At last month’s MCM event, Aisha had a chance to talk to Yousuke Futami, the producer working on Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time from Bandai Namco to find out more about the upcoming title and what fans can expect from the first game based on the hit Trigger series.
Special thanks to Bandai Namco for arranging the interview, and Youngmi Ahn for proving translations
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Aisha Anime: Hi, this is Aisha Anime and I’m here with Mr Futami Yousuke, the game producer for the Little Witch Academia game from Bandai Namco and we’re going to talk to him about a couple of questions about the new game.
Aisha Anime: Hi, nice to meet you!
Yosuke Futami: Hi, nice to meet you!
AA: So, I watch the anime, so I would’ve though that it [the game] would be more like an RPG, but from the look of the game it’s more like a side-scroller; so what gave you the idea to make it into a side scrolling game?
YF: I saw the anime, so the fans would be very young generation than the older generation, so I think this game should be more easy to access, so that is the reason why I am adapting to side-scrolling.
AA: So, side-scrolling has become really popular so how come you haven’t decided to do handheld platforms, like 3DS or Vita?
YF: So, the reason why i decided use the PC and PS4 is that Little Witch Academia is very gorgeous and in order to express this gorgeous anime, I thought the PC and PS4 versions are high-end platforms are the best fit.
AA: Did you work very closely with the original artists of the anime to make the game graphics?
YF: So we adapted the universe of the anime, however, this game is expressed by 3D [graphics] and so the game developers created our own.
AA: Could you tell us about some of the new, exciting features of the game?
YF: Yes, I believe this game is very focused on players are able to explore the Luna Nova Academia, so you can see the world of the anime in the game as it is [in the anime]. One more interesting point is that the familiar characters will explore the dungeons with their friends and they can go to the field and find some characters in the dungeons and they can grow up with some items or something else. The main thing is the players will enjoy the adventure part in the game and the action play parts in the game.
AA: Since you’re going to be in a large 3D world, will you be able to do maybe co-op modes with friends, online or offline?
YF: Yes, of course. At the timing of the release of this game, we are going to implement a co-op online mode called battle mode and offline co-op mode
AA: That’s amazing!
AA: At the moment, have you been thinking about maybe any bonus things you might include? Maybe some extra content for later on?
YF: Yes, of course. We cannot specifically speak about bonus content, however, I believe western players can receive some extra bonuses and preorders, like Japan.
AA: Also, will the audio be bilingual? So would it also be Japanese with subtitles or would it also be in the English dubbing?
YF: The voice is just Japanese only, however, the text, the subtitles will be in English, French, German, Spain [Spanish] and Italian.
AA: Ok, Cool.
AA: And what’s your favourite aspect of the game?
YF: I love Akko’s various expressions; her face expressions. She will communicate with her friends with various expressions.
AA: Can you tell me a little bit about the soundtrack as well?
YF: We don’t have any plans for the soundtrack as a special bonus, however, players are able to enjoy the same soundtrack as the anime and the originally made soundtrack also.
AA: Do you hope to attract a different audience of gamers to become fans of Little Witch Academia?
YF: Yes, I believe Little Witch Academia anime fans will love this game, however, there are many Harry Potter-esque factors in the game. So I want players / fans who love Harry Potter and like magic.
AA: So, if a gamer came up to you and they hadn’t even heard of this anime or didn’t know what Little Witch Academia was, how would you describe it as a game for them to play?
YF: As you know, the Little Witch Academia anime has finished, however, if possible, fans will never forget this anime, Actually, we have included some anime parts created by Trigger in the game…
AA: Cutscenes?
YF: Yeah, so there’s many parts in the game. So, we want players to experience those anime and game parts
AA: Were there any other games that influenced you when you were making this game?
YF: Little Witch Academia anime has various expressions, so that was a bit difficult to express those various expressions in the game, because there are so many funny actions. However, we very very enjoyed working on this title.
AA: And, do you think there’ll be another game after?
YF: Yes, of course, I’d personally never want this game to end but at this moment, there’s no plans, however we will cooperate with Trigger
AA: The reason why I asked that is because I wanted to know will you be having multiple endings, or is it just one set ending at the end of the game?
YF: So we only have one ending however, there’s many paths to reach the end.
AA: Will the game follow the storyline of the anime or will it be original / new ?
YF: This game is a original story in the anime, between the 7th and 8th episode … So, fans can know why this story is continued into the next episode.
AA: What other Trigger series would you like to make games for?
YF: There are so many anime however I love Little Witch Academia.
AA: Would you consider making this game for the Nintendo Switch?
YF: So, I really want to make this game for the Nintendo Switch if possible, if fans support and give comments, we will consider [a Nintendo Switch version]
AA: We’ll really support that, we will be, don’t you worry!
AA: So, because the games going to be 3D animated, do you think 3D animation can mimic the actions of the hand drawn anime? Do you think the 3D animation can mimic / copy the hand drawn animation perfectly?
YF: Yes, as you know this game is 3D so our development studied the anime as to how we can express the anime in the game in 3D
AA: Will the game introduce any original characters?
YF: Yes, actually, there are some mob characters originally created and some characters in the anime didn’t have a voice or a name, however in the game, the characters have their own name and their own voice. So, I’d like you to enjoy those parts.
AA: Are there any western games that you enjoy to play?
YF: Shadow of War, FPS, TPS, RPG
AA: That’s brilliant, thank you so much for talking to us
[End of Interview]
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