Interviews// SPOnG Interviews Yoshiki Okamoto

SPOnG:How long has Days of the Blade been in development?

Yoshiki Okamoto: So, we started development on the game right after the first one, or actually just before the previous game went on sale in Japan which was just over two years ago. We worked on it for around six months as a PS2 title and from thereon we moved over to developing it as a PS3 title.

SPOnG: And what size was the team working on the game?

Yoshiki Okamoto: The core team is around 50 people, then we have other people who come in to help on certain aspects of the game for short-span periods. But yeah, around 50 full-time core staff.

SPOnG: I think it would be fair to say that the game was received fairly well in Japan – scoring 29 out of 40 in Famitsu – but it’s not been received as well in the States. Do you think this might have anything to do with ‘cultural differences’, the fact that westerners don’t know so much about the background history behind the game’s storyline.

Yoshiki Okamoto: There probably is an issue of cultural differences…. Obviously there are cultural differences…that is a given. We already knew that people outside of Japan would not know about the background and the story of Yoshitsune. But, as a team, we have to take everything into account, so if it gets rated the way it does, it is something that we have to basically live with.

So, also, a lot of it is that if people had a little more time to play through the game a little bit – to get to know the characters, to become familiar with the combo systems, to learn how best to use and change the characters and weaponry on offer.

Just by playing the game for a few minutes, you are not going to notice the depth of the gameplay. It takes some time for you get really into it, then you’ll be able to see what’s happening!

In terms of the ratings that we’ve received in Japan and the US at the moment, that’s something that obviously the journalists…it’s up to them… where it’s their true feelings and what they really think about the game, we’re basically happy with whatever feedback and ratings we get from all these people.

SPOnG: In addition to that, do you think the fact that it’s a launch title has meant that it has got, perhaps, far more critical attention than it would have done otherwise?

Yoshiki Okamoto: Obviously being a launch title means there is going to be more critical attention given to the game than at another time. However, I don’t feel that because it was a launch title, that the game was kind of half-made or whatnot. Our team at Game Republic put in everything we could in the given time period we had.

We’re basically happy with the outcome and if it should receive a not-so-great review or rating, then that’s just something that we are going to have to take into account when we are working on future titles.