GameSpot Talks to Legendary Atlus Producer

Amidst the chaos and the bluster of this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, videogames.com's crack commando team of James Mielke, Sam Kennedy, and Chris Johnston were airlifted into Atlus' booth/territory. We quickly took an unsuspecting Atlus PR manager hostage and made him lead us to legendary Persona producer Koji Okada, whom we sequestered in a small, air-conditioned room for a revealing interview that offered detailed insights into the creative force behind Atlus. After initial pleasantries were exchanged, we began the interview proper. What follows is a probing expose of the Persona series, Soul Hackers, Maken X controversies, and Sega's Dreamcast.

VGS: Now that Persona 2 is nearing completion, can you describe the differences or enhancements that we can expect in the game?

KO: The sequel still takes place in school, although the characters are different. The story takes place three years later, however, and it takes place in a couple of different schools actually.

VGS: Your past RPG titles such as Soul Hackers and the Persona series have all been darker than most traditional RPGs - your games aren't filled with fantasy dragons and magic.

KO: I like the realism. It's nice to create games that have actual interaction with real characters.

VGS: What sort of following do these games have in Japan?

KO: Most people who play games are teen to twenties in age. Players like our games simply because they can relate to them. The character developments in our games are also very deep, so players really understand them more.

VGS: Your games also seem to feature a lot of female characters. Is there a reason behind that?

KO: Well, a majority of the people who play the games are guys, so... (laughs). We also have a lot of character pairs between men and women and it keeps the games balanced.

VGS: Maken X features an extremely intense sense of design and atmosphere. Considering that the majority of your past projects have been RPGs, what made you decide to create a game like Maken X?

KO: Well, making RPGs takes a long time. Since the Dreamcast was such a new platform, we wanted to experiment and make a new kind of game on it.

VGS: Surprisingly, despite the game being played from a first-person perspective, the main character and weapon is a sword (Maken X). What was the motivation behind this uncommon decision?

KO: It was designed this way so that the game would be unique. Every first-person action game uses a gun as the main weapon, and we wanted to be different. The sword also keeps the power and association directly connected with the user, rather than the detachment that can be attributed to simply firing a gun.

VGS: There are Nazi symbols found throughout the game on many of the enemy characters. Is this to inspire great feelings of anger toward the enemies, or is it for some deeper reason?

KO: The Nazi characters only appear in certain areas, and we are considering removing them from the American version of the game. These symbols usually appear on the larger characters, which are bigger than the usual characters because of the concept behind them. The more challenging characters are developed by the enemy because of their own inferiority complexes. The larger they are, the smaller their self-opinion is of themselves. The evil boss essentially takes their flaws and builds it into a force.

VGS: Then how about the skinny sword fighters you meet early in the game?

KO: They're just evil weaklings to destroy early in the game.

VGS: So what do you think of the Dreamcast? How is it to develop for?

KO: The best way to sum it up would be to say that it is very easy to make games for. Atlus has been making games for years, and the Dreamcast is great to make games for in all aspects. Also I am very interested in the network capability.

VGS: That's neat to hear. So do you find that because new technologies, like the modem, can used with the Dreamcast that they might inspire you to make a new type of game? Is there a chance that you'll take a game like Persona and do completely new things with it?

KO: Actually, not at all. The hardware specs don't matter to me in the least. Instead, I like to have my game ideas first, and then I like to look at what hardware to use. If I would want to go in a new direction, I would want to make a completely new game, not make a sequel.

VGS: Do you ever consider the American market when developing your games?

KO: For the Persona series I focused only on the Japanese market. It is completely targeted to Japanese gamers, and it has details that they would relate to. However, with Maken X, we have developed it knowing that it will be a worldwide released title. Because of that I have been really thinking about what will be acceptable everywhere.

VGS: After Maken X, what will be your next Dreamcast game?

KO: (laughs) It's a secret. We have some definite plans, but we can't comment on them yet. We may announce something by the time Maken X is released in September.

VGS: Do you think you'll do a sequel to Maken X?

KO: Yes, we will definitely consider doing a sequel if it does well.

VGS: Because of its huge installed user base, many developers are sticking with development for the PlayStation rather than the Dreamcast. Do you still plan on developing for the PlayStation?

KO: Yes. After Persona 2 comes out, I plan to release at least one more game for the PlayStation.

VGS: Your games often feature techno music in them. Do you or the people on your staff really like techno?

KO: In Persona we put in techno music because we figured people would like to hear it. They can relate to that music. For Maken X the game has all techno music with heavy drumbeats to make it lively and fast.

VGS: Now that you've moved into the realm of 3D games, will we see your other titles turning to 3D as well, or do you have a specific team that does 3D?

KO: The same development team that did Persona are doing Maken X. We felt that real-time battles would be a lot better in 3D so we used it, but that does not mean that our other games will need to be 3D. We will still use 2D for games that should be 2D.

VGS: Will Maken X have story segments?

KO: In the game, the normal conversations you have are done through your regular battle screen. However, there will be talking parts where you will see the scene from multiple paths.

VGS: How long does it take to go through Maken X?

KO: The average game will be about ten hours. However, there are so many other outcomes to explore, so you will be able to play around ten hours with many other characters and stories. There are multiple endings in Maken X, not only for the different characters, but for each character individually.

Following the interview, much merriment was had, hostages were released, and photos were taken to commemorate the event. Okada-san donned his famous "sty-u-risshu" sunglasses and posed away as the camera clicked. Thanks to Gail Salamanca of Atlus US and Yu Something-or-other for translating Mr. Okada's comments.