The latest game of
the series "Turn About Prosecutor"
Interview of the game makers!!
Director: Tsuyoshi Yamazaki
Character designer: Tatsurou Iwamoto
Producer: Motohide Eshiro
Looking at the "Turnabout" from another angle.
覧Why is a prosecutor the leading role this time?
Eshiro: I kept on playing the GS series and I found it very funny.
Then the idea " How about we view it from a different angle, and make a
game about a prosecutor?" occurred to me. It probably was the earliest
idea of the game. Then I said "I've got an idea for game, what do you
think about it?" to producer Yamazaki. He answered: "Not bad." The
next step was making an out line of the lay out.
覧Were you thinking about controlling Edgeworth in the game at that time?
Eshiro: At first we had a lot thoughts, and one of them was if we
could develop the GS system. The previous games were divided into
detective parts and trail parts, and you go to many places in the
detective parts, yes? So we decided to focus on "going to variety of
places", and to try to make the characters do some walking. It's like,
learning from failures over and over, and here we go.
覧Quite different from the previous games.
Eshiro: We name the games with same main
characters but different system as spin off games. It would be fun, but I
thought if we take a different angle, it would become more interesting,
right? Capcom is a company in which you can challenge yourself. Now they
let us make a quite different game from the previous ones in the famous
series GS
覧What did you think when you first heard the idea of the game, Mr
Yamazaki?
Yamazaki: I didn't only make the game GS, but used to play it as a
fan, so I love the GS universe. I thought it would be a good idea if we
viewed the universe from another angle. Because we've already had a
universe here, I was thinking about if we could offer more and a different
kind of fun.
覧What did you think when you heard that the players will control
Edgeworth?
Yamazaki: The attraction of GS, I suppose, is making animating the
illustrations using sprites. I think we can show a totally new style
of the game by controlling the character, and really play on the charm of
the sprite animations to make the characters even more likeable.
覧In other words, there will be a lot character animations in the game,
right?
Eshiro: We have a few different ideas about the animation, running
style included. Like, how to express Edgeworth's emotion by moving the
character on the screen.
Iwamoto: To me, the animation is more flowing and beautiful. We
focus on if the animation looks pretty and feels good. Even the characters
become small, that doesn't change things. The most important part is
how to express Edgeworth's style
覧I guess there will be quite a few fans who are surprised by the running
Edgeworth
Eshiro: It's the first time we've seen Edgeworth run.
Iwamoto: Edgeworth is an emotional character, so when he's in
danger, or felling panic, he reacts as strong as possible. Anyway,
we paid close attention to his running animation.
Eshiro: We did try a lot. It feels like, not running for you life,
but being graceful while exerting effort.
Iwamoto: And looks like walking really fast accidentally. (laughs)
覧Speaking of which, the most important part is picturing Edgeworth as a
leading role.
Eshiro: The key is how to form Edgeworth's image. I suppose the GS
fans probably will notice this part, let's say, if the character we create
feels like Edgeworth. We hope that we can show some part of Edgeworth
which has not been described, like, "oops I didn't expect Edgeworth would
act like this". Of course, it should be acceptable to the fans.
Iwamoto: Let's say we don't want to be at a standstill.
Eshiro: I think there is an Edgeworth in every fan's mind. We tried
to take ours and express the character in a different way. It feels not
like a departure, but a development of Edgeworth's world.
Yamazaki: We used to see Edgeworth from Wright's POV, but this time
we will view the world through Edgeworth's eyes. I suppose we're able to
see a new Edgeworth.
覧 I see. By the way, care to offer the GK's time line?
Eshiro: Around GS3, I suppose.
Yamazaki: Edgeworth is no longer the jerk in the GS1, but the one
whose mind is changing thanks to his battles with Wright.
覧Will we see more familiar GS characters in the game?
Eshiro: The game is a kind of "fiesta game", so of course, we will
add some popular characters, but we can't leak out who they are now.
Iwamoto: Our goal is making new players want to play the GS series,
and answer questions from previous fans like "Huh? what happened earlier?"
Players will see the connection between GK and GS.
覧When you were making the game, Mr. Iwamoto, what did you particularly
focus on?
Iwamoto: Well, I think I focus on how to keep the characters'
designs simple. If I want to draw something gorgeous, I would design the
most important part, like a key, and the color. Because this time the
characters move on the screen, I think more about how to make the
animation cooler and more interesting.
Fierce psychological battle and logic reasoning
覧Although this time we only learned something we've already known from
the previous games, but there will be new systems in the game, right?
Eshiro: Of course. The keyword of this game is " investigating at
the scenes". There must be contradictions, evidence, and hints at the
scenes. The players have to find this kind of stuff and present them to
the characters. This is all what we can tell now. We are planning to make
a game in which the players can deduce new stuff like important witness by
collecting the clues. It's like "Edgeworh would come out with this
conclusion, he would act like this, right?".
Yamazaki: I think Edgeworth is quite different that Wright; what he
does is cooler deduction. I hope we can let the players experience the
process of deduction.
Eshiro: For sure Edgeworth can be on edge, and the "turnabout" will
occurred. I can't tell you how to turnabout in detail now, but the keyword
"turnabout" is still the focal point of the game, so please wait
patiently. Plus, I think the fierce psychological battle of being in court
can be reappear even the circumstances has been changed. I hope I can
manage to do it in GK, we will see.
Minae Matsukawa's special testimony
Profile: Producer of GS
覧 Did Mr. Takumi (series creator/director) also take part in the game
producing?
Matsukawa: No he didn't, but he will present the "special trial
2008" (the GS special trial 2008 concert which will be hold on 2008/4/20)
and the other important activities.
覧Which part of the plan are you interested in now?
Matsukawa: This time both new and old staff members of the games are
doing their best to challenge themselves. I really appreciate their
enthusiasm of "letting the players learn the new face of GS".
覧Let's take a new topic. Has the preparing work of the " Special Trial
2008" been finished?
Matsukawa: Now we are working around the clock to make the Special
Trial animation (LOL). The concert is still quite far away to me. We
really hope everyone will see the cooperation between these two! I'm sure
everyone will be happy from the moment they enter the hall to when they
head home.
覧What about the surprise at the concert?
Matsukawa: We will announce it to the present players. We are also
going to announce the GK trailer, which will be released in Japan for the
first time. You will see real moving Edgeworth~
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