from him in agreeing to work on it was unbelievable. He said he doesn't really play video games, but he brought up unconventional ideas like bringing in vocals to the battle music. We requested a total track list that was out of the ordinary, but he agreed to make all of them right away.

How did the tracks turn out?

They all fit remarkably well! (laughs)

(laughs)

When we put the tracks in the game, it was so amazing. So for this game, I really hope people play while also enjoying the soundtrack.