A dream come true! Granblue Fantasy Versus
Famitsu: Let’s talk about each game individually, starting with GBF Versus. A lot of fans have been dreaming of a fighting game for years, but even the people who wanted it must have been surprised that it really happened. Why did you want to make a fighting game?
FKHR: The biggest reason was that Cygames wants to continue growing and developing esports. We already hold big Shadowverse tournaments every month, but fighting games are a key genre for esports. By throwing Granblue Fantasy’s hat into the ring, we’ll gain new players, we’ll get a bigger audience that just enjoys watching the game, and increase the general public’s awareness of esports itself.
Famitsu: So this was Cygames’ plan from the beginning?
FKHR: Yes.
Famitsu: In a previous Famitsu interview, we remember hearing that Cygames held an internal fighting game tournament. We get the impression that there are a lot of fighting game fans on your staff. Were they the ones who got this project moving?
FKHR: We have tournaments for everything at work, not just fighting games (laughs). We have some who compete on a national professional level, and others who just like watching. Fighting games are one of the genres we love, but we also have famous Magic: the Gathering players (including two Hall of Fame members), an employee who won the national championship for dancing games, and many more players who represent genres outside of fighting games.
Famitsu: It’s pretty surprising that you have such amazing players wandering the office (laughs). What made you choose Arc System Works as the developer?
FKHR: There are so many fighting game makers we could have chosen from in Japan. We chose Arc System Works because Guilty Gear and Blazblue fit the look and feel of Granblue Fantasy so naturally. The choice was made by higher level decision-makers than me, but I used to play a ton of Guilty Gear myself when I was in school. Guilty Gear X sent shockwaves through the scene, and I remember it leaving a lasting impression on me that I can see in my own game development today. It feels like fate that I get to work with ASW now.
Famitsu: How did you feel when you first saw Granblue Fantasy characters in anime-style 3D?
FKHR: When we first designed GBF we didn’t have 3D in mind, so it was very emotional to see them in 3D for the first time. I thought to myself, “we made these way too dense” (laughs). We have a bunch of belts that don’t do anything, costume pieces that would dangle and flap everywhere, all sorts of things that make 3D projects difficult. But because of those, they made for impressive visuals and animations.
Famitsu: You said that you played a lot of Guilty Gear - will Granblue Fantasy Versus be a high-speed, combo-based game like GG?
FKHR: The game will not be combo-based. I enjoy games with extended, technical combos, but they make the barrier to entry high for new players and is one of the biggest reasons that people drop fighting games. We’ll have people playing this game who’ve only played mobile games before, and for them and other players who don’t normally play fighting games, we decided on a system level that special moves will be performed with just one button.
For example, we expect that we will get people who’ve never played a PS4 game before to play this game. They’ll ask “which button is the Triangle button?” and look down at their controller while playing. Arc System Works had the same idea, and told us “We want to expand the player base for fighting games and we’d like to have one-button specials,” so we were all in agreement from the beginning.
Famitsu: So you’re aiming to make an easy-to-play game not just for people who don’t play fighting games, but people who’ve never played a console game before. How will you make the game deep enough to satisfy the more entrenched gaming crowd and keep them interested?
FKHR: We’re still keeping the more experienced gamer in mind when it comes to the depth of strategy in the game so they can have fun as well. We’re leveraging Arc System Works’ know-how in that department, and we think you won’t be disappointed. When it comes to esports, one of fighting games’ biggest problems as a spectator sport is that the spectator has a hard time understanding what is going on, so one of our goals is to make Granblue Fantasy Versus easy to understand as a spectator. So, we designed it around “lower speed, simple combos”.
Famitsu: That’s true, fighting games are very reliant on their commentary teams for spectators right now.
FKHR: And technical terms like “pickup” or “aerial” can completely leave the audience or beginning players behind. That’s part of what makes fighting games so hard to get into. What we’re aiming for is a game like Street Fighter II, where even players who come back to the game after 10 years away can still have fun. Compared to Ryu and Ken, Guile and Blanka have very distinct styles but they are still well known, and we’re aiming to get that feeling with our characters.
Famitsu: So this won’t be a game where you launch the opponent in the air and hit them a bunch of times, and instead the kind of game where you have to plan for every range. So, what Granblue Fantasy elements have you inserted into the game?
FKHR: All special moves in Granblue Fantasy Versus are known as Abilities, and abilities and Charge Attacks from the original game are in there. For example, Lancelot’s “Blade Impulse” is one of his special moves, and when you perform his Charge Attack “Weissfleugel,” it will cut to a cinematic super move. There are quite a few heavy GBF players on the Arc System Works payroll, and they put a lot of love and labor into the details and the systems.
Famitsu: In the original game, not all Abilities deal damage - some heal, or buff. Are any of those in this game?
FKHR: Of the currently announced cast, Gran can cast “Rage”, which is a buff ability that can increase his attack. Katalina has “Light Wall” which gives her super armor, and you can use that to aim for counterattacks. Other abilities in the game will buff Triple Attack, heal, provide Elemental Attack Up, and more.
Famitsu: Your fans are really looking forward to the cast reveals, aren’t they?
FKHR: All of the characters we’ve revealed so far have very standard skill sets. From here on, the characters who get released will have more complicated abilities, so our fans can look forward to that. Downloadable characters as additional content have become standard in fighting games, and we would love to be able to add new fighters to the game after release as well.
Famitsu: What’s your plan for Gran in this game? As the main character, he has many jobs and summons, but we’re also curious what you’re going to do with his personality and character.
FKHR: He’s going to talk a LOT in the game, which means we need to give him a more defined personality. We’re going to be using Gran from Granblue Fantasy The Animation as our base. We won’t give him new jobs, but he does have Lyria and Vyrn in tow, so we can put summons in his super moves.
Famitsu: Does that mean there will be a story mode?
FKHR: People have expectations from a Granblue Fantasy game, and we’re putting a lot of development time into that. This will mostly be an all-new story, but we will let our players go through certain events and stories from the original game. There are a lot of gamers out there who like the “there is always one winner and one loser” style of game, so we’re looking into more modes that they will enjoy as well.
Famitsu: That’s exciting. Will there be online versus multiplayer, though?
FKHR: We do plan on having online versus and online ranked versus modes.
Famitsu: Have you thought about an arcade version?
FKHR: We’re looking into it. I don’t know what will happen in the end, but a lot of us at Arc System Works and Cygames have great memories at arcades, so we’d love it.
Famitsu: I didn’t think you would answer that question (laughs). That means that it’s up to the fans, huh? So, how far into development do you think this game is?
FKHR: I would venture to say about 60% done. We’ve built out the base systems, and our planning and source code are all in place. So from here on out, it’s all about making the game higher quality.